What, Exactly, Is the “Russia Hoax”? To Start with, It’s Not a Hoax. | The Militarization of Silicon Valley | Where Have the Proud Boys Gone?, and more

But plenty of authorities have pointed out that Trump’s claim of a hoax is nonsense. In 2017, PolitiFact named that its lie of the year. In 2018, The Washington Post reported: “Trump’s Russia ‘Hoax’ Turns Out to Be Real.” In 2019, a report by the Justice Department’s inspector general concluded that, as my colleague Adam Serwer put it, “the ‘Russia hoax’ defense is itself a hoax, and a highly successful one, aimed at reassuring Trump supporters who might otherwise be troubled by the president’s behavior.” Still, the idea that the whole thing was a chimera has taken hold even within some precincts of the mainstream press, where the whole thing is treated as a weird passing obsession. The journalist Ben Smith, who made the decision to publish the Steele dossier, now contends, vaguely and in passive voice, that “Trump was in retrospect treated unfairly.”
Meanwhile, Trump world continues to cook up new iterations of the hoax claim. The most recent ones are driven by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who has a history of weaponizing intelligence, to use a term he’s a fan of, and Gabbard, who has for years repeated Kremlin talking points. Last month, Ratcliffe alleged that in 2016, three of the nation’s top intelligence officials “manipulated intelligence and silenced career professionals—all to get Trump,” but as my colleague Shane Harris reported, he didn’t have evidence to back that up. Gabbard has released a dribble of documents intended to bolster it, but still nothing that matches the claims.
In recent days, MAGA allies have pushed a new and shocking allegation: that emails show Clinton actually approved a plan to smear Trump by claiming he was colluding with Russia. The problem is that, once again, investigations have debunked it. A special counsel appointed by Barr during Trump’s first term, with the goal of ferreting out political skulduggery in the Russia investigation, found that messages about Clinton being treated as a smoking gun were, in fact, likely concocted by the Russians. As The New York Times reported, “The special counsel, John H. Durham, went to great lengths to try to prove that several of the emails were real, only to ultimately conclude otherwise.”
Durham’s finding of a Russian forgery is ironic: Someone has finally turned up a real Russia hoax. Rather than working to fight it, however, Trump’s aides are once more colluding with Russia to mislead the American people and further Trump’s political fortunes.

The Militarization of Silicon Valley  (Sheera Frenkel, New York Times)
In a major shift, Google, OpenAI, Meta and venture capitalists —many of whom had once forsworn involvement in war —have embraced the military industrial complex.

Where Have the Proud Boys Gone?  (Ali Breland, The Atlantic)
Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown has left the extremist group with little to do.

Ye’s Ex-Publicist Wants Him to Pay $100K She Spent Fighting His “Absurd” Motion in Antisemitism Lawsuit  (Billboard)
A Jewish publicist suing Ye (formerly Kanye West) for antisemitism is demanding that the rapper repay nearly $100,000 incurred by her legal team in fending off a “frivolous and absurd” motion that argued, unsuccessfully, that artistic freedom allows Ye to call himself a “Nazi” and “Hitler” with no legal recourse.

‘Entire Attack Livestreamed on Facebook’: Oct 7. Victim Relatives File Lawsuit Against Meta  (Sarah Ben-Nun, Jerusalem Post)
A motion for certification for a class action lawsuit for over four billion shekels was filed on Monday by October 7 victims, their families, and users on Facebook and Instagram against corporate parent giant Meta. The motion charged that the mammoth social media companies had played a part in the atrocities that took place on that Saturday, and effectively violated the privacy rights of users by bombarding them with sensitive content. This, the motion argues, is inseparable from the broader attack.

Anti-tech Extremism: How AI Could Become Target of Political Violence  (Cody Combs, The National)
Major investment in artificial intelligence in countries around the world, along with the societal changes it causes, could lead to a surge in anti-technology extremism, an expert has warned. Author and technology researcher Mauro Lubrano said that various issues brought about by AI development, such as job losses, might prompt anarchists and eco-terrorists to increase their attempts to make their message more public.

RFK Jr. May Be on the Verge of Dismantling U.S. Preventive Health Care  (Leana S. Wen, Washington Post)
Here’s how the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force influences medical guidance.

The Case for Reauthorizing CISA 2015  (Michael Daniel, Lawfare)
Congressional failure to reauthorize the cyber information sharing statute would deal a considerable blow to cybersecurity efforts.

The D.C. Circuit Rules on the 9/11 Guilty Pleas—and Says Much More  (Natalie K. Orpett, Lawfare)
The 2-1 opinion is a signal—whether intentional or not—that the majority believes the Guantanamo military commissions have failed.