Pelosi Pleas for FBI to Probe Pro-Palestinian Protestors
A bizarre call from the former Speaker.
NYT (“Pelosi Wants F.B.I. to Investigate Pro-Palestinian Protesters“):
Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California and the former House speaker, on Sunday called for the F.B.I. to investigate protesters demanding a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, suggesting without evidence that some activists may have ties to Russia and President Vladimir V. Putin.
“For them to call for a cease-fire is Mr. Putin’s message,” Ms. Pelosi said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message. I think some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia.”
When pressed on whether she believed some of the demonstrators were “Russian plants,” Ms. Pelosi said: “Seeds or plants. I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the F.B.I. to investigate that.”
[…]
Her remarks appear to be the first time a prominent U.S. politician has publicly suggested Russia may be backing cease-fire protests to help foment division among Democrats.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned Ms. Pelosi’s comments as “an unsubstantiated smear” and “downright authoritarian.”
“Her comments once again show the negative impact of decades of dehumanization of the Palestinian people by those supporting Israeli apartheid,” Nihad Awad, the group’s national executive director, said in a statement. “Instead of baselessly smearing those Americans as Russian collaborators, former House Speaker Pelosi and other political leaders should respect the will of the American people by calling for an end to the Netanyahu government’s genocidal war on the people of Gaza.”
Progressive activists and voters who support a cease-fire in Gaza have warned President Biden that his approach to the conflict would threaten his re-election and cost Democrats support at the ballot box in November. A variety of groups, including Jewish, human rights and antiwar organizations, have led protests around the country demanding an end to Israel’s military campaign, which began after Hamas’s deadly attack on Oct. 7. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators, citing the soaring death toll and deep humanitarian crisis in Gaza, have disrupted Democratic campaign events in recent weeks, including Mr. Biden’s public appearances and a speech Ms. Pelosi gave in Seattle last week.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Ms. Pelosi pointed to a social media post by Ian Bremmer, a political scientist and professor at Columbia University, who wrote that “putin benefits from continued war in gaza and expanded chaos in the middle east.”
The spokesperson said Ms. Pelosi would continue to focus on “stopping the suffering in Gaza” and demanding that all hostages be released.
“Speaker Pelosi has always supported and defended the right of all Americans to make their views known through peaceful protest,” the statement said. “Speaker Pelosi is acutely aware of how foreign adversaries meddle in American politics to sow division and impact our elections, and she wants to see further investigation ahead of the 2024 election.”
This is just bizarre.
I have little doubt that Putin supports a cease-fire in Gaza or even that he’s taking action to sow discord among rival factions in American politics. Russian actors have been doing that since at least the 2015 campaign.
But it’s not illegal for American citizens to protest the policies of their government. Nor, so far as I’m aware, is it illegal for them to take funding from whoever wishes to provide it. On what basis would the FBI “investigate” them?
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
That was really dumb on her part. Tone deaf. Bonkers. Oddly conspiracy minded. Akin to R claims of illegal immigrants being bussed into vote in some obscure county in Maine.
It’s bad messaging and bad politics. It’s beyond stupid. You’ve alienated millions of voters you desperately need very soon with utterly unfounded speculation.
I think pretty highly of Pelosi. She was an effective speaker/minority leader. We have the ACA (aka ObamaCare) thanks to her. Nancy SMASH! meme.
But that was beyond dumb, an unforced error. A view into her thought process, I guess. I always thought pretty highly of her vote whipping prowess. Maybe not. Perhaps rely on staff next time before you spout unproven risible nonsense that alienates and offends a big chunk of future voters that usually vote for your team.
Unforced, tone-deaf dumbness or hubris. And the defiant non-apology doesn’t help. When you fuck up publicly say “I’m sorry” ffs.
If the FBI is going to investigate Russian influence spending, shouldn’t they be looking at Republican congresspeople?
I can’t defend her, and I’m a big fan of Nancy Pelosi as a great political operator. But this is the kind of thing you expect from some back-bencher who, once upon a time, Pelosi would have told to sit down and shut up.
Absolutely disgusting comments.
Pelosi had a lot of grudging respect from people who saw her as a mild progressive with an eye for unifying disparate factions to get at least something done. She just strangled that respect in its sleep then lit the bedroom on fire.
