The Hill's Solomon Columns Launch the Ukraine Smear Narrative
John Solomon's columns and Hill.TV interviews relayed Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko's claims of a Ukrainian plot to help Clinton and that Ambassador Yovanovitch gave him a do-not-prosecute list.
The columns supplied the Ukraine-interference and anti-Yovanovitch narrative pushed by Trump allies.
What was reported
John Solomon's columns and Hill.TV interviews relayed Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko's claims of a Ukrainian plot to help Clinton and that Ambassador Yovanovitch gave him a do-not-prosecute list.
What actually happened
The State Department called the list claim a fabrication, and Lutsenko's account kept changing: in April 2019 he said he had asked for the list, and later said he wrote it himself. In a February 2020 review, The Hill said the columns lacked context and disclosure, including that key Ukrainian sources were under investigation and that two people featured were Solomon's own lawyers. The Hill appended editor's notes stating U.S. intelligence and Mueller found Russia, not Ukraine, interfered in 2016.
The proof
The Hill's Feb. 19, 2020 review of Solomon's Ukraine columns and the editor's notes added to them.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
The Hill's Solomon Columns Launch the Ukraine Smear Narrative — Retracted. The Hill's Feb. 19, 2020 review of Solomon's Ukraine columns and the editor's notes added to them. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/the-hill-solomon-lutsenko-ukraine-columns/
Original reporting
- The Hill (John Solomon): As Russia collusion fades, Ukrainian plot to help Clinton emerges (Mar. 20, 2019)https://digital-release.thehill.com/opinion/campaign/435029-as-russia-collusion-fades-ukrainian-plot-to-help-clinton-emerges/
Corrections, findings & records
- The Hill: The Hill's review of John Solomon's columns on Ukrainehttps://digital-release.thehill.com/homenews/news/483600-the-hills-review-of-john-solomons-columns-on-ukraine/
- iMediaEthics: The Hill adds editor's notes to Solomon's Ukraine columnshttps://www.imediaethics.org/the-hill-adds-editors-notes-to-john-solomons-ukraine-columns/
- VOA: Fact check on Lutsenko's do-not-prosecute list claimhttps://www.voanews.com/a/ukrainian-general-prosecutor-claims-u-s-do-not-prosecute-list-fact-check/6742095.html
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: The Hill (John Solomon): As Russia collusion fades, Ukrainian plot to help Clinton emerges (Mar. 20, 2019)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://digital-release.thehill.com/opinion/campaign/435029-as-russia-collusion-fades-ukrainian-plot-to-help-clinton-emerges/