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Fox News host Mark Levin has been slammed over the last five years by the media for ostensibly promulgating a "conspiracy theory" that Donald Trump was being spied on ahead of the 2016 presidential election. A filing from Special Counsel John Durham might now vindicate him.
In 2017, headlines such as the Los Angeles Times’ "How the phony conspiracy theory over wiretapping caught fire," CNN’s "Birth of a conspiracy theory: How Trump's wiretap claim got started" and the Washington Post’s "Mark Levin inspired Trump’s wiretapping conspiracy theory. Now he is turning on the president" flooded the news cycle. Levin was blamed by the media for sparking the "conspiracy theory" that Trump was spied on, which was soon followed by Trump saying "McCarthyism" was playing out in real time.
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"How many phone calls of Donald Trump, if any, have been intercepted by the administration and recorded by the Obama administration?" Levin said on his radio show March 2, 2017. "This, ladies and gentlemen, is the real scandal."
Levin held up "fingerprints" from articles published by the New York Times and the Washington Post as evidence of the spying, citing their stories that the Obama administration scrambled to "spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election and about possible contacts between the associates of President-Elect Donald J. Trump and Russians."
"And I even said at the time, whether it's eavesdropping of some other form or another, they're spying. Or they're spying on his campaign, or they're spying on the transition team, and that this has been going on for some period of time," Levin told Fox News Digital on Sunday in a phone interview.
Levin - as well as former President Trump and his allies - were slammed by the LA Times as "operating in what amounts to a hall of mirrors," where "facts are twisted, misdirected or ignored in the service of political propaganda" for arguing former President Barack Obama and his allies spied on Trump ahead of him facing off against Hillary Clinton in 2016.
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Former President Donald Trump prepares to speak at the Rally To Protect Our Elections conference on July 24, 2021, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The media's narrative that Trump was spied on ahead of 2016 carried over to the following election. "60 Minutes" reporter Lesley Stahl even shut down the president in an interview in 2020 when he said the "biggest scandal was when they spied on my campaign."
"This is ‘60 Minutes’ and we can't put on things we can't verify," Stahl fired back at him.
Fast forward to Feb. 2022, a court filing from special counsel Durham might now vindicate Levin.
Lawyers for the Clinton campaign paid a technology company to "infiltrate" servers belonging to Trump Tower, and later the White House, in an attempt to tie Trump to Russia, according to the filing.
Durham had filed a motion related to any potential conflicts of interests between the case and former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who has been charged with making a false statement to a federal agent. Sussmann allegedly told the FBI he was not working for Clinton when he brought forth documents allegedly linking Trump to Russia ahead of the election. He has pleaded not guilty.
The filing alleges that Sussmann "had assembled and conveyed the allegations to the FBI on behalf of at least two specific clients, including a technology executive (Tech Executive 1) at a U.S.-based internet company (Internet Company 1) and the Clinton campaign."
John Durham and Michael Sussmann (Perkins Coie)
Sussmann’s "billing records reflect" that he "repeatedly billed the Clinton Campaign for his work on the Russian Bank-1 allegations," according to Durham’s filing.
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The filing comes after Bill Barr told the Senate in 2019, when he served as attorney general, that he thinks "spying did occur" against Trump’s presidential campaign. Though he did not say exactly what "spying" may have taken place.
Levin added that the alleged spying that took place ahead of 2016 morphed into an effort to change voting laws in 2020 in order to "do anything humanly possible to stop Trump."
"This was the beginning of the greatest insurrection. And I would argue that even in the election between what happened between 2016 and 2020, on top of this, the changing of the election laws and violation of the federal Constitution. That's an add on," Levin said. "They will do anything humanly possible to stop Trump, to stop his supporters and to promote their agenda period."
He said that what the Durham filing alleges "makes Watergate look like small beans."
"This is the real insurrection, isn't it," Levin said.
Trump took a victory lap following the revelations, saying he was vindicated and that Susmann’s alleged crimes "would have been punishable by death" during a "stronger period of time."
"The latest pleading from Special Counsel (John) Durham proves indisputable evidence that my campaign and presidency were spied on by operatives paid by the Hillary Clinton campaign in an effort to develop a completely fabricated connection to Russia," Trump wrote after the filing was first reported by Fox News on Saturday.
"This is a scandal far greater in scope and magnitude than Watergate and those who were involved in and knew about this spying operation should be subject to criminal prosecution."
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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