Wait, what? Why would Putin want a cease-fire in Gaza? In Ukraine, yes. But in Gaza? He benefits from chaos, and the US being distracted, and a cease-fire in Gaza doesn’t help with that.
Hamas won’t be, can’t be, destroyed. All the war in Gaza does is prolong the suffering of the population and radicalize more people to join Hamas in the future. I know people don’t want to see Hamas win, but, well, they didn’t lose, and aren’t going to, not in a conventional war.
@Kevin: I’m not defending Pelosi, but she clearly stated Putin’s motivation was to foment division amongst Democrats. The Russians are most certainly doing this online, but she is extending this to paying demonstrators. That seems dangerously out of touch to me. There is a huge and growing sympathy for the Palestinians, and there is absolutely no shortage of demonstrators. The Russians don’t need to spend a dime on that.
@MarkedMan:
Is it so out of touch?
Russian troll factory paid US activists to help fund protests during election (The Guardian)
Thousands attended protest organized by Russians on Facebook (The Hill)
How Russia Used Facebook To Organize 2 Sets Of Protesters (NPR)
How Russia Secretly Orchestrated Dozens of U.S. Protests (Vanity Fair)
Russia and China target U.S. protests on social media (Politico)
What a fake 2016 BLM rally tells us about Russian disinformation (CNN)
Yes, memories are short — but I’m surprised how quickly we’ve forgotten Putin’s minions have been caught astroturfing US protests multiple times before. Is this controversial to point out?
I’ll go further than Pelosi, and flat out state that Russian-influenced, and China-influenced, and Iranian-infuneced actors have infiltrated Gaza-related protest, online and offline — and that US intel is already monitoring it. I meah, duh. Of course. If the goal is destabilize Western democracy by sowing discord and disinfo, and to help defeat Biden, America’s enemies would be stupid not to take this low-hanging fruit.
Does this mean a significant number of said protestors are Russian agents? No. Does this make me any less empathetic towards suffering Palestinians and those advocating for them? No.
But I really don’t see why Pelosi’s statement is being treated as so far-fetched, considering the very recent past. This ain’t her first rodeo. Or ours.
@Kevin:
1) Israel calls off the war and withdraws.
2) A week later Hamas fires missiles at Tel Aviv.
3) ?
Hamas can end the war tomorrow. They can release the hostages and surrender the leadership. Right? But somehow no one ever suggests that.
Or the civilian population of Gaza could turn against Hamas who have brought this disaster down on them. And no one suggests that, either.
@DK:
Just to clarify, I haven’t forgotten and accepted this as a given in the original post. However, something I didn’t remember/know from your first link:
So I stand corrected.
However, I think my fundamental point still applies. If Pelosi thinks the main reason there are protests against Israeli policy is because of Russian disinformation or plants, she is out of touch
@MarkedMan: This is what she is quoted as saying:
“I think some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia.”
Imprecise methinks, but hardly outrageous or out of bounds. None of which will alter the trajectory of our weekly fake outrage clickbait machine.
I wonder who and what it’ll be next week lol
I don’t know if Pelosi was being inartful or unclear in her language or being too clever by half but my immediate reaction was: Sure, I’d believe Putin’s operatives are trying to stir chaos. I also wonder how the MAGA Putin apologists will react. Will they protest? Will they then support Gaza and/or Hamas and, by extension, Iran and Russia? Will that confuse the Christian Nationalists who support Israel because they hope for the Second Coming? The whole region is a mess of contradictory motivations and actions and pretty much too distant and incomprehensible to the average American.
Meh. While Biden has given Israel pretty much unlimited support the GOP is doing its best to portray Dems as antisemitic. Maybe this is her way of pushing back while also indirectly maintaining support for Ukraine.
Steve
@Michael Reynolds:
More like 2-3 days.
Nancy Pelosi is not some pundit or op-ed writer. She carries a huge amount of influence. If the FBI does open an investigation the beginning point will be to investigate people. They’ll open files on the leaders of the protests. And we know these files tend to have a long shelf life. She should know better than to say things like this on television. Would she support an FBI investigation into BLM protestors?
