Louise Daphne Mensch ('' née'' Bagshawe; born 28 June 1971) is a British blogger, novelist, and former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

. In the 1990s she became known as a writer of

chick lit Chick lit is a term used to describe a type of popular fiction targeted at younger women. Widely used in the 1990s and 2000s, the term has fallen out of fashion with publishers while writers and critics have rejected its inherent sexism. Novels id ...

novels under her maiden name Louise Bagshawe. She was elected Conservative MP for

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, the built-up ...

at the 2010 UK general election. Mensch

resigned Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

as an MP in August 2012 to move to New York City to live with her second husband, American music manager

Peter Mensch Peter Mensch (born March 28, 1953) is an American music manager. He started his career in music management at the age of 26, managing AC/DC. In 1982, Mensch formed the management company Q Prime with Cliff Burnstein. Their first client was Def ...

. She began working for News Corp in 2014, and co-launched its '' Heat Street'' website in February 2016. Since leaving ''Heat Street'' in December 2016, she has published primarily on her blog ''

Patribotics ''Patribotics'' is the blog of British-American blogger, novelist and ex-politician Louise Mensch. The blog was launched in January 2017. In addition to hosting articles by Mensch, the site has occasionally hosted articles by Laurelai Bailey, and ...

'', which she launched in January 2017, and her

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account. She left News Corp entirely in March 2017. Mensch and ''Heat Street'' have since courted controversy by promoting unverified claims, hoaxes, and

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

about the

Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...

and its ties to the Russian Federation. Among other allegations she has posted online, Mensch claimed that she had obtained evidence that Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

had American conservative commentator

Andrew Breitbart Andrew James Breitbart (; February 1, 1969 – March 1, 2012) was an American conservative journalist, and political commentator who was the founder of ''Breitbart News'' and a co-founder of ''HuffPost''. After helping in the early stages of '' ...

, the founder of ''

Breitbart News ''Breitbart News Network'' (known commonly as ''Breitbart News'', ''Breitbart'', or ''Breitbart.com'') is an Radical right (United States), American far-rightMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * syndicated news, opinion, and commentary ...

'' who died of a heart attack in 2012, murdered so his job would go to his deputy,

Steve Bannon Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist in the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump during t ...

. She has stated that the

2017 Istanbul nightclub shooting The Istanbul nightclub shooting (also known as Reina massacre in Turkey) was a mass shooting incident on 1 January 2017 around 01:15 am local time, in which a terrorist shot and killed 39 people and wounded 79 others at the Reina nightclub in th ...

, which was perpetrated by

Abdulkadir Masharipov The Istanbul nightclub shooting (also known as Reina massacre in Turkey) was a mass shooting incident on 1 January 2017 around 01:15 am local time, in which a terrorist shot and killed 39 people and wounded 79 others at the Reina nightclub in th ...

on behalf of the terrorist organization

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

, was a Russian false flag operation with Russia posing as ISIL. She has stated that "Bannon and his team" were behind the

2017 Jewish Community Center bomb threats In early 2017, a wave of more than 2,000 bomb threats were made against Jewish Community Centers in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and Denmark. Two arrests and two convictions were made in connection with the th ...

that were committed by two people, American

Juan M. Thompson Juan M. Thompson (born 1985) is a former American journalist who was later convicted for cyberstalking and making several bomb threats to Jewish Community Centers in the U.S. Personal background Thompson is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. ...

and Israeli-American Michael David Kadar, with no ties to Bannon. She has claimed Russian intelligence planted inflammatory emails implicating former U.S. Senator and 2016 Democratic Party presidential candidate

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

on disgraced former U.S. House member Anthony Weiner's computer. Mensch has also, without evidence, accused numerous people, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and venture capitalist

Peter Thiel Peter Andreas Thiel (; born 11 October 1967) is a German-American billionaire entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist. A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, he was the first outside investor in F ...

, of being Russian "shills", "moles" and "agents of influence". Zack Beauchamp, a reporter for '' Vox'' who has written at length about Mensch, has said she was the equivalent of an

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American far-right and alt-right radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas, which the Genesis Communications Network broadcas ...

of the right: "I would say the closest analog would be

Infowars ''InfoWars'' is an American far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website owned by Alex Jones. It was founded in 1999, and operates under Free Speech Systems LLC. Talk shows and other content for the site are created primarily in stud ...

", he said. '' BuzzFeed'' called Mensch an "anti-Russian influence crusader" and one of a number of "anti-Trump public figures hoshare unreliable information".

Early life

Louise Daphne Bagshawe was born in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, London, daughter of Nicholas Wilfrid Bagshawe and Daphne Margaret (Triggs) Bagshawe, and was raised a Roman Catholic. Her father is descended from the

recusant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

(Catholic) Bagshawe family, of Wormhill Hall, near

Buxton, Derbyshire Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Oakes-in-Norton. She was educated at

Beechwood Sacred Heart School Beechwood School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school for children aged 3 – 18, which comprises a Nursery, Preparatory School and Senior School, with boarding for children aged 11 – 18. Beechwood is situated on a 23-acre ...

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

, and

Woldingham School Woldingham School is an independent school for girls, located in the former Marden Park of outside the village of Woldingham, Surrey, in South East England. It is a Roman Catholic school and a member of the global Network of Sacred Heart Schoo ...

, a Catholic girls' boarding school in Surrey. She read English Language and Literature at Christ Church, Oxford, and was Secretary of the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...

. She has a brother and two sisters, one of whom,

Tilly Bagshawe Matilda Emily Mary "Tilly" Bagshawe (born 12 June 1973) is a British freelance journalist and author. She is best known for her books in the vein of best-selling American author Sidney Sheldon, notably '' Sidney Sheldon's Mistress of the Game ...

, is a freelance journalist and author.

As writer

Mensch won a 'Young Poet of the Year' award in 1989, at the age of 18. Following a six-month internship at

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

, she worked as a press officer with EMI Records and then as a marketing official for

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

. She went on to a long career writing novels in the

fiction genre, publishing seventeen works in all – fifteen of which have appeared under her maiden name. They sold a total of over two million copies. Her first novel, ''Career Girls'', was published in 1995. Her sister Tilly has also published novels of that type. Mensch is an outspoken advocate of the genre, and has stated that it encourages girls to be ambitious. Before her run for parliament, she said: "There was so much sex in the first novel, I thought, there is no way I am ever going to be an MP. How will I get past the blue rinse brigade?" Reflecting further on her books, she stated: "All of them feature feminist heroines making it on their own. I simply couldn't write about some drippy

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

because I don't admire those women."

Political career

Mensch joined the Conservative Party when she was 14; her parents supported the party. Subsequently, in 1996, she switched to the Labour Party, saying she believed

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

to be "socially liberal but an economic Tory". By 1997, she returned to the Conservatives, helping her mother Daphne win a seat on

East Sussex County Council East Sussex County Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex. East Sussex is divided into five local government districts. Three are larger, rural, districts (from west to east: Lewes; Wealden; and Rother). ...

from the Liberal Democrats; and campaigned in the 1997, 2001 and 2005 general elections. In 2001, Mensch co-founded the Oxonian Society, later renamed the

Hudson Union Society The Hudson Union Society is a members-only institution based in New York City that runs weekly celebrity showcases. The Hudson Union events, generally hosted by co-founder Joseph Pascal, feature special guests and audience interaction. Since its ...

, with Joseph Pascal and Princess Badiya bint El Hassan of Jordan. Conservative party leader David Cameron placed Mensch on his "A-List" of Conservative candidates in 2006. In October 2006