June 27, 2020

"PizzaGate is reaching a level that nearly exceeds its 2016 fever pitch..."

"[S]tarting in April, a confluence of factors renewed interest. A documentary promoting PizzaGate, 'Out of Shadows,' made by a former Hollywood stuntman, was released on YouTube that month and passed around the QAnon community. In May, the idea that [Justin] Bieber was connected to the conspiracy surfaced. Teenagers on TikTok began promoting both...."

60 comments:

Dave Begley said...

Why is this news? Why is this fit to print?

A: The NYT thinks it can somehow harm Trump. That's Job One at the NYT.

tim in vermont said...

I thought that Pizzagate was utter and complete nonsense until I heard Prince Andrew claim he couldn’t have raped that 15 year old because he was at a children’s pizza party for one of his nieces at the time it was supposed to have happened. Now I figure that given everything else we have learned about power in America and the world, it’s impossible to say.

mccullough said...

COVID hobbies

Earnest Prole said...

Who could be fooled into thinking Hillary Clinton was running a pizza-restaurant child-sex ring? Everyone knows Hillary doesn't believe in sex.

n.n said...

The NYT thinks it can somehow harm Trump. That's Job One at the NYT.

NYT has been in collusion to conspiracy for 16 trimesters and in progress.

Steve M. Galbraith said...

Now I figure that given everything else we have learned about power in America and the world, it’s impossible to say.

I don't follow this. Person "A" lied about Event "X" therefore Event "Y" - which has nothing to do with "X" or Person "A" - is possible?

What is there about "X" that makes "Y" possible? People lied about "X"?

bagoh20 said...

The thing about a lot of political conspiracy theories is that the people who they supposedly expose often don't know much about them. I'm a Hillary hater, and never even knew what pizza gate was until long after it was past.

And whatever...gate. Man, has that worn out? Watergate is now the least offensive presidential scandal of my lifetime. Obama alone averaged at least one much more serious offense every year of his term.

Sally327 said...

As conspiracies go this doesn't really seem up there with the second gunman on the grassy knoll.

Butkus51 said...

All I know is the Hill-Monster will be testifying in Sept. Thats all I know.

Rory said...

What real conspiracy has to be discredited by association with this conspiracy theory? That's a toughie.

MayBee said...

Those TikTok Teens again!

Temujin said...

Is this where a pizza place claims to make authentic Napoletana Pizza but we find out they were using a can of Paul Newman's Own sauce?

Ron Winkleheimer said...

They are throwing around a lot of high sounding numbers, but don't provide any context. Eighty-three million views on tik tok as compared to what? According to this article tik tok may have almost a billion users, most of whom are not in the US.

https://www.businessofapps.com/data/tik-tok-statistics/

Also, the article kept repeating that the conspiracy theory had been debunked, but didn't say how it had been debunked. The MSM does that all the time. They simply declare something is debunked and that's that. I think the article is a fail because as someone who never thought much about Pizzagate and is not into conspiracy theories, I now want to check out the Out Of The Shadows video.

doctrev said...

Hillary doesn't want sex with anyone, children or no. But blackmail and the full spectrum of sin- that she understands.

A great deal of the full-scale meltdown among the Ruler Law faction, culminating in the murder of a high profile billionaire within the federal prison system, could be explained by Pizzagate. And now the DOJ has an ironclad reason to put certain Very Important Prisoners in "special custody."

Earnest Prole said...

I had forgotten that PizzaGate originated with the seizure of Anthony Weiner's computer (probably costing Hillary Clinton the election), which reminds me to tell you to run, don't walk, to watch the documentary film Weiner -- jaw-dropping and hilarious.

MayBee said...

I don't think Comet had anything to do with anything.

But....those pizza emails from the Podestas were weird. The Podestas have packed up shop and are laying incredibly low after decades in the spotlight. They were hanging around the Clintons, and Clinton hung around Epstein. I don't think we'll ever know the truth.

gilbar said...

things we KNOW
the pizza place was run by fags (oh! SORRY run by Gays)
the pizza place would have 'gay friendly' bands late at night
the pizza place MADE A POINT, of Not checking IDs (or ages) for its band nights
the pizza place had A LOT of bathrooms, Each one of which was lockable from the inside
the pizza place's bathrooms were VERY nice, and spacious (with couches the size of beds)
the pizza place's bathrooms each had a name (NOT men's/womens) which seemed to have NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING (so, if you were a stranger, you probably wouldn't even know they were bathrooms). OH! and the names might have been some sort of slang

NOT that i'm saying, that there's Anything wrong with that.
IF you're a couple of fags (again! SORRY, Gays) that decided to build a place for teenaged (and PRE-teenaged) boys to cum, and explore their sexuality by seeing 'gay friendly' bands, and meeting nice men.... That should be your own business; right?

