On November 8th of this year Lawfare founder Benjamin Wittes sent a rather curious tweet proclaiming his undying devotion to former FBI lawyer Lisa Page. At the time it seemed rather odd and out of no-where; but today it makes sense.
At the time of Witte’s tweet Lisa Page was scheduling her coming out narrative, and consulting with the DOJ/FBI “beach friend” community for PR advice. After several weeks of planning and careful roll-out organization, noted by several weeks of contact with mutually aligned journalists, today Ms. Page steps into the spotlight with her introductory article in the Daily Beast, aptly titled: “Lisa Page Speaks“.
Yes, yes, of course Lisa Page says she’s a victim to the horrible President Trump and the exposure of “private affair”, and the exposure of her “political texts and biases” etc. etc. However, that’s not what is really interesting…. Within the article there’s a very specific and very familiar type of victim narrative construct.
When you read the article it jumps out at you. The victim narrative is from the exact same acting coaches hired by the FBI and used by Dr. Christine Blasey-Ford; it’s a little spooky how both Ms. Ford and Ms. Page could sound so identical, until you realize the same FBI and media people have constructed both victim storyboards.
Ms. Page decries what she has seen happen to her beloved FBI, that as she said “she grew up in“. Now, if that institutional attachment sounds a little over-the-top considering a grown woman started at the FBI in 2013 and resigned in 2108, well, it helps to remember this is the Public Relations advice from the DC-based FBI committee.
The DOJ/FBI ‘above the law’ crowd of beach friends assemble in the Lawfare conference room; look at the latest storyboards and plan the Lisa Page marketing, advertising and branding campaign. The resulting media strategy started tonight:
(Daily Beast) […] That was the moment Page decided she had to speak up. “I had stayed quiet for years hoping it would fade away, but instead it got worse,” she says. “It had been so hard not to defend myself, to let people who hate me control the narrative. I decided to take my power back.”She is also about to be back in the news cycle in a big way. On Dec. 9, the Justice Department Inspector General report into Trump’s charges that the FBI spied on his 2016 campaign will come out. Leaked press accounts indicate that the report will exonerate Page of the allegation that she acted unprofessionally or showed bias against Trump.[…] “I’m someone who’s always in my head anyway – so now otherwise normal interactions take on a different meaning. Like, when somebody makes eye contact with me on the Metro, I kind of wince, wondering if it’s because they recognize me, or are they just scanning the train like people do? It’s immediately a question of friend or foe? Or if I’m walking down the street or shopping and there’s somebody wearing Trump gear or a MAGA hat, I’ll walk the other way or try to put some distance between us because I’m not looking for conflict. Really, what I wanted most in this world is my life back.”[…] “The thing about the FBI that is so extraordinary is that it is made up of a group of men and women whose every instinct is to run toward the fight. It’s in the fiber of everybody there. It’s the lifeblood. So it’s particularly devastating to be betrayed by an organization I still care about so deeply. And it’s crushing to see the noble Justice Department, my Justice Department, the place I grew up in, feel like it’s abandoned its principles of truth and independence.” (read more)
