The original draft of this email was sent to Washington Post reporters Mike Debonis and Tyler Pager, copying several Post editors and the congressman and staffer in question. (A subsequent email was sent on March 22, asking if there were any new reportable information from the investigation. As of March 25, there has been no response to the second email or a follow-up story published by The Post.)
Dear Mike and Tyler,
Since your A4 story this morning, “Antisemitic tract found near Capitol Police post,” is sober enough to acknowledge that “[i]t is unclear from the photographs who was in possession of” a worn, two-year-old print-out of the infamous Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion, I hope you and your editors will bring some healthy skepticism to follow-up coverage. Especially since you report that the implicitly incriminating photos were taken and supplied to The Post by the top staffer to far-left Congressman Mondaire Jones (D-NY).
You report that the staffer, Zach Fisch, provided The Post with the photos and that, in turn, The Post provided the photos to the U.S. Capitol Police, asking the police to comment. Curiously, you do not report that Mr. Fisch first provided the photos directly to police. Even a rookie detective would be suspicious about this.
Why? Bear with me here as I sketch a purely hypothetical scenario wherein a zealously leftist staffer of a zealously leftist House member might seek to perpetrate a false-flag hoax on the media and the public which, in his mind, would heighten his boss’s profile and further their efforts to convince Americans that Aryan cabals and plots are hiding behind every hangin’ tree here in the nation’s capital in the year 2021.
If such a staffer were to plant a copy of the Protocols near a briefly unmanned police post and photograph it as the foundation for his hoax, he’d be stupid to share the photos directly with police and risk later criminal charges for making a false report. But it’s not a crime to lie to reporters, and lies are sometimes published. So our hypothetical staffer would be smart to avoid legal jeopardy and instead launder his fraudulent photos through First Amendment-protected journalists like yourselves.
Of course, you’re two savvy guys so I’d like to think you’ve at least considered the possibility of a hoax in the case of Mr. Fisch. Particularly since, according to your story, he’s already tweeting breathlessly about the whole thing: “Our office is full of people — Black, Brown, Jewish, queer — who have good reason to fear white supremacists. If the [Capitol Police] is all that stands between us and the mob we saw on Jan. 6, how can we feel safe?”
If the notion of a hoax hasn’t crossed your mind, it certainly should have. Because the mere fact that an acting police chief, in whom rank-and-file officers have no confidence, “has suspended an officer pending an investigation” means little to those of us bemused by our media’s incessant gullibility and willingness to be played by left-wing activists and politicians. (Remember Jussie Smollett?)
But who knows? Maybe their are antisemites within Capitol Police ranks. Then again, maybe some Capitol Police are simply smart enough to read widely so as to better understand and prepare against potential criminal threats to Congress. Or maybe Mr. Fisch and his boss are shamelessly divisive charlatans, eager to create a phony crisis they hope to exploit.
In any case, your readers hope you’ll consider all of these possibilities and others as you report this story further.
Darren McKinney, Washington, D.C.