Bruce Hayden said...

First, a note. Epstein, and his coconspirator, Maxwell mostly, if not exclusively, dealt with fully developed post pubescent girls below the legal age of consent. This isn’t really pedophilia. And this, as far as I know, was where both Slick Willy and Randy Andy were involved. What is alleged for the Podesta brothers is that they were engaged in real pedophilia, having sexual relations with prepubescents.

The NYT has never really tried to disprove the story. They just claim it to have been false, and hurtful to the great heroes of the Democratic Party accused of actual pedophilia, like the Podesta brothers. And, of course, they base their story on their “fact checkers” whose facts seem to be that there were never any indictments, and these heroes of the Democratic Party would never have done anything so horrible. But, of course there were no indictments because no one would actually believe that heroes of the Democratic Party, like the Podesta brothers, would never do anything so degenerate. After all, they were still being invited to all of the most important cocktail parties, even after the allegations were originally made.

Wince said...

Judging from Bill Maher's schtick last night, Russiagate is once again reaching a level that nearly exceeds its fever pitch.

The glaring difference with Pizzagate is that one is promoted by the establishment media, and the other isn't.

whitney said...

I think it's the real.

Birkel said...

I just cannot understand how anybody could believe Hollywood is a cult/grooming gang.
What evidence is there for that except all the child rape stories out of Hollywood?

Further, I cannot believe DC (Hollywood for ugly people) could be a cult/grooming gang.
Other than all those stories of Capitol Hill pages and interns being raped, what evidence is there?

Not to mention, I cannot believe the MSM in NYC is a cult/grooming gang.
Other than all the lawsuits alleging rape and sexual assault, what evidence do all these people have?

Nothing!
That's what they have.
Nothing.

Tom T. said...

Have to find *something* to distract readers from the fact that a BLM mob tore down a suffrage statue and beat up a gay politician in Madison.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

remember that ridiculous story of the "rich guy with an island in the Caribbean" that the Clintons supposedly hung out with??
It's all preposterous until it's yesterday's news.

is there something that this article is trying to get ahead of?

Dr Weevil said...

Someone above mentioned Weiner, and someone asked "is there something that this article is trying to get ahead of?". I forget where I read it - most likely here or Ace of Spades or Twitter - but some think Barr fired US Attorney Berman of SDNY recently because he was dragging his feet in the Weiner laptop, Epstein, and Prince Andrew investigation(s). Or because he was dragging his feet in prosecuting BLM and Antifa looters and arsonists and statue-vandals. Or of course both: doing two things at once may be difficult, but not doing two things at once that you're supposed to be doing is actually quite easy.

ckmishn said...

As dumb as "Pizzagate" is, it's still not as stupid as believing the "ok" sign is a dog whistle for white supremacy.

Milo Minderbinder said...

Professor? John Podesta is holding on line two....

Original Mike said...

Blogger bagoh20 said..."The thing about a lot of political conspiracy theories is that the people who they supposedly expose often don't know much about them. I'm a Hillary hater, and never even knew what pizza gate was until long after it was past."

I learn about political conspiracy theories here, from Inga. Seriously.

clint said...

It's so weird. I frequent all sorts of right-wing blogs. And the first I'm hearing about the resurgence of Pizzagate is a story in the NY Times. Heck, I think it was the same with the first emergence of Pizzagate.

narciso said...

how did podesta and weber, who were the ones who paid to lobby congress and administration officials, avoid prosecution, whereas manafort was targeted,

Earnest Prole said...

I just watched the PizzaGate documentary mentioned in the Times article, Out of Shadows, and learned that Jim Morrison and the Doors were some kind of CIA front, which only makes sense because Morrison's dad was Mr Gulf of Tonkin and caused the Vietnam War. Highly recommended.

0_0 said...

The NYT is a bogus publication.

J Melcher said...

The MSM does that all the time. They simply declare something is debunked and that's that.

It's a peculiar claim, at that. NOT that the story was proven entirely false. Not that the logical steps were invalid. Not that the logic was sound but the premises incorrect. " De-bunked. " The story included bunkum, but the bunkum has no been exposed and removed, leaving ... well, we are to infer, nothing at all.

But MOST stories include at least some bunkum. Nathan Phillips vs the Covington Kids was a pretty good story, for awhile. The Native American Viet Nam Veteran protestor ... then we learned that the Vietnam thing was Bunkum. Remove that from the story and you were still left with the conflict between Phillips and the teens, right? In order to REFUTE (not debunk) the Covington story it was necessary to show that Phillips approached the teens rather than the reverse, that racial slurs arose from another group entirely, that the teens did not "surround" anybody but were lined up on stairs awaiting a bus ... All of which took several weeks and many stories. Seems like the interval between a claim and a "debunking" is a lot faster.

