White House Journalists Fail to Ask Jake Sullivan About His Past Russia Lies

Jake Sullivan White House press briefing (Anna Moneymaker / Getty)
Anna Moneymaker / Getty

Reporters assigned to the White House failed to ask National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan about his past record of lies about Russia, as he urged journalists to believe U.S. intelligence reports that suggested Russia would soon invade Ukraine.

Sullivan appeared at the White House press briefing on Friday to warn that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen as soon as next week, and to urge Americans to leave Ukraine, warning that U.S. troops would not be risked to rescue them.

Reporters asked why they should believe U.S. intelligence assessments, given a past history of consequential errors, such as those before the Iraq War. Sullivan encouraged journalists to ask questions, while arguing the two situations were different.

But journalists did not ask Sullivan about his specific lack of personal credibility regarding Russia, after he briefed reporters in 2016 falsely about “collusion” between Russia and President-elect Donald Trump, and made similar claims to Congress:

Breitbart News has reported on previous occasions when the press has failed to ask Sullivan about his record on Russia:

As Breitbart News reported last year, Sullivan was implicated in Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, and admitted to Congress under oath in 2017 that he had briefed reporters about his suspicions of “collusion” between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Sullivan also testified, under questioning from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), that he believed former NSA Michael Flynn had conspired with the Russian government — claims that earlier led to Flynn’s ouster. Ironically, Sullivan now holds Flynn’s job.

Shortly before Election Day in 2016, Sullivan issued a press statement claiming that Trump had a “secret hotline” to Russia via Alfa Bank. Subsequent investigations by U.S. authorities determined that the Alfa Bank conspiracy theory was false.

Sullivan repeated assertions that Russia might try to justify an invasion with a “false flag” operation to create a pretext.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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