Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s surprise announcement Wednesday that he would not seek re-election in 2018 inspired a Democratic National Committee staffer and a former Obama aide to circulate a conspiracy theory alleging the Russians might have compromised the Utah congressman.
DNC deputy communications director Adrienne Watson highlighted an April 13 tweet from former British MP Louise Mensch, whose star in the U.S. has risen directly proportional to her willingness to accuse everyone and everything of being part of some shady Russian conspiracy.
Mensch wrote last week, “Sources say there is kompromat on [Rep. Chaffetz] that this is why he turned and that [FBI] know it. #traitorinthehouse.”
The former member of Parliament provided exactly zero evidence to back her claim the Russians have compromising information on Chaffetz. However, this lack of proof didn’t stop Watson from sharing the tweet Wednesday as news of the congressman’s abrupt retirement surprised both journalists and politicos.
“Chaffetz not seeking re-election will raise more questions about this,” the DNC staffer tweeted, linking to Mensch.
Elsewhere on social media, Ned Price, who served as a special assistant to former President Obama, circulated a blog post rehashing Mensch’s original conspiracy tweet.
“Interesting, if single-sourced, article from a few days ago. Just getting around to sharing it now cause, well …,” Price said Wednesday afternoon.
He linked to a separate Twitter account called the “Trump Diaries.” That account had tweeted an article titled, “Intel source: FBI discovers Kremlin is blackmailing Jason Chaffetz over Donald Trump and Russia.”
The blog post hinges entirely on Mensch’s unfounded allegation.
“According to an intel community source, the FBI has learned that Russia has ‘kompromat’ blackmail material on Chaffetz and has been using it to keep him in line with regard to Trump’s Russia scandal,” the post reads. “The intel source comes by way of political pundit Louise Mensch, whose inside sources have a history of being correct about FISA warrants and other matters.”
It concluded, “Now comes the question of just what the FBI will do with the apparent knowledge that Jason Chaffetz, a sitting Congressman, is a traitor acting on behalf of Russia. Will Chaffetz eventually end up among the arrests?“
Like Mensch’s original tweet, the blog post provides no evidence of an actual link between Chaffetz and the Russians.
The congressman, for his part, clarified Wednesday that his looming retirement is about himself and his family and nothing else.
“For those that would speculate otherwise, let me be clear that I have no ulterior motives. I am healthy. I am confident I would continue to be re-elected by large margins,” he said in a statement posted to his Facebook page.
“I have the full support of Speaker Ryan to continue as Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. That said, I have made a personal decision to return to the private sector,” it added.
