Larry C. Johnson

In numerous writings and interviews in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Johnson deemphasized the threat stemming from terrorism.[2][3][4] In 1998, he commented on Osama bin Laden, saying that he was possessed by "hatred and craziness." If left unanswered, "he would continue to terrorize Americans around the world. He has no compunction about killing women and children. He's a complete egalitarian in his murderous attitude."[5] In later interviews (1999, 2000), Johnson said Americans exaggerated the threats stemming from bin Laden.[6][7] In July 2001, two months before the September 11 attacks,[1] Johnson wrote a New York Times op-ed entitled, "The Declining Terrorist Threat," arguing that "terrorism is not the biggest security challenge confronting the United States, and it should not be portrayed that way."[4]

In 2003, Johnson said that while he did not condone torture, he suggested that a "sleep deprivation and reward system" might be useful for getting information from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.[8]

In May 2003, Johnson joined members of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) in condemning the manipulation of intelligence for political purposes.[9]

Johnson became a strong critic of the Bush administration in May 2003 for its conduct of the war in Iraq and, a few months later, for its role in the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame.[10] In a July 2006 post at Daily Kos, Johnson harshly criticized ex-CIA analyst Michael Scheuer (calling him, among other things, "a vicious little prick") and called Israel's invasion of Lebanon "stupid."[1]

After Robert Novak wrote a column identifying Valerie Plame Wilson (the wife of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson) as a CIA operative, the media invited Johnson to comment on the ensuing scandal because he had been a member of the same Career Trainee class as Valerie Plame Wilson. For example, in October 2003, he appeared on Democracy Now! to discuss the Plame affair. He told interviewer Amy Goodman that Valerie Wilson's cover should have been respected whether she was an "analyst" or a "cleaning lady": "if she's undercover she's undercover, period. If the media allows themselves to get distracted with those kinds of curve balls, they ignore the issue."[11]

Beginning in 2007, Johnson emerged as a critic of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.[1] As a result he was attacked by his former allies on the political left.[1] According to The New York Times, Johnson is "best known for spreading a hoax... in 2008 that Michelle Obama had been videotaped using a slur against Caucasians".[12] On May 16, 2008, Johnson posted an item entitled, "Will Barack Throw Mama From the Train?" which alleged that a tape existed of Michelle Obama "railing against 'whitey' at Jeremiah Wright's church."[13] Johnson claimed that Republicans were in possession of the tape and it "is being held for the fall to drop at the appropriate time." In a subsequent post, Johnson claimed that Obama's appearance had occurred when she was on a panel with Louis Farrakhan. He also explained that he himself had not seen the tape, but had spoken with "five separate sources who have spoken directly with people who have seen the tape."[14] The Obama campaign's "Fight the Smears" website denied the rumor, saying, "No such tape exists. Michelle Obama has not spoken from the pulpit at Trinity and has not used that word."[15] On October 21, 2008, Johnson said that, according to one of his sources, the McCain campaign "intervened and requested the tape not be used."[16]

In March 2017, Andrew Napolitano said on Fox & Friends that GCHQ, Britain's signals intelligence service, had wiretapped Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign on orders from President Obama.[12][17] Johnson was the source for Napolitano's claim.[12][18] Sean Spicer, President Trump's press secretary, repeated the claim.[12] GCHQ stated that the claim was "nonsense, utterly ridiculous and should be ignored".[19] Fox News later disavowed the statement by Napolitano.[12]