Viewers of Fox News have called for the resignation of one of the channel’s hosts after he dared to explain that a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton is complete cobblers.
Shep Smith took issue with the Uranium One story (see box below) propagated by the alt-right and even the President himself as evidence it was in fact the former Secretary of State that colluded with Russia.
Despite being debunked numerous times the conspiracy theory continues to flourish, tweeted again just last month by Donald Trump.
In a five-minute segment, Smith dissected the entire “scandal” and clearly demonstrated that it is based upon numerous falsehoods.
He concluded: “The accusation is predicated on the charge that Secretary Clinton approved the sale - she did not.
“A committee of nine evaluated the sale, the President approved the sale, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and others had to offer permits and none of the uranium was exported for use by the US to Russia.
“That is Uranium One.”
Watch the full clip below...
What makes Smith’s intervention so noteworthy is that the Uranium One theory has been pushed repeatedly by Fox News and some of its biggest names.
And for many Fox News viewers this is clearly the narrative they wish to believe as evidenced by their apoplectic reactions to Smith’s segment.
WHAT IS THE URANIUM ONE ‘SCANDAL’?
Despite the story being widely debunked when it surfaced last year, the President of the United States attacked the “fake media” for not reporting it.
In brief, the original accusation - in a book written by a Breitbart editor-at-large - is that as Secretary of State under President Obama, Clinton green-lighted the purchase of mining company, Uranium One, by Russia’s nuclear agency, Rosatom, at the same time as the Clinton Foundation received $145 million in donations from nine people associated with the company.
This, allegedly, gave Russia 20% of the US’s uranium whilst simultaneously lining the pockets of the Clintons.
Only it didn’t.
The falsehood remains a favourite of right-wing and conspiratorial websites who conveniently ignore that:
Clinton did not have veto power over the deal as she was one of nine people involved on the panel that deals with such decisions.
Clinton may not have even been involved in the decision-making process as she “never intervened” on such matters.
Any uranium could not and has not been exported or given to Russia as it remains under the control of American subsidiaries, as stated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Of the $145 million, most of it, $131.3 million, came from Frank Giustra who sold off his entire stake in Uranium One in 2007, 18 months before Clinton became Secretary of State and three years before the Russia deal.