Jerome Corsi

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Jerome Corsi (1946–) is a nutty right-wing American political commentator, currently serving as the head of the InfoWars branch in Washington D.C. He was formerly a senior columnist for WorldNutDaily.

Despite getting a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard,[1] his modus operandi is to cash in on the fringe wingnut conspiracy theory du jour by giving it a veneer of legitimacy. Some of his more infamous works include:

Corsi is also the author of the novel The Shroud Codex, about the Shroud of Turin.[7] It's full of blatant errors that make it look like it was never proof-read after he finished writing it. He also declared that Barack Obama was married to his male Pakistani roommate(!) before he married Michelle, which must set some record for combined unsubstantiated wingnuttery and homophobia in a single conspiracy theory.[8] And just like most conspiracy memes of this kind, the gauntlet got picked up by at least one fellow nutter (Scott Lively, no less) who was also dumb enough to think that it was a perfectly valid argument.[9] Most recently he has appeared on King-of-The-Crazies Alex Jones' Infowars program and claimed that Hillary Clinton was in a secret-M00slim-Lesbian relationship with her aide Huma Abedin.[10]

Corsi is also convinced that proof of Obama's Kenyan citizenship can be demonstrated by the fact that there was a photo of him on a Kenyan calendar from 2005 when Obama was still a Senator from Illinois.[11] With standards of evidence like that, there's every indication that he's in a competition with Joe Arpaio for the 2012 Booby Prize in late-period Birther silliness.

Basically, Corsi is useful as a benchmark or barometer for current fashions of conspiracy theory and crankery. If Corsi writes on it, it's hot on the fringe. Think of him as a device powered by crank magnetism.

In 2018, Corsi was subpoenaed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump-Russia connection, apparently in regard to Corsi's association with Roger Stone.[12] On January 25, 2019, Stone was arrested and charged by Mueller's team with obstruction of proceedings, making false statements, and witness tampering.[13] That same day, Corsi and Randy Credico,Wikipedia another Stone associate, indicated a willingness to testify against Stone in court.[14] As further fallout from this, Corsi sued Stone in 2019 for defamation.[15]

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. On Coast to Coast AM 3 December 2020, Corsi said "I am 100% certain that Trump will win". After the Supreme Court threw out the Texas lawsuit on 11th December 2020, Corsi's website featured an article headed "Trump wins again!!"

References[edit]

  1. Politicking as Crimson-Hued Blood Sport, Harvard Magazine, 8.28.08. The title of Corsi's thesis was Prior Restraint, Prior Punishment, and Political Dissent: A Moral and Legal Evaluation and it was apparently pretty good, according to Harvard Magazine, unlike his subsequent crankery (also according to Harvard Magazine).
  2. Review by Eric Boehlert
  3. Executive summary by Craig R. Smith himself
  4. Review by Alex Koppelman
  5. McCain Corsi Quip Irks Obama Camp by Anne E. Kornblut (August 15, 2008) The Washington Post.
  6. Review by Media Matters
  7. The Shroud Codex on Simon & Schuster
  8. Corsi: Obama Was in Gay Marriage to Pakistani Roommate, Dispatches from the Culture Wars
  9. Scott Lively Pushes Claim that Obama Was Once Married to a Man, Right Wing Watch
  10. http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/jerome-corsi-exposes-hillary-clintons-lesbian-muslim-brotherhood-conspiracy
  11. Corsi Finds His ‘Smoking Gun’, Dispatches from the Culture Wars
  12. Rightwing author Jerome Corsi subpoenaed in Mueller investigation: Conspiracy theorist and associate of Trump adviser Roger Stone will cooperate in Russia inquiry, lawyer says by Jon Swaine (5 Sep 2018 14.44 EDT; Last modified on Wed 5 Sep 2018 14.46 EDT) The Guardian.
  13. Roger Stone: Trump ally arrested on seven Mueller probe charges. BBC News. January 25, 2019.
  14. Former Stone associates indicate willingness to testify against him by Jacqueline Thomsen (01/25/19 06:34 PM EST) The Hill.
  15. Trump Confidant Roger Stone Sued by Jerome Corsi in Latest Twist by Andrew M Harris (February 7, 2019, 6:09 PM PST Updated on February 7, 2019, 7:10 PM PST) Bloomberg.