Susan said...

Of course, if those who are guilty would just come forward and confess their sins, I'm sure all will be well. Forgiveness will be swift and sure.

If not, well, the rice paddies can always use more fertilizer.

Gospace said...

Since Trump took office child porn arrests, prosecutions, and convictions are way up. That’s indisputable. My former doctor and two former Scout leaders I know, one of them from the time he was a Scout are now prison residents. Before Trump I knew exactly zero people arrested and prosecuted for that particular crime. I do wonder if any information on them came from Wiener’s computer.

Mark B said...

I just watched that whole video because of you, Mrs. Althouse (and the New York Times!). I had long ago discounted "Pizzagate" as "debunked" and deluded. I thought it was kind of nutty overall, but there were some apparently real things presented that in a sane world would be investigated and shown in the light of day. Apparently John Podesta is a real, live Satanist. Very strange.

But, then I see the madness all about. Like that insane white boy Shaun King threatening to destroy depictions of white Jesus, and people burning churches. And I start to think this is evil incarnate.

I don't know how Gilbar KNOWS those things he said "we KNOW" (at 3:05pm above), but I'm tempted to go buy a pizza at Comet just to check the place out. Apparently it is still a going concern https://www.cometpingpong.com/ And the whole family loves pizza and ping-pong!

Mark B said...

I just watched that whole video because of you, Mrs. Althouse (and the New York Times!). I had long ago discounted "Pizzagate" as "debunked" and deluded. I thought it was kind of nutty overall, but there were some apparently real things presented that in a sane world would be investigated and shown in the light of day. Apparently John Podesta is a real, live Satanist. Very strange.

But, then I see the madness all about. Like that insane white boy Shaun King threatening to destroy depictions of white Jesus, and people burning churches. And I start to think this is evil incarnate.

I don't know how Gilbar KNOWS those things he said "we KNOW" (at 3:05pm above), but I'm tempted to go buy a pizza at Comet just to check the place out. Apparently it is still a going concern https://www.cometpingpong.com/ And the whole family loves pizza and ping-pong!

Inga said...

“I learn about political conspiracy theories here, from Inga. Seriously.”

Ha, and I’ve heard more conspiracy theories from you Trumpists the last three years then I’ve ever heard elsewhere in a lifetime. Who killed Seth Rich, Pizzagate, Hillary Clinton killed hundreds of people, the Podestas eat children, just to name a few. LOL at you people.

Inga said...

Than

Bruce Hayden said...

“ some think Barr fired US Attorney Berman of SDNY recently because he was dragging his feet in the Weiner laptop, Epstein, and Prince Andrew investigation(s). Or because he was dragging his feet in prosecuting BLM and Antifa looters and arsonists and statue-vandals. Or of course both: doing two things at once may be difficult, but not doing two things at once that you're supposed to be doing is actually quite easy.”

My guess is that the root problem was that Berman was never Trump’s. He was put there by the SDNY courts. But the Mueller investigation moved some of their cases over to the SDNY USA, and while the others have shut them down, Berman appears to have kept some of the insurrection SDNY AUSAs around. The DC USA showed which side they were on when they personally signed onto the Flynn Mandamus brief.

Trump should have put his person in there better than three years ago when he had to fire Bergman’s predecessor, the odious Preet Baharra, who refused to offer his letter of resignation, when they were requested from all of the holdover USAs, and was the only USA in the country who had to be fired. And who had put fellow Indian American Dinesh d’Sousa in prison for five months for a de minimis campaign finance violation (while ignoring almost $100 million in violations by Crooked Hillary), for the perceived crime of writing a book critical of Preet’s boss, St Obama.

Original Mike said...

You've heard none of those from me, Inga.

narciso said...

he was guiliani's law partner, but he did keep much of the sdny staff and he hired khuzaimi, as deputy, and deferred authority on the cohen and manafort cases to him, he softpedaled all the investigations in dem matters,

Birkel said...

Tell us more about Boogaloo Bois, Royal ass Inga.

You remember that conspiracy theory, right?

Darkisland said...

It is hard to imagine how bad they think things are when they throw out Pizzagate as a distraction.

Their internal polling must be really horrible.

I have no idea whether it is true or not but it is going to be really fun to bash them about the head and shoulders with it.

We should remember that Podesta (I forget which one) has child porn proudly displayed in his living room. According to an article in the WaPo a few years back. With a full frontal picture of a nude girl, looking 14-16, displayed at the foot of his stairs. Of course WaPo praised him for his edgy taste in art. Anyone else would be in jail for child porn.

John Henry

Darkisland said...

I was reminded earlier today of someone else who frequently wore Hawaiian shirts: Arthur Godfrey.

