NOTE:
When writing about God and Jesus, The Daily Jot means YHVH as God and Yeshua Ha Mashiach as Jesus--the actual original names and the true nature and character of them.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Discernment in perilous times is extremely important that we are able to heed the warning of Christ in Matthew 24:4, "Take heed that no man deceive you." Last week, there was a story that originated from Buzzfeed citing anonymous sources saying that President Donald Trump directed his personal lawyer to lie about his business dealings in Russia. In particular, the story said that Trump told Michael Cohen to say that he had no business dealings in Russia. All the while, the story says, Trump was working with Russian officials to reach agreement on putting a hotel in Moscow. In the immediate aftermath, the mainstream media and Democrats called for Trump's impeachment over 200 times.
Trouble is, the story is not true. The Daily Jot held back from reporting on this news because it didn't meet our criteria. First, the facts in the story didn't add up--it didn't appear that Trump instructed a lie. He had no business deal on a hotel in Moscow, although his business team was trying to reach one, according to the story. So where is the very basis for the story-the lie? Seasoned businessmen know that there is no deal until the deal is signed, raising a red flag in discerning this story. The headline said Trump instructed a lie; the story didn't support the claim. And just because someone is told to lie, the person is responsible for his own actions. Then there was a new twist. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Trump for Russian collusion in the 2016 election, rebuked the story.
Peter Carr, spokesman for Mueller's office, said. "BuzzFeed's description of specific statements to the Special Counsel's Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen's Congressional testimony are not accurate." Buzzfeed also was first to publish the infamous "pee" dossier on January 10, 2017 that started the Russian election investigations. That dossier was found to have been fabricated by a former British Intelligence officer working for Fusion GPS. Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee hired Fusion GPS to produce the now discredited dossier. That Buzzfeed broke the lie instruction and the pee dossier stories was another red flag.
The news media and the Democratic Party leadership went into full gear calling for more investigations of Trump and his impeachment following Buzzfeed's story. Then Mueller's office issued its statement. The news media had to pivot, but the impeachment calls and investigation threats remain. This is the anatomy of deception: Put the false story in the public, let the media cover it repeatedly, the story is found to be untrue, the damage is already done, move on to the next fake story. Neither Mueller nor the President nor anyone else can undo the damage already done. As a nation, as countrymen, we should be as David in Psalm 101:7, "He that works deceit shall not dwell within my house; he that tells lies shall not tarry in my sight." We need to banish the liars from our houses and from our sight that we are not deceived in the time ahead.
