Judicial Watch - pushing antisemitic conspiracy theories about George Soros

TPM (Talking Points Memo) has flagged two stories involving anti-semitic conspiracy theories being publicized by Judicial Watch, one of the most important right-wing organizations that pushed the Kavanaugh nomination to the Supreme Court.

On October 27 Josh Marshall highlighted a remark made by Chris Farrell (Director of Investigations and Research at Judicial Watch, also a member of the organization's board of directors; he also teaches journalism law at George Mason University), when he was interviewed by Lou Dobbs on Fox Business News: "Straight out of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Just moments ago, Lou Dobbs guest Chris Farrell (head of Judicial Watch) says Caravan is being funded/directed by the "Soros-occupied State Department."

There was enough attention paid to this that Fox Business "issued an apology, took the episode off the air and said Chris Farrell would no longer be booked on Fox Business News or Fox News."

Oliver Darcy of CNN, however, found another clip with Farrell saying exactly the same thing: "Of note: This is not the first time this particular guest has talked about the "Soros occupied" State Department. He made a similar comment earlier this year in May."

Marshall concludes: "It is another part of the story of the growing convergence verging on indistinguishability between the country’s nominally center-right party, the GOP, and the revanchist nationalist right, with all its racism, anti-Semitism and conspiratorial mindset."

Mother Jones reported, and TPM picked up another story about Judicial Watch and antisemitism.

"Radio Televisión Martí, a network overseen by the U.S. government that broadcasts to Cuba," produced a video segment that was partly based on information from Judicial Watch, about how George Soros was dangerous to Latin America.

“George Soros has his eye on Latin America. But Judicial Watch, an American investigative legal group, also has its eye on Soros and what it sees as his lethal influence to destroy democracies,” the narrator of the segment says in the video, according to an English translation published by Mother Jones. “It describes him as a millionaire investor and stock market speculator who exploits capitalism and Wall Street to finance anti-system movements that fill his pockets.”

The video also refers to Soros as “the multimillionaire Jew of Hungarian origin whose fortune is estimated at $8 billion” and “a non-believing Jew of flexible morals,” according to Mother Jones.

The video has been removed from the broadcaster's website:

The CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees U.S. government-run news outlets, announced on Monday that those responsible for a segment broadcast in Cuba describing Democratic donor George Soros as a “multimillionaire Jew” will be placed on leave while USAGM investigates how the segment made it on air.

In both of these incidents the person and the video were removed from Fox Business News and from the government website. But both incidents are the responsibility of Judicial Watch. I haven't noticed anyone before this saying that Judicial Watch is spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories about George Soros - it's good that TPM noticed this and reported upon it.