Political Wire

  • Front Page
  • Sign in
  • Members
    • Monthly – $6 a month
    • Annual – $60 a year
    • Member Benefits
    • Exclusive Analysis
    • Member Library
    • My Favorites
  • Resources
    • Political Calendar
    • Political Job Hunt
    • Political Dictionary
    • Electoral Vote Map
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Archives for Dirty Tricks

2020 Campaigns Not Ready for Deepfakes

June 4, 2019 at 7:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The 2020 presidential campaigns appear to have done little to prepare for what experts predict could be a flood of fake videos depicting candidates doing or saying something incriminating or embarrassing,” Axios reports.

“The recent manipulated video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was just a taste of what could lie ahead. Fake video has the potential to sow huge political chaos, and countering it is wildly difficult. And right now, no one can agree who’s responsible for countering it.”

Related for members: It’s Going to Get Really Bad

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign, Dirty Tricks

Russian Trolls Fueled Anti-Vaccination Debate

May 31, 2019 at 10:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

CBS News: “Russian Twitter trolls have attempted to fuel the anti-vaccination debate in the U.S., posting about the issue far more than the average Twitter user last year, a study out of George Washington University has found.”

“The ‘sophisticated’ bots shared opinions from both sides of the anti-vaxxer debate, which took the U.S. by storm and prompted tech companies to crack down on the spread of misinformation surrounding vaccinations.”

Filed Under: Dirty Tricks

It’s Going to Get Really Bad

May 24, 2019 at 7:52 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Your support makes this site possible. Join today for the complete Political Wire experience and get exclusive analysis, new features and no advertising.

Sign in to your account or join today!

Join for just $5 a month or $50 a year.

Filed Under: Dirty Tricks, Members

Israeli Firm Boasts of Lowering Turnout

April 10, 2019 at 3:53 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Haaretz: “An Israeli public relations company headed by a settler leader boasted Wednesday that it was behind the Likud initiative to place 1,200 hidden cameras in Arab polling stations on Election Day. The firm added that it was to thank for the historically low turnout among Arab voters.”

From the company’s statement: “Thanks to us placing observers in every polling station we managed to lower the voter turnout to under 50 percent, the lowest in recent years!”

Filed Under: Dirty Tricks, Foreign Elections Tagged With: Israel

Will ‘Deepfakes’ Disrupt the Midterm Elections?

November 3, 2018 at 8:37 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wired: “Plenty of people are following the final days of the midterm election campaigns. Yale law researcher Rebecca Crootof has a special interest—a small wager. If she wins, victory will be bittersweet, like the Manhattan cocktail that will be her prize.”

“In June, Crootof bet that before 2018 is out an electoral campaign somewhere in the world will be roiled by a deepfake—a video generated by machine-learning software that shows someone doing or saying something that in fact they did not do or say. Under the terms of the bet, the video must receive more than 2 million views before being debunked.”

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign, Dirty Tricks

Democrat Says Project Veritas Infiltrated Her Campaign

October 31, 2018 at 6:27 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A conservative group that creates undercover ‘sting’ videos infiltrated the campaign of Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat in a tight race with Rep. Dave Brat in Virginia’s 7th District,” the Washington Post reports.

“The campaign said a young woman working for Project Veritas posed as a Democratic volunteer and spent every day over the past several weeks in Spanberger’s suburban Richmond campaign office, performing basic office tasks — and peppering her office mates with questions that eventually raised red flags.”

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign, Dirty Tricks

Conservatives Smear Khashoggi In Defense of Trump

October 18, 2018 at 10:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A cadre of conservative House lawmakers allied with President Trump has been privately exchanging articles from right-wing outlets that depict Khashoggi as allied with terrorists — false and distorted claims that have begun to flare into public view as conservative media figures have amplified them,” the Washington Post reports.

“Khashoggi, a dissident journalist, is believed to have been killed and dismembered by Saudi operatives.”

Filed Under: Dirty Tricks

Sasse Warns of ‘Deepfake’ Perfect Storm

October 14, 2018 at 9:02 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) — who’ll be out Tuesday with his second book, Them: Why We Hate Each Other — and How to Heal — tells Axios about new artificial intelligence algorithms that can create convincing fake images, audio and video and potentially disrupt our politics.

Said Sasse: “I had a conversation last month with one of the most senior U.S. intelligence officials, who told me that many leaders in the intelligence community worry that we’re on the verge of a deepfakes ‘perfect storm.'”

Filed Under: Dirty Tricks Tagged With: Ben Sasse

Florida Candidate Caught Removing Rival’s Flyers

August 9, 2018 at 1:43 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The tussle between two Republicans vying for a chance to capture the House District 69 seat has taken an unpleasant turn,” the Tampa Bay Times reports.

“Raymond Blacklidge (R) filed a report with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office accusing his rival, Jeremy Bailie (R), of stealing his campaign fliers from the doors of dozens of St. Pete Beach homes. And, Blacklidge said, his rival then replaced them with Bailie’s own campaign materials.”

Blacklidge’s wife posted a video to Facebook showing Bailie removing the flyers.

Filed Under: Dirty Tricks

Harris Has Faced Social Media Dirty Tricks

August 3, 2018 at 8:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) tells the AP that “every month for the last 18 months, her office has discovered on average between three and five fake Facebook profiles pretending to be hers.”

“It’s unclear who creates the pages, which are often designed to mislead American voters about the ambitious Democratic senator’s policies and positions.”