Which committees is she on? Does she have access to some intel report that might have rattled her?
She’s such a seasoned pro that I have a hard time believing this was some random screw up.
This would indicate that the old power brokers in the Democratic party believe they’ve lost control of this protest faction. Probably to the more extreme “Squad”.
Not unlike how the Northern Democrats turned on their Southern brethren in 1960.
Popcorn time
@Michael Reynolds: “Don’t make me kill this kitten”
Israel has numerous ways they can deal with the situation. They are choosing bombings. That’s a choice.
Israel had an opportunity to have the higher moral ground, but they squandered it – allowing revenge to best intelligence.
@Michael Reynolds: “Or the civilian population of Gaza could turn against Hamas who have brought this disaster down on them. And no one suggests that, either.”
Yeah, why don’t those homeless refugees just put off dying of hunger and thirst for a little while and attack the well-armed Hamas fighters while they’re ducking Israeli bombs? Just a bunch of pussies who deserve whatever they get! Thanks for having the guts to state this so clearly, Michael!
@JKB: “Not unlike how the Northern Democrats turned on their Southern brethren in 1960.”
You mean when those terrible Northerners demanded their poor innocent Southern brethren stop using troops to keep Black children out of schools?
@wr: Yes, I suspect that’s exactly what this particular trumper means.
@wr:
Well, yes, but also that the Southern Democrat members of the Democratic National Committee stop their abuses and also support of their paramiltiary arm, the KKK.
Of course, the federalizing of the Arkansas national guard was to enforce federal law. Biden is not enforcing the codified law of the United States with regards to the border. And if it is simply a “resource” problem, why would Biden seek to stop state efforts to enforce the laws of the United States?
@JKB:
Correct. And that was the right thing to do at the time.
Of course, what also follows from this is how, since this schism, those Southern Segregationist Democrats migrated over to the Republican party (which was already rapidly moving away from its focus as being the party of Black Americas). And that accelerated the “Party of Lincoln” abandoning their position as the party of Civil Rights (and honestly their celebration of Lincoln).
@JKB:
You may need to think your comments through more carefully. 🙁 Considering that the comment above was made in response to
you’re coming dangerously close to inadvertently admitting that racial animus plays a significant role in formulating your viewpoint.
Not that most of us don’t already understand, but it’s unwise to provide such tangible evidence.
@Matt Bernius:
Well, most of that 2nd paragraph is wrong, one being that blacks shifted heavily to FDR due to the New Deal programs. But that’s not to the point.
My point is that Democrats now have another internal war. And the pro-Hamas faction is harassing Old Joe in public. This split could cost Democrats Michigan if Muslims, who overwhelmingly support Hamas, stay home in November.
And the potential for war between factions is precisely why Pelosi made these remarks, knowing that they might make her look bad. Because she has reasons to believe that there is foreign influence involved, particularly in making the various parties angry at each other.
Democrats disagree on a number of things, but to blow it up into “people stay home” and losing elections needs another level of energy, right?
My immediate response to the tagline of this post, which referred to a “bizarre call by the former Speaker” was not that “she’s lost it”, but that she probably had a really good reason for doing that. I expect the reason is that this is something that D’s need the public to look at, and they expect it to not play all that well. She, no longer holding any leadership post but still well-regarded, is perfectly positioned to do this.
I remember Diane Feinstein, when 4 years away from her next election, doing this sort of thing a couple of times.
Just to be clear on my own position of Israel v. Hamas. I consider that choice to be akin to choosing between cooperating with Lex Luthor or the Joker. I choose Lex Luthor, not because he’s “good” but because he’s less of a loose cannon.
@JKB:
This seems like wishful projection, given all of the problems the GOP is having. Sen. Lankford was on the teevee today lambasting members of the Republican party who want to sink the immigration deal that was struck, because it’s an election year. Missouri’s GOP is tearing itself apart because a faction wants to strip away the right for citizens to put measures on the ballot. Florida is its usual mess, but with a sex scandal. And pretty much everywhere they’re learning that the Moms for Liberty crowd overreached with their culture war nonsense.
But sure, this is somehow going to cost Biden the election.
Pelosi shouldn’t have said this. It’s beyond stupid.
