Surprise, surprise, leaked emails show Immigration policy shaped by white nationalist

Discussion in 'Politics' started by Cuddles, Nov 12, 2019.

  1. Cuddles

    Cuddles

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...t-man-immigration-promoted-white-nationalism/

    Leaked Stephen Miller emails suggest Trump’s point man on immigration promoted white nationalism


    In the lead up to the 2016 election, White House Senior Adviser Stephen Miller sought to promote white nationalism, far-right extremist ideas and anti-immigrant rhetoric through the conservative site Brietbart, according to a report released Tuesday by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

    The report is the first installment in a series that draws on more than 900 leaked emails that Miller sent to a Breitbart writer over a 15-month period between 2015 and 2016. The report describes Miller’s emails as overwhelmingly focused on race and immigration and characterizes him as obsessed with ideas like “white genocide” (a conspiracy theory associated with white supremacists) and sharply curbing immigration by nonwhites.

    In the wake of the news Tuesday, at least one member of Congress, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), called for Miller to resign.

    Miller did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said via email she hasn’t seen the report, but called the SPLC “an utterly-discredited, long-debunked far-left smear organization.”

    “They are beneath public discussion, even in The Washington Post,” Grisham said of the civil-rights nonprofit.

    Among the more damming email exchanges highlighted in the SPLC report is one that shows Miller directing a Breitbart reporter to aggregate stories from the white supremacist journal American Renaissance, or “AmRen,” for stories that emphasize crimes committed by immigrants and nonwhites. In another, Miller is apparently upset that Amazon removed Confederate flag merchandise from its marketplace in the wake of the 2015 Charleston church massacre (Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also owns The Post); others reportedly show him promote “The Camp of Saints,” a racist French novel popular among white nationalists.

    SPLC’s report indicates Miller was widely successful in molding the race and immigration-focused stories that appeared on Brietbart. It repeated details how an email from Miller corresponded to a related article later appearing on the site.

    The trove of emails were provided to SPLC by Katie McHugh, a former Breitbart writer and editor who exchanged scores of messages with Miller during his time transitioning from a press aide for then-U. S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to a senior adviser with then-candidate Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

    Breitbart fired McHugh in 2017 over anti-Muslim tweets; McHugh has since denounced her association with white nationalism and the far right.

    “[McHugh] is well aware of the risks she took in giving us the material and confirming information,” Hayden said. “I think that’s incredibly brave.”

    The SPLC shared with The Post seven pages of emails that are directly referenced in the report by SPLC investigative reporter Michael Edison Hayden.

    The Post has not independently verified the emails and McHugh could not be reached for comment. SPLC investigative reporter Michael Edison Hayden told The Post that he reached out to McHugh earlier this year as she was formerly on the periphery of several extremist groups he was following. McHugh was familiar with his work, Hayden said, and mentioned having materials she wanted to show him. After allowing him to view the emails on what Hayden recalled was “a very old computer,” McHugh ultimately decided to release the emails to him.

    “What Stephen Miller sent to me in those emails has become policy at the Trump administration,” McHugh said, in the SPLC.

    Several years on from the email exchanges, Miller is likely at the height of his power within the West Wing. As The Post previously reported, Miller is one of President Donald Trump’s longest-tenured advisers — along with Kellyanne Conway and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka and son-in-law, Jared Kushner — and the most influential adviser shaping the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

    Hayden, who typically reports on white nationalism and neo-Nazis and said that while he was conscious of the Trump administration “as any American would be,” he wasn’t paying particular attention to Miller.

    “I never had any ambition of writing any kind of piece exposing Stephen Miller. I took him to be part of the Trump culture but not something that was in my lane.” Looking at Miller’s emails changed that, Hayden said.

    Excerpted emails shared with The Post show Miller drawing on stories from outlets like the anti-immigration white nationalist site VDARE and the conspiracy theory website Infowars and sending them to McHugh. Miller appears to urge McHugh to write about the stories and discusses how to frame them and push them to prominence on Breitbart’s site.

