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On Halloween We Learn the Scope of Jack Smith's Witch Hunt As the Press Pulls on Its Mask and Ignores It

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Nov 01, 2025
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Low-Octane Gaslighting – THE NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD

  • So these things became a problem in…January…?

Sometimes when you see a completely unhinged take in an editorial, you have to let it slide because usually it is the take from a lone individual and is not the impressions of the paper. But when the editorial staff are the ones delivering some unhinged commentary, it deserves recognition.

The Times Board has concocted a list of 12 items it looks at as indicators a nation might be sliding into authoritarianism. They concluded that Trump is guilty of diminishing all 12 indicators. It is our position here at RFTH that instead of refuting the entirety of the piece, showing three main problems is sufficient to show it is hysterically out of line.

  • Stifling Dissent & Free Speech: Being unbothered by Joe Biden working to censor the general public — either through the Twitter Files exposé, setting up a disinformation governance board, cutting off news outlets in the White House, among others — means this is hardly an issue.

  • Taking Steps To Control the Media: The example it primarily cites is the defunding of public broadcasting. Decoupling the media from the government is the OPPOSITE of controlling it, geniuses.

  • Use of the Immense Power of Law Enforcement to Investigate and Imprison People: Biden tried on four occasions to jail Donald Trump. He had a woman protesting through prayer thrown in jail. He pressed charges on whistleblowers. Biden arrested journalist Steve Baker. And, there is no mention of the Arctic Frost scandal evolving right now, where Biden’s DOJ used hundreds of indictments to target over 400 people and entities.

But sure, NY Times, NOW there is a threat to our democracy…

News Avoidance Syndrome – VARIOUS OUTLETS

  • So about that use of lawfare being a problem…

Speaking of Arctic Frost, we have been learning more about how extensive Jack Smith’s efforts were to find ANYthing he could use to attack Trump over January 6. It is fitting that the scope of this is being learned around Halloween, as it takes the term “witch hunt” to new levels.

In one such instance, the America First Legal Foundation announced that it learned its outfit was among those targeted by Smith’s investigation regarding the activities involving, or leading up to, January 6. It has a rather solid reason to say this was an unacceptable dose of lawfare, as it had zero involvement in the riot that day.

This is because America First had not come into existence until months after the January 6 riots.

Democratic Custodial Services – MSNBC

  • It seems Dilanian was on a four-year vacation.

Much like The New York Times, MSNBC’s intelligence correspondent Ken Dilanian looks over all of the activities that have been demonized taking place in the Trump administration, and gives a pass to those that have taken place under Joe Biden. 

In response to the breadth of the Jack Smith hunt for a crime, Ken declares there is no proof Joe Biden was involved in any capacity, even delivering scare quotes for “the Biden DOJ,” as if it is a debatable point that the former president might have encouraged any of this.

Prose & Contradiction – ABC NEWS

  • The narrative sure switched once the deadline arrived.

For some time now, the press has been insisting that Republicans working to include new parameters in the Big, Beautiful Bill to exclude those who are not legal citizens from receiving SNAP benefits was erroneous, as they are forbidden by law to receive these handouts. Of course, they do not explain the problem with forbidding those who are forbidden, but that is a detail they would rather we not explore.

Now, as November 1 arrives, the date that the BBB standards to go into effect, we now see that upwards of 90,000 of those noncitizens, who we were told could not receive the benefit, are poised to lose that benefit.