Justice Department Trumps Russian Disinformation - WSJ

Which is more likely to influence a U.S. election? A dribble of Russian propaganda in an ocean of online electioneering, or a federal law-enforcement campaign against one of the candidates?

You decide. Bear that choice in mind when analyzing the Justice Department’s decision this week to jump again into the election fray with another round of warnings over “Russian disinformation”—even as the first mail-in ballots go out.

The most striking part of the Wednesday press conference in which the department unveiled indictments against covert Russian actors was its lack of self-awareness. As if this weren’t the same government agency that fed us the Trump-Russia collusion lies of 2016 (and 2017 and 2018 and 2019), an ally of an intelligence community that four years ago falsely branded reporting about Hunter Biden’s laptop “disinformation.” Whatever the merits of this week’s actions against Russians—they look legit—the Justice Department’s failure to acknowledge it has an enormous credibility problem is almost comical.

via www.wsj.com

Kimberley Strassel