I was watching the video of him firing a popular latino cast member, on the air, in the most humiliating way possible. He had a suit on but looking into the eyes of that racist prick you could tell that in his mind he was wearing a Hawaian shirt.

John Henry

bgates said...

Epstein, and his coconspirator, Maxwell mostly,

Epstein had a coconspirator named Maxwell Mostly?

gilbar said...

I don't know how Gilbar KNOWS those things he said "we KNOW"

my source was the New York Times (nah! it was the NPR, i just like that line from Dr Strangelove)

here's some stuff from Slate
For the better part of a decade, Comet has been both a neighborhood hang for young families as well as a reliable home for eccentrics, queers, outsiders, and their art.
Alefantis, who owns another restaurant on the same street and is a formidable player in the D.C. art world, fills his restaurant with a rotating collection of installations from local visual artists.
The pingpong tables in the back room regularly get cleared out for concerts featuring up-and-coming local acts alongside touring bands that could easily book the bigger venues in town. While families eat pizza in the front, D.C. punks cheer on their friends and idols in the back.
Even when the headliner is a band called Sex Stains, the vibe is generally pretty wholesome.


and here is a report from WTOP-FM about the restrooms
https://wtop.com/news/2013/03/the-craziest-bathrooms-in-the-capital/


gilbar said...

here's some of the captions on the Wtop pix


This bathroom needs its own GPS locator. Concealed among a wall of
wooden planks and without any signage, Comet Ping Pong's restrooms turn
all its patrons into detectives. It'll even buy you enough time to
choreograph a signature potty dance.

A sexy bathroom? The phrase seems like an oxymoron until you step into
the men's room at Proof. Named one of Zagat's sexiest bathrooms in the
country, the bathroom received a "9" on Zagat's "Sex-o-meter." The sink
fixture, a sculpture of a black and white female nude, is the main
attraction. Proof didn't skimp on the ladies' room either. Be sure to
check out the elegant design of pinks and hearts.

Get the best view in the city…from your tub. Overlooking the Washington
Monument and the White House from your floating tub, the Extreme Wow
Suite will have you floating on cloud nine.

Iman said...

The NYT reports!?!? No... the NYT suuuucccckkkksssssss...

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

didnt Skippy promise us aliens?

may come in handy around 9/9

Drago said...

Inga the Russian Collusion/Carter Page is a russian spy/Kavanaugh is a gang rapist Truther: "the Podestas eat children,"

I would love to see the link for that one.

tim in vermont said...

"What is there about "X" that makes "Y" possible? People lied about "X"? “

People lied about A, B, C, D, E, F, G ... ZZZZZZR, ZZZZZZS...

It’s impossible to be cynical enough anymore.

tim in vermont said...

"I’ve ever heard elsewhere in a lifetime.”

This from a person who watches MSNBC and believes Rachael Maddow, who said in court that she deals in "rhetorical hyperbole that can’t be proven true or false.” Still people take her seriously.

Russia, Russia, Russia!

wendybar said...

Geez, I wonder why people think there are pedophiles in our mist( hmmmmm…..Jeffrey Epstein) Isn't it funny how we never hear about the fun they had on Epsteins Orgy Island anymore since he "KILLED HIMSELF" /snark) Whether people want to admit it or not....Hollywood and DC are full of them.....

wendybar said...

There's more evidence of DC and Hollywood pedophiles than there are of Russian Collusion. Follow the money!!

tim maguire said...

bagoh20 said...The thing about a lot of political conspiracy theories is that the people who they supposedly expose often don't know much about them. I'm a Hillary hater, and never even knew what pizza gate was until long after it was past.

Same, and even today I am barely aware of it and couldn’t tell you the details of what it was.

MayBee said...

I only knew about pizzagate, but I didn't know that it raised any large number of people talking about it.

But the Jeffrey Epstein stuff is weird, and its real. Very few people have been named and only he has paid any kind of legal price.

Browndog said...

If PIZZAGATE! is similar to BENGHAZI! is similar to SETH RICH!...then everyone should give pause to dismissing it out of hand.

The left assigns conspiracies to whatever they really, really don't want to talk about. It's a good thing that the press is finally combing through the Podesta emails to uncover the genesis of this crazy conspiracy. That's what they're doing, right?

Maybe get some good summertime spirit cooking recipes while we're at it.

Oh, and Qanon is fake. Kept alive by those that still hold out hope that our government isn't totally corrupt, and somebody someday will be prosecuted for the coup.

Sam L. said...

I despise, detest, and distrust the NYT. The WaPoo, too!

Kirk Parker said...

"Everyone knows Hillary doesn't believe in sex."

Nobody tell Huma.

Johnathan Birks said...

Russiagate defined conspiracy down, as Sen. Moynihan might say. The probability of even the wackiest CT is never zero.