Pro-Trump candidate scrubs his Pinterest and explains his ‘treason watch list’ to Steve Bannon
Conspiracy theory promoter Mark Finchem scrambled to respond on Tuesday after a bombshell exposé by CNN's investigative team.
"CNN’s KFile team uncovered previously unreported posts from Mark Finchem, an Arizona state representative who won his party’s nomination with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, on several social media websites linked from his since-deleted former Twitter account," CNN's Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck reported. "The posts included a Pinterest account with a 'Treason Watch List,' and pins of photos of Barack Obama alongside imagery of a man clad in Nazi attire making a Nazi salute; Finchem also shared photos of the Holocaust claiming it could happen in the United States."
Kaczynski gave an update on the story to CNN's Jake Tapper.
"Now, we asked Finchem about this content," Kacynski reported. "He just sent us a message back. He called -- he said CNN wasn't credible, he didn't respond to any of the individual allegations. He did delete one of his Pinterest boards, post-publication, that had some of this information on there, but we haven't heard him respond to any of the individual allegations in the story."
Finchem was asked about the report on Steve Bannon's podcast.
"The KFile, which is supposed to be their investigative unit," Bannon said with scare quotes, "they come after you hard. I think you've got a secret hit list of people guilty of treason, is that what KFile is telling me?"
"Well, it's the 'Treason Watch List,'" Finchem replied.
"So it's quite a list," Finchem continued as Bannon chuckled.
"And I'm sure you'd appreciate some of the names on it," he continued. "Janet Napalitano, who, by the way, said every returning veteran should be deemed a domestic terrorist."
Napalitano, the former Arizona governor who served as Secretary of Homeland Security during the Obama administration, said no such thing.
In April of 2009, DHS sent an intelligence assessment titled, "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."
The report discussed veterans in unclassified but for official use only notes.
"The possible passage of new restrictions on firearms and the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks," DHS warned. "Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to rightwing extremists. DHS/I&A is concerned that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to boost their violent capabilities."
DHS "assesses that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat. These skills and knowledge have the potential to boost the capabilities of extremists—including lone wolves or small terrorist cells—to carry out violence. The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today."
The report cited Timothy McVeigh, an Army veteran who murdered 168 people and injured over 600 when he bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995 and a 2006 study by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
"The FBI noted in a 2008 report on the white supremacist movement that some returning military veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have joined extremist groups," DHS noted.
The intelligence assessment "assesses that the combination of environmental factors that echo the 1990s, including heightened interest in legislation for tighter firearms restrictions and returning military veterans, as well as several new trends, including an uncertain economy and a perceived rising influence of other countries, may be invigorating right-wing extremist activity, specifically the white supremacist and militia movements. To the extent that these factors persist, rightwing extremism is likely to grow in strength."
Other people on Finchem's treason watch list include civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, former Secretary of State John Kerry and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA).
Finchem has also pushed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, QAnon, and MAGAbomber Cesar Sayoc.
"Mark was willing to say what few others had the courage to say," Trump said he endorsed Finchem to be Arizona's chief election officer.
Watch CNN on Mark Finchem below or at this link.
Watch Mark Finchem on Steve Bannon's podcast:
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