Tim Miller on the need to take conspiracy theories and disinformation seriously

<p>Tim Miller worked in Republican politics for many years but over the last few years he's become more of a writer. One of his latest pieces at The Bulwark is titled, "<a href="https://thebulwark.com/taking-obamagate-seriously/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Taking #Obamagate Seriously: President Trump's Bonkers Theory Explaine</a>d."</p><p><br></p><p>Tim is a veteran political communicator with a good feel for how information flow moves in the modern media environment, and he believes that you can't let half-truths and lies spread unchallenged.</p><p><br></p><p>He's spent a lot of time trying to unpack and explain some of the more popular conspiracy theories on the right.</p><p><br></p><p>We talk about the speciousness of President Trump's insinuations that President Obama did something wrong, but also about the apparent mishandling of the FBI's 2017 interview of then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.</p><p><br></p><p>Some background reading on Flynn:</p><ul><li>"<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-30/the-case-against-michael-flynn-now-looks-a-lot-weaker" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Case Against Michael Flynn Now Looks a Lot Weaker</a>" by Eli Lake </li><li>"<a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/05/fbi-set-up-michael-flynn-to-preserve-trump-russia-probe/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The FBI Set Flynn Up to Preserve the Trump–Russia Probe</a>," by Andrew McCarthy</li><li>"<a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/why-flynn-interview-was-predicated" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Why the Flynn Interview Was Predicated</a>," by Barbara McQuade</li><li>"<a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/flynn-redux-what-those-fbi-documents-really-show" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Flynn Redux: What Those FBI Documents Really Show</a>" by Benjamin Wittes &amp; Quinta Jurecic</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Outro music: "Flux Capacitor” by Jay Electronica </p> <p>Support this show <a target="_blank" rel="payment" href="http://supporter.acas