'Kash Patel played you': Joe Rogan told he got used in recent interview
FBI Director and conspiracy theorist Kash Patel recently had a rapt audience in podcaster Joe Rogan when he reiterated claims that the "Trump-Russia affair" was all a made-up ploy by the Democrats to keep Donald Trump out of the White House. But David Corn with MotherJones warned Rogan that Patel used the podcaster's platform to spin "a false narrative" that deserved scrutiny.
In an open letter to Rogan, Corn wrote, "I have the impression you are a man who does not like to be played. I regret to inform you that Kash Patel played you."
Corn continued, "When the FBI director was on your show last month, he made multiple statements that were false or misleading. Given that you’re a proponent of truth-telling, I expect you will be troubled to learn this."
Corn broke down the "Russiagate" scandal that Patel claimed offered a damning indictment of the Democrats and the FBI under James Comey to conclude there was a bigger story that Patel wasn't telling Rogan and his listeners.
"Joe, what Patel was referring to was merely one slice of the much larger Trump-Russia affair," Corn wrote. "And this is Patel’s magic trick. It’s a diversion. He wants you and others to fixate on the issue of a search warrant and not pay attention to the bigger story: Russia attacked the 2016 election to help Trump, and Trump aided and abetted Moscow by denying this assault, thus providing cover to Vladimir Putin."
Corn suggested that rather than taking Patel at his word, Rogan should read the "mind-blowing" bipartisan 966-page report released by the Senate intelligence committee in 2020 showing "the Russian assault was real and that Trump assisted Putin by echoing Moscow’s denial."
Corn's open letter concluded: "You’re an influencer with a massive audience. So I hope you’ll take the time to read up on the Trump-Russia affair. You know, do your own research. There’s a ton of material. Being informed these days can take a huge amount of effort, especially when Patel and others are out there pushing disinformation."