    After reading several profiles about Miller to understand his background, Hayden said he was struck by how Miller was portrayed — and dismayed there was seemingly little effort made to examine the sources from which Miller drew his beliefs.

    “I remember The Washington Post profile had at the end: ‘he was running’ — this idea that [Miller’s] always busy, he’s always working.” Another profile in the Atlantic, Hayden recalled, described Miller looking like he was “posing for a cologne ad.”

    “A lot of profiles in the liberal press have treated him like some sort of policy wonk bad boy — almost romanticized him,” Hayden said. “The most important takeaway for me is that Stephen Miller found the basis for his ideas on websites that traffic in hate, and made it clear in his emails."
     
    Last edited: Nov 12, 2019
  2. Overnight

    Overnight

    So, it's Miller time? I'll drink to that.
     
  3. Those that didn't share the same views as Trump were quickly sidelined or fired , some left on their own. The fact that Miller is one of the longest serving members of the administration means that Trump and Miller share the same views.
    Historians will note that.
     
  4. Tony Stark

    Tony Stark

  5. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    Full disclaimer: I did not read all those links and there is so much being vomited about in that article, it would take me literally all day to sift through it.

    What I did click on went essentially like this: "Miller referred to Calvin Coolidge several times in an email. White Nationalists lionize Coolidge, ergo Miller is a White Nationalist."

    One of Miller's mention of Coolidge:

    Murch, Aug. 4, 2015, 6:22 p.m. ET: “[Show host] Mark Levin just said there should be no immigration for several years. Not just cut the number down from the current 1 million green cards per year. For assimilation purposes.”

    Miller, Aug. 4, 2015, 6:23 p.m. ET: “Like Coolidge did. Kellyanne Conway poll says that is exactly what most Americans want after 40 years of non-stop record arrivals.”

    Ah. So because Miller believes American people want to halt immigration for "several years" so the current immigration process can settle down and we can solve some things, he is a White Nationalist? Huh?

    Miller was "upset" that confederate flags were removed. Maybe because a good deal of folks don't associate the confederate flag with racism, but with a part of our history? Just because folks on the left go into a foaming rage every time they see a confederate flag doesn't make the guy a white nationalist.

    Miller ate dinner with two other people SPLC calls White Nationalists - and whether they are or not actual White Nationalists, I cannot say. What I can say is that the SPLC is - itself - a hate organization that leans left and has no value in the eyes of the right as an impartial organization bent on removing hate - just removing conservative groups.

    There are numerous articles about the SPLC having "lost all credibility" and having to pay fines for false labeling of people and organizations, including this one from the Washington Post.

    After years of smearing good people with false charges of bigotry, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has finally been held to account. A former Islamic radical named Maajid Nawaz sued the center for including him in its bogus “Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists,” and this week the SPLC agreed to pay him a $3.375 million settlement and issued a public apology.

    The SPLC is a once-storied organization that did important work filing civil rights lawsuits against the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. But it has become a caricature of itself, labeling virtually anyone who does not fall in line with its left-wing ideology an “extremist” or “hate group.”

    So this article, based entirely on the SPLC, is probably horseshit as well.

    Happy to change my mind if you show me something that is clearly Miller being a White Nationalist.
     
    Max E. likes this.
  6. Black_Cat

    Black_Cat

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    WeToddDid2 and MoneyMatthew like this.
  7. Cuddles

    Cuddles

    Full disclosure, tl;dr
     
  8. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    So you post something long enough to rival War & Peace, but the moment someone has a reply about 1/10th the size, you can't be bothered because you don't like the content. More evidence that you don't care about solutions or debate, just slinging mud.
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2019
  9. Cuddles

    Cuddles

    I don't care about opinions, just facts. I bolded the important bits to aid the reader.
     
  10. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    Half of what you "bolded" is opinion.
     
    #10     Nov 13, 2019