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A new Snopes investigation by @alexkasprak sheds light on the Public Interest Legal Foundation — a conservative legal group with myriad ties to both the Trump Administration and right-wing media, but a questionable commitment to accuracy. Thread: https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
PILF has had success generating viral headlines sowing doubt about the integrity of mail-in balloting in the lead up to the 2020 general election. This is not the group’s first rodeo: In 2016, it pushed Trump-friendly claims of widespread noncitizen voting https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
In this investigation, Snopes provides a candid look at PILF’s process — from conception to media promotion — by drawing on hundreds of discovery documents produced in a 2018 defamation lawsuit against PILF. https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
That case stemmed from PILF’s 2016 and 2017 effort to identify — and publicly name — people the group falsely claimed were noncitizens participating in U.S. elections in a series of reports called "Alien Invasion in Virginia." https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
That lawsuit showed a group as eager to discard evidence that did not fit its narrative as it was to accept evidence that does.
PILF President J. Christian Adams said it was a "great lesson [in] how to generate, create, organize and weaponize narrative." https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
![That lawsuit showed a group as eager to discard evidence that did not fit its narrative as it was to accept evidence that does. PILF President J. Christian Adams said it was a "great lesson [in] how to generate, create, organize and weaponize narrative." https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkekkBMWMAMkflL.png "That lawsuit showed a group as eager to discard evidence that did not fit its narrative as it was to accept evidence that does. PILF President J. Christian Adams said it was a \"great lesson [in] how to generate, create, organize and weaponize narrative.\" https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread")
PILF President J. Christian Adams said it was a "great lesson [in] how to generate, create, organize and weaponize narrative." https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
Generating and creating that narrative, however, relied on interpreting Virginia voter roll data in a way PILF was explicitly told by election officials was incorrect. https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
Internally, PILF acknowledged the possibility that its methods were flawed. But the group's communications director suggested errors could generate "official confusion" and allow the group to push its policies. "The fog of war favors the aggressor." https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
The foggy narrative made it into Trump circles. After the 2016 election, aide Stephen Miller reached out to Adams for evidence of noncitizen votes. A day after Adams sent his report, Trump tweeted about noncitizens and the popular vote for the first time. https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
In preparation for a segment on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Adams told his staff to collect voter registration forms "with outlandish foreign names."
"I assume I don't have to explain this in further detail." https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
"I assume I don't have to explain this in further detail." https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
Despite media promotion and White House attention, the reports were incorrect.
As part of a settlement, PILF inserted a disclaimer on "Alien Invasion" and its sequel stating that individuals they publicly alleged to be felonious noncitizens were not. https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
As part of a settlement, PILF inserted a disclaimer on "Alien Invasion" and its sequel stating that individuals they publicly alleged to be felonious noncitizens were not. https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
Yet in August 2020, PILF President Adams was appointed by Trump to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Soon after his appointment, the body shelved a report "analyzing threats to minority voting rights during the coronavirus pandemic." From @USATODAY: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/09/17/trump-appointees-torpedo-report-voting-rights-during-covid/5818788002/?utm_source=snopes&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
PILF's work in advance of the 2020 election does not always suggest a newfound commitment to accuracy. In a May news release the group doubled the number of ballots "sent to the wrong address" before @propublica called it out. https://www.propublica.org/article/a-conservative-legal-group-significantly-miscalculated-data-in-a-report-on-mail-in-voting?utm_source=snopes&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
Asked if and how the American public could trust PILF's work in 2020, PILF President J. Christian Adams responded with this statement. https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
Read more about the PILF playbook and its powerful connections in the full investigation: https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/15/the-fog-of-war?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
Investigations like this take a lot of time and resources. Support our work and join us in the fight against disinformation by becoming a Snopes Member. https://www.snopes.com/projects/founding-members/?utm_source=thread&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pilfthread
