“You just come out and say this and expect us just to believe it without you showing a shred of evidence that it’s actually true,” said Associated Press reporter Matt Lee.
By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams
Veteran Associated Press reporter Matt Lee grilled a State Department spokesperson Thursday over the U.S. government’s refusal to provide direct evidence for its claim that Russia is planning to fabricate a mass casualty event as a pretext to invade Ukraine, an allegation that the Pentagon said is backed up by intelligence.
During a press briefing, Lee asked the State Department’s Ned Price—a former CIA official—to furnish concrete proof of the government’s accusation, which suggests Russia is plotting an elaborate false flag attack involving a graphic “propaganda video… depicting corpses, crisis actors pretending to be mourners, and images of destroyed locations or military equipment.”

Lee said he has every reason to be skeptical of U.S. government assertions, given the lies that the Bush administration used to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
“I remember WMDs in Iraq,” said Lee.
Watch the exchange:
WATCH: Heated exchange between @APDiploWriter Matt Lee and @StateDeptSpox Ned Price on declassified information. pic.twitter.com/8TFJdSW4M6
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 3, 2022
After Price outlined the U.S. government’s allegations, Lee noted that the Biden administration has “shown no evidence to confirm” the alleged plot. As the New York Times reported earlier Thursday, “Officials would not release any direct evidence of the Russian plan or specify how they learned of it, saying to do so would compromise their sources and methods.”
But Price insisted during Thursday’s briefing that the Biden administration’s decision to go public with the false flag accusation constitutes, in and of itself, evidence that Russia is planning such an operation.
“This is derived from information known to the U.S. government, intelligence information that we have declassified,” Price said.
“Okay, well, where is it?” Lee asked in response. “Where is this information?”
“I just delivered it,” the State Department spokesperson said.
When Lee continued to press the matter, noting that “a series of allegations and statements” is not evidence, Price accused the longtime journalist of wanting “to find solace in information that the Russians are putting out.”
The exchange circulated rapidly and widely on social media, with observers applauding Lee for his persistent and straightforward questioning and arguing that Price’s responses were indicative of the U.S. government’s intolerance of skeptical inquiry.
“This is wild,” NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, president of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, tweeted in response to the back-and-forth. “The State Department’s spokesman can’t comprehend why the Associated Press feels the need to distinguish between a claim and a fact, and becomes visibly offended—and then angered—by the suggestion that his claims may require evidence to be accepted as credible.”
Recent Posts
Talk World Radio: India Walton On Zohran Mamdani And Freezing Out ICE
July 7, 2025
Take Action Now India Walton, former Democrat nominee for mayor of Buffalo, NY, discusses Zohran Mamdani and the race for NYC mayor and how to deal…
How Climate Change Is Worsening Flooding And Heavy Rainfall
July 7, 2025
Take Action Now The latest science on the link between climate change and natural disasters — and how they may be playing out where you live.By…
In Netanyahu’s Visit, Genocide Made Invisible
July 7, 2025
Take Action Now The U.S.’s embrace of Benjamin Netanyahu on this visit amounts to a full endorsement of his genocidal policies.By Norman…
Israel Continues To Starve, Target Gaza Civilians In Ongoing Genocide
July 6, 2025
Take Action Now Israeli commanders continue deliberately to starve the civilian population, continuing in some form a blockade on staples they began…