The threats to silence anyone criticizing the king is continuing with Kash Patel’s latest threat.
Notice: We understand that the collapse of America can be distressing to some American readers, but help is available. If you are suffering from a mental health crisis, you can call 988 to talk to someone.
It is no secret that convicted felon, Donald Trump, has long vowed to destroy the media in general. Even before the election, Trump vowed to jail journalists and revoke the broadcast licenses of news media companies for the crime of publishing facts that prove inconvenient to him and his inner circle. Yet, despite all of that, this didn’t stop the media from bringing down Joe Biden, endlessly sane washing Trump, and helping Trump secure his election victory anyway. No, I don’t see how this is a sensible strategy on the part of the mainstream media in any way, but it’s the strategy they employed anyway.
Regardless, armed with unlimited political and financial power, Trump is moving ahead with his war on free speech in the US. Already, Brendan Carr has vowed that he would carry out the war on free speech by, among other things, ending free speech and network neutrality on the internet. As a result, Carr was nominated to be the FCC chair to do just that and, presumably, carry out Trump’s will to target any media outlet in his quest for retribution for any perceived wrongs any media outlet did to him.
What’s more, Trump has called on lawmakers to kill a journalism shield bill that would protect journalists and allow them to securely communicate with sources who are blowing the whistle on an entity.
More recently, we say another sign of Trump’s war on free speech and journalism. Kash Patel, Trump’s current pick to lead the FBI, has threatened the media for daring to question him. The threat letter uses the tactic for those familiar with SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) lawsuits in that they accused the journalist of defamation. From Techdirt:
Patel is definitely Trump’s kind of guy. In addition to the toadying, there are the statements he’s made about prosecuting journalists for not being more loyal to Trump:
Since Donald Trump announced Kash Patel as his pick for FBI director, a 2023 podcast interview he did with fellow Trump loyalist Steve Bannon has circulated far and wide.
In the recording last year, Patel asserted how he would handle reporters if he were put in power.
“We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections,” Patel said then. “Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out.”
That’s something Trump has expressed an interest in doing himself, suggesting the FBI should take the lead on going after his “enemies” in the media.
And, much like Donald Trump himself, Kash Patel apparently believes threatening people with bogus libel lawsuits is the best way to handle public criticism. Earlier this month, Patel’s lawyers sent a legal threat [PDF] to former DHS official/current media commentator Olivia Troye, demanding she “retract” the things she said on MSNBC about Patel’s inability to be a good FBI director.
Here’s what Patel’s getting all bitchy about, according to his lawyers:
On December 2, 2024, you appeared as a live guest on MSNBC and made several false and defamatory statements about Mr. Patel. These comments include that Mr. Patel would “lie about intelligence” and would “lie about making things up on operations” to the point where Mr. Patel “put the lives of Navy Seals at risk when it came to Nigeria” and that Mr. Patel was even misinforming Vice President Mike Pence.
That doesn’t look like “several” and there’s reason to believe Patel “would lie” about things like these. Some of the things Patel claims are maliciously false have already been confirmed by other sources, including the lying about military operations that apparently put “Navy Seals at risk” in Nigeria.
Not that the facts matter here. This is just bullying in hopes of silencing someone who has legitimate reasons for suggesting Kash Patel not be allowed to head up the FBI. And the letter makes ridiculous demands about retaining all data, communications, and social media posts as though Olivia Troye has actually been served with a lawsuit, rather than just a bunch of blustery words meant to make her think she’s obligated to do this starting immediately. In fact, the stupid threat letter goes even further, claiming this “obligation” is “ongoing,” as though it’s a constant that has only been briefly interrupted by this rude reminder.
This shows, yet again, just how much freedom of expression is at risk under the Trump administration. You so much as question anything they do and Trump will go after you. Obviously, high profile people and organizations are first on the line, but the real question is, how far Trump is willing to go. Is Trump actually going to shut down news organizations? Will he go after smaller players after going after the larger players or will he get distracted by something else in the interim? Honestly, it’s extremely difficult to say how far things will go.
Either way, this is just the latest iteration of Trump (and his inner circle) threatening the media. It’s a worrying pattern at bare minimum.
Notice: We understand that the collapse of America can be distressing to some American readers, but help is available. If you are suffering from a mental health crisis, you can call 988 to talk to someone.