First, she has a working telephone and can call folks in the administration directly, rather than relying on the FBI to hear about it second hand.
Second, if she wants to get information out there about Russian involvement, she should just say that. Or at least prepare her thoughts better if she has to do a “just asking questions” thing to abide by the letter but not the spirit of a secrecy law.
I have no doubt that Russia is trying to fragment the Democrats’ coalition — they are regularly doing this. I also doubt it is having a huge effect beyond what a very natural split in the coalition is causing.
I also don’t see what good Pelosi making these comments can have on that front — “hey kids, you only care about genocide because you’re pawns of Putin!”
@JKB:
Fun fact: social security was initially structured to exclude industries that were predominantly staffed by people of color (and a complete absence of color, as I expect the Irish were also excluded)
Just something you can look up, learn the details of, and add to your collection of talking points. It supports some of your broad claims, but undermines others.
It’s hard to believe she just said “people who think bombing a heavily-populated civilian area and killing tens of thousands of people are puppets of a foreign government” without knowing she’s reviving “Dems in disarray” to the benefit of…the same foreign government.
Aside from the rabid colonial Zionism she’s trying to prop up, this is an impressive display of contempt for the party constituency, which is largely opposed to Israel’s actions. And it’s an even bigger steaming pile of an example for why progressives aren’t the same as Democrats.
Turns out you can care about climate change and fucking state-sponsored slaughter.
@Michael Reynolds:
I suspect the civilian population of Gaza is growing more sympathetic to the cause of those who are opposing the motherfuckers who are bombing the living shit out of them.
People don’t look for second order causes to problems. They see their homes being blown to shit, and their family members getting killed and think “By Jove, I do believe those Israelis are a bunch of evil motherfuckers!”
Israel isn’t winning hearts and minds in Gaza.
@Gustopher:
Good thing that’s not what she said.
This is what she said: “I think some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia.”
But we all tend to enjoy talking about clickbait-driven strawman arguments and fake outrage than about facts and nuance. The former is admittedly more fun.
It’s also a good thing that nobody will care about this next week, having moved the next phony nontroversy to forget about. What was the one from two weeks ago? Oh yeah: something something Sec. Austin must resign!!1!! something something.
@ptfe:
It should be hard to believe, since that’s not what she said.
This is what she said: “I think some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia.”
Something is wrong with us.
In case anyone wants more context, here’s the full transcript of the part of the exchange related to Israel:
BASH: One of the challenges that Democrats might have in organizing is some anger in some corners of the progressive movement over Biden’s, Joe Biden’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas terrorists.
How concerned are you — especially given the fact that we have seen protesters over and over at his events, how concerned are you that people, young people, Arab Americans, progressives — I’m not suggesting that they’re going to go vote for Donald Trump, but how concerned are you that they might just stay home?
PELOSI: Well, let me just say this, because I have been the recipient of their, shall we say, exuberances, and it’s as recently as in Seattle on Thursday, unfortunately wanted to disrupt our very exciting Democratic meeting there.
They’re in front of my house all the time. So I have a feeling for what feelings they have. But we have to think about what we’re doing. And what we have to do is try to stop the suffering and gossip. This is women and children. People don’t have a place to go. So let’s address that.
But for them to call for a cease-fire is Mr. Putin’s message, Mr. Putin’s message. Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message. I think some of these — some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere.
Some, I think, are connected to Russia. And I say that having looked at this for a long time now, as you know.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: You think some of these protests are Russian plants?
PELOSI: I don’t think they’re plants. I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the FBI to investigate that.
But, apart from that, let’s just say it’s all spontaneous and sincere. Let’s say it’s all spontaneous and sincere. Young people care about the right to choose. They care about LGBTQ issues. They care about preserving the planet. They care about gun violence prevention. That’s what they tell us.
They care about our democracy and the freedoms that are contained in some of what I said. So, they’re going to have to make a decision, staying home to enable, or to agonize, organize — not agonize, but organize, and get out there and get the job done.
@JKB:
Well, when you compare it to the internal war going on in the GOP, it’s more like a spitball fight.
@DK: I’m don’t really want to parse her exact language — It’s what people heard. And, it’s a pretty obvious inference to make from what she said.
She should have either not said anything or been a lot more careful with what she said.
Ok, fine, let’s parse:
“Putin’s message” repeated for emphasis, and then something that recalls Trump saying that Mexico is sending rapists and drug dealers and “some, I assume, are good people.”
Not good. She said other stuff after that, but she led with “Putin’s message”
@JKB:
Wow! (And Waa!, too!) That was an idea that I completely missed because that’s not what you said, instead going for some snark about popcorn. Additionally, it would have given you a chance to go for a historically closer (though not by much) dispute–the triangulation of radical leftists by the DLC–thus taking your racist fingerprints off the comment.
As I said above, you really need to consider what you want to say and how you want to say it a bunch more carefully. 🙁
@JKB:
I would say it was overly simplistic, as you are correct that the New Deal did play a role in the shift. But it’s also indisputable that during the first half of the 20th century, the Lily-white Movement made significant inroads, starting in Texas and then extending throughout the South. It also doesn’t help that Hoover in particular was shifting the focus towards middle and upper class White voters (and purging a number of Black party leaders and working against the Black and Tan Republican movement). Couple that with the disenfranchisement of Black politicians and voters due to Jim Crow laws and that led to a loss of power for the Black wing of the Republican Party.
That movement, combined with the New Deal, as you note and then the ascendancy of the Goldwater wing of the party, created the conditions for a generational shift. Likewise we have the simultaneous conservative turn (just look at the National Review’s history on race as one example… or later Rush Limbaugh’s).
This is why, for the most part, Republicans’ history on civil rights basically stops with all of the key Civil Rights and Voting rights acts of the middle century. The Southern realignment is also why the modern Republican party has been working to undo most of that landmark legislation.
@Gustopher:
When people hear voices saying words that weren’t said we call that psychosis. Or maybe it’s what people who make things up and are easy marks for fake clickbait heard?
There’s no need to parse, really: the words she said are the words she said. It’s fine to disagree with what she actually said, but if we invent quotes and put them in people’s mouths, pushback is fair.
This is what she said: “I think some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia.”
She didn’t say this: “Hey kids, you only care about genocide because you’re pawns of Putin!”
Neither did she say this: “People who think bombing a heavily-populated civilian area and killing tens of thousands of people are puppets of a foreign government.”
We should discuss the real quote, not the ones people hallucinated. Of course, a discussion of the real quote would be boring since, while perhaps inartful and non-precise, or politically tone deaf, it’s also probably true. “Some” of these protestors are almost certainly connected to Russian propaganda.
@DK: What is the point of saying it publicly, and specifically asking the FBI to investigate?
Here’s the direct quote:
“For them to call for a cease-fire is Mr. Putin’s message,” Ms. Pelosi said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message. I think some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia.”
That quote speaks for itself. There is no hallucination, no misinterpretation. Its conjecture on her part, a bullshit statement, period.
And this part is particularly obnoxious:
But, apart from that, let’s just say it’s all spontaneous and sincere. Let’s say it’s all spontaneous and sincere.
Basically she’s saying its not spontaneous or sincere. Maybe she can drop the name of some organizations or specific people she wants investigated. If this were a Republican asking publicly for an FBI investigation in a similar situation people here would be raking him or her over the coals.
Can we please get some political leaders somewhere between the ages of “naive” and “senile”?
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/554170-backing-biden-pelosi-calls-for-ceasefire-in-israel/
Oh wait, that was in 2021. But it would be interesting to hear her explain why her position then has been transformed into “Putin’s message” today.
Given she made no attempt to quantify what proportion of protesters are “spontaneous and organic [what?] and sincere” and what proportion are paid Russian stooges; given the terms of her follow-up statement; given her failure to cite any evidence; given the deliberate way she introduced the claim into the interview; it’s hard to reach any conclusion except that this was a calculated measure to discredit calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. It’s three months since some of her own colleagues began to push “Putin’s message”, so her comments were astonishing and inflammatory. The only direct beneficiary I can see is the Netanyahu government; Trump Republicans of course will have a ball laughing at the latest Democratic “RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA!” delusion.
Suddenly, the FBI, DOJ are investigating Rep Cori Bush….A member of The Squad.