The top political adviser to Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman suggested the attack on Donald Trump may have been “staged,” even as Hoffman was criticized for joking before Saturday's attack that Trump had become a “martyr”.
Councilor Dmitri Mehlhorn apologized for his comments after Semafor published this story, saying his email outlining his claims was “drafted without consulting team members or allies.”
Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, whose net worth is as reported 2.5 billion dollars, he joked at last week's multibillion dollar conversation in Sun Valley that he wished he had made Trump “a real martyr.” sunday, he said to X that he was referring to “accountability before the rule of law” and that he is “horrified and saddened” by the attack.
The scale of Hoffman's political donations is not public, but Mehlhorn said recently private conference that “Reid and I have invested nine figures of our own money to prevent Trump from returning to office.” (The money appears to be largely Hoffman's.)
In an email Saturday at 7:34 p.m. that appeared to be directed to sympathetic reporters, and was also sent to Semafor, Mehlhorn wrote that “possibility, which feels horrifying and alien and absurd in America, but is quite common at the world… – is that this 'shot' was encouraged and maybe even staged so that Trump could get the photos and benefit from the backlash. This is a classic Russian tactic, like when Putin killed 300 civilians in 1999 and blamed terrorists for leading the reaction to power.Others who have accepted this tactic of committing gross evil and then profiting from the reaction are Hamas on October 7 Trump official encouraged or knew about this attack, this is morally appalling, and decent Republicans must demand that Trump resign as unfit.”
The other possibility, Mehlhorn wrote, “is that a crazed anti-Trumper in this chaotic moment decided to assassinate the former president.”
Mehlhorn, who co-founded a fund called “Invest in the USA” with Hoffman, made it clear that his push was toward the false flag theory. “I know I'm predisposed to this, but this is a classic Putin play, and given the facts, it seems more plausible. Look at the actual shot. Look at the staging. Look at how ready Trump is to demonstrate; this baby spoiled his pants when an eagle pounced on his food. Look at how quickly Trump protects himself at the expense of others, but he showed few of those lifelong instincts at this point. And consider how often Putin and his allies are directing this play.”
He continued: “I know it seems a shame to talk about this possibility. But in this case, the odds are so high and the stakes so consequential, we have to[k] the question.”
Mehlhorn wrote that he was disappointed that reporters were not already raising the possibility of a fake shooting. “Ask the question, people. If it turns out to be wrong, we should respond appropriately to an unstaged act of political violence, as outlined above. But your credibility and our entire system of truth and justice depends on being safe of the answer”.
Mehlhorn said in response to a follow-up question that his words “were not a public statement,” and a spokesman said he had no immediate comment.
Around 2:40 p.m. Eastern, Mehlhorn sent another statement updating his original email: “Last night, I sent an email that I now regret. It was drafted and sent without consulting the team members or allies. I have apologized directly to them. I also want to apologize publicly, without reservation, for allowing my words to distract from the central fact of last night: the political violence take another innocent American life last night. We must unite to condemn this violence in every case. Any other issue is a distraction. I am grateful that the injured last night are in the way of full recovery.Again, I apologize and wish I had reacted as thoughtfully as Reid Hoffman this morning.”
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