Filed Under: Dirty Tricks Tagged With: Kamala Harris

Sting Targets Senator for Dirt on Russia Sanctions

July 30, 2018 at 6:32 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), known for her outspoken criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, “was hit with a bizarre impersonation attempt by someone hoping to get inside information on American sanctions targeting Russia,” according to emails and an audio recording obtained by the Daily Beast.

Shaheen “was contacted through her staff last November by an individual who said he worked for the foreign ministry of Latvia, a tiny Baltic nation supportive of efforts to reign in Russian aggression. The man said he was trying to set up a phone call between the senator and Edgars Rinkevičs, the Latvian foreign minister.”

“But before the call could take place, Shaheen’s office contacted the Latvian embassy to confirm Vaiders’ bona fides. The embassy responded that outreach attempt was fake.”

Filed Under: Dirty Tricks Tagged With: Jeanne Shaheen

Menendez Set Up Fake News Website

July 13, 2018 at 11:13 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) set up a fake health news website to attack his opponent in his re-election bid, STAT reports.

“It has headlines and bylines, an original story 834 words long, and links to 10 articles from other outlets concerning health policy and drug pricing in New Jersey. But readers expecting journalism from the upstart HealthNewsNJ.com may be in for a surprise: It’s fake news.”

Filed Under: Dirty Tricks Tagged With: NJ-Sen

Robocall Seeks Damaging Information on Roy Moore

November 14, 2017 at 5:50 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

At least one person in WKRG-TV‘s viewing area received a robocall seeking more damaging information about Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R).

Here is the text of that voicemail message:

Hi, this is Bernie Bernstein, I’m a reporter for the Washington Post calling to find out if anyone at this address is a female between the ages of 54 to 57 years old willing to make damaging remarks about candidate Roy Moore for a reward of between $5000 and $7000 dollars. We will not be fully investigating these claims however we will make a written report. I can be reached by email at albernstein@washingtonpost.com, thank you.

The Washington Post issued a statement: “The Post has just learned that at least one person in Alabama has received a call from someone falsely claiming to be from The Washington Post. The call’s description of our reporting methods bears no relationship to reality. We are shocked and appalled that anyone would stoop to this level to discredit real journalism.”

Filed Under: 2017 Campaign, Dirty Tricks Tagged With: AL-Sen

Top Brady Strategist May Be Indicted for Payoff

October 24, 2017 at 1:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Bob Brady’s (D-PA) “longtime political strategist has become the latest target in a widening federal probe of a $90,000 payment the congressman made to a primary challenger in 2012 to convince the man to drop out of the race,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

“Ken Smukler, whom prosecutors have accused of helping to secretly funnel some of that money to the rival campaign, is expected to be indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday.”

Said Brady: “He didn’t do nothing wrong. I don’t know what this is all about.”

Filed Under: 2012 Campaign, Dirty Tricks

Russian Hackers Now Using ‘Tainted Leaks’

May 25, 2017 at 10:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wired: “Over the past year, the Kremlin’s strategy of weaponizing leaks to meddle with democracies around the world has become increasingly clear, first in the US and more recently in France. But a new report by a group of security researchers digs into another layer of those so-called influence operations: how Russian hackers alter documents within those releases of hacked material, planting disinformation alongside legitimate leaks.”

Filed Under: Dirty Tricks Tagged With: Russia

Roger Stone Under Scrutiny

March 21, 2017 at 7:20 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“In President Trump’s oft-changing world order, Roger J. Stone Jr., the onetime political consultant and full-time provocateur, has been one of the few constants — a loyalist and self-proclaimed ‘dirty trickster‘ who nurtured the dream of a presidential run by the developer-turned-television-star for 30 years,” the New York Times reports.

“But two months into the Trump presidency, Mr. Stone, known for his pinstripe suits, the Nixon tattoo spanning his shoulder blades, and decades of outlandish statements, is under investigation for what would be his dirtiest trick — colluding with the Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton and put his friend in the White House.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Dirty Tricks Tagged With: Roger Stone

Mysterious Intruder Recorded Lawmakers at GOP Retreat

January 31, 2017 at 5:55 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “Reporters were kept out, and only a few select staffers, family members and outsiders were allowed to participate in the private GOP policy retreat. But at least one unauthorized person made it inside, and while it is unclear to what degree the country’s top leaders were in physical danger, their circle of trust was undoubtedly breached.”

“A person secretly recorded closed sessions on national security and health care that were attended by many dozens of GOP lawmakers. They had gathered for a private discussion of some of the thorniest legislative issues of the moment, as well as a question-and-answer session with Pence.”

Filed Under: Dirty Tricks, House of Representatives, Senate

Bolton Suggests Obama Administration Behind Hacks

December 12, 2016 at 7:59 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Ambassador John Bolton claimed that hacks during the election season could have been “a false flag” operation — possibly committed by the Obama administration itself, Politico reports.

Said Bolton: “It is not at all clear to me just viewing this from the outside, that this hacking into the DNC and the RNC computers was not a false flag. So the question has to be asked, why did the Russians run their smart intelligence service against Hillary’s server, but their dumb intelligence service against the election?”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Dirty Tricks Tagged With: John Bolton

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Next Page »

Your Account

Sign in

Latest for Members

  • A Few Thoughts for the End of the Week
  • How Biden’s Senate Confirmations Compare

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Praise for Political Wire

“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”

— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”

“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”

— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report

“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”

— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report

“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”

— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

“Political Wire is a great, great site.”

— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”

“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”

— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”

— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”

— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.

Copyright © 2021 · Goddard Media LLC | Privacy Policy

Political Wire ® is a registered trademark of Goddard Media LLC