Russia investigation origins conspiracy theory

The Russia investigation origins conspiracy theory or Russia counter-narrative^[1] is a conspiracy theory narrative created by Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Republican Party leaders, and right-wing^[2]^[3] conservatives.^[4] It attacks the legitimacy and conclusions of multiple investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 elections and the public and secretive links between Russian intelligence and Trump associates. Trump in particular has attacked the origins and conclusions of the Crossfire Hurricane and Mueller investigations and ordered Attorney General William Barr^[5]^[6] and U.S. attorney John Durham^[7] to conduct reviews of the investigations.^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]

The narrative includes conspiracy theories such as Trump's Spygate theory, accusations of a secretive, elite "deep state" network,^[4]^[12] descriptions of the Russian interference investigations as an illegal "Russian collusion hoax",^[13] that the "real collusion" was between Hillary Clinton, Democrats, and Russia – and later, Ukraine.

Giuliani and Trump alleged the Russian government had been framed, and that it was the Ukrainian government that had interfered to benefit Hillary Clinton. It was later revealed in court by lawyers for Julian Assange that Dana Rohrabacher, acting on behalf of Trump, had made a quid pro quo offer of a presidential pardon to Assange, in exchange for Assange covering up Russian involvement by declaring that "Russia had nothing to do with the DNC leaks".

^ Cite error: The named reference NYmag Susan Rice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Zapotosky, Matt (December 4, 2019). "Barr's handpicked prosecutor tells inspector general he can't back right-wing theory that Russia case was U.S. intelligence setup". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
^ Ward, Alex (September 30, 2019). "The right-wing conspiracy theories behind Trump and Barr's outreach to foreign leaders". Vox. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference WaPo20191122 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Barr expands was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Zapotosky, Matt; Dawsey, Josh; Harris, Shane; Helderman, Rosalind S. (October 6, 2019). "Barr's review of Russia investigation wins Trump's favor. Those facing scrutiny suspect he's chasing conspiracy theories". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
^ Goldman, Adam; Savage, Charlie; Schmidt, Michael S. (May 13, 2019). "Barr Assigns U.S. Attorney in Connecticut to Review Origins of Russia Inquiry". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
^ Cite error: The named reference NYT Italy fuel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference oranges was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference repeatedly_fails was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Young_10/25/2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Davis_Haberman_5/28/2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Spencer_10/9/2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[NYmag_Susan_Rice-1] Cite error: The named reference NYmag Susan Rice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Zapotosky_12/4/2019-2] Zapotosky, Matt (December 4, 2019). "Barr's handpicked prosecutor tells inspector general he can't back right-wing theory that Russia case was U.S. intelligence setup". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 26, 2022.

[Vox-right_wing_conspiracy-3] Ward, Alex (September 30, 2019). "The right-wing conspiracy theories behind Trump and Barr's outreach to foreign leaders". Vox. Retrieved October 21, 2019.

[WaPo20191122-4] Cite error: The named reference WaPo20191122 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Barr_expands-5] Cite error: The named reference Barr expands was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Barr's_review_of_Russia_invest...-6] Zapotosky, Matt; Dawsey, Josh; Harris, Shane; Helderman, Rosalind S. (October 6, 2019). "Barr's review of Russia investigation wins Trump's favor. Those facing scrutiny suspect he's chasing conspiracy theories". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 25, 2022.

[Goldman_Savage_Schmidt_5/13/2019-7] Goldman, Adam; Savage, Charlie; Schmidt, Michael S. (May 13, 2019). "Barr Assigns U.S. Attorney in Connecticut to Review Origins of Russia Inquiry". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.

[NYT_Italy_fuel-8] Cite error: The named reference NYT Italy fuel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[oranges-9] Cite error: The named reference oranges was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[repeatedly_fails-10] Cite error: The named reference repeatedly_fails was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Young_10/25/2022-11] Cite error: The named reference Young_10/25/2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Davis_Haberman_5/28/2018-12] Cite error: The named reference Davis_Haberman_5/28/2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Spencer_10/9/2020-13] Cite error: The named reference Spencer_10/9/2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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