The Biden administration on Wednesday denied having any involvement in the perceived “sabotage” of the Nord Stream pipeline system after award-winning journalist Seymour Hersh accused U.S. intelligence agencies of covering up U.S. responsibility in the event.
Speaking to reporters during a press briefing at the White House, Biden administration National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby denied U.S. involvement and pointed to three “national investigations” into the event that are currently taking place.
“I think as Mr. [Jake] Sullivan mentioned, there are three now, uh, national investigations being done into the Nord Stream 2 explosion by three of our allies. We are not going to get ahead of that. That work is still ongoing,” Kirby said.
John Kirby on Nord Stream 2: “We still do believe it was an act of sabotage. The United States was not involved in ANY way.”
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) March 22, 2023
“We still do believe it was an act of sabotage. The United States was not involved in any way, contrary to some press reporting out there,” Kirby added.
Concerns the pipelines were “sabotaged” first circulated among some European government officials and users across the internet last September, after images released by the Danish military appeared to show geyser-like natural gas eruptions in the Baltic Sea.
The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline systems were intended to transport natural gas from Russia to Europe, with each system being made up of two separate pipelines. Prior to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Biden made cryptic comments suggesting the pipeline would be terminated in the event of an armed conflict.
Pres. Biden: "If Russia invades…then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it."
Reporter: "But how will you do that, exactly, since…the project is in Germany's control?"
Biden: "I promise you, we will be able to do that." https://t.co/uruQ4F4zM9 pic.twitter.com/4ksDaaU0YC
— ABC News (@ABC) February 7, 2022
While mainstream sources were reticent to assign blame for the destruction, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh eventually went public with claims that the United States sabotaged the pipeline to favor its domestic energy exports and nullify Russia’s ability to pressure Europe in Ukraine by threatening to withhold its natural gas supply.
Hersh has since doubled down on his claims that the U.S. government destroyed the Russian pipelines, and most recently accused U.S. and German intelligence agencies of seeding mainstream media outlets with fake news in an attempt to cover up America’s role in the explosions after he published his first report.
“The story gained traction in Germany and Western Europe, but was subject to a near media blackout in the US. Two weeks ago, after a visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Washington, US and German intelligence agencies attempted to add to the blackout by feeding the New York Times and the German weekly Die Zeit false cover stories to counter the report that Biden and US operatives were responsible for the pipelines’ destruction,” the journalist claimed.
“I was told by someone with access to diplomatic intelligence that there was a discussion of the pipeline exposé and, as a result, certain elements in the Central Intelligence Agency were asked to prepare a cover story in collaboration with German intelligence that would provide the American and German press with an alternative version for the destruction of Nord Stream 2,” Hersh said.
“In the words of the intelligence community, the agency was ‘to pulse the system’ in an effort to discount the claim that Biden had ordered the pipelines’ destruction.”
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Daniel
March 23, 2023 at 6:32 pm
Liars lying to liars.
Daniel
March 23, 2023 at 6:33 pm
Oh, and by the way, that was an act of war.