Right-wing lobbyist and pundit Jack Burkman made a splash on Tuesday when he released a Facebook live video—quickly promoted via right-wing media outlets like Gateway Pundit—in which he claimed that in two days he would hold a press conference with a woman who would make a credible claim of sexual assault against special counsel Robert Mueller.
Burkman’s tale began to unravel quickly, when Mueller’s office revealed that it had asked the FBI to investigate allegations that women had been offered cash by a Burkman associate to make false allegations against Mueller. NBC News reported that Jacob Wohl, a hedge fund manager who has been banned by the National Futures Association and who writes for Gateway Pundit, was connected to Surefire Intelligence, which is “involved with Burkman’s alleged plot.” According to NBC, “Wohl stopped responding to NBC News after being told Surefire’s official phone number redirects to his mother’s voicemail.”
This wouldn’t be Burkman’s first fiasco. He has long been a promoter of conspiracy theories about the murder of Seth Rich, a former Democratic National Committee staffer killed in what police believe was a botched street robbery. In July, on the two-year anniversary of Rich’s killing, Burkman held a press conference at the same Holiday Inn in Arlington, Virginia, where he has promised his Mueller bombshell.
After promising to produce an eyewitness who would reveal the names of two government agents he claimed murdered Rich, Burkman presided over an utterly embarrassing press conference starring the voice of an anonymous caller who made transparently false claims and revealed nothing of substance.
Reporters evaluating Burkman’s credibility may also wish to review another Burkman video posted a couple months ago as part of his “Behind the Curtain” podcast, in which he called Chief Justice John Roberts a “turncoat” to the conservative agenda. Burkman also said Roberts has seizures, and said one explanation for an otherwise healthy person to have seizures would be “if a person takes opioids, if a person takes narcotics.” Added Burkman, “Now I have heard rumors, and ‘Behind the Curtain’ sources indicate, that this is the case for our friend Johnny Roberts.” He said he'd be "digging deeper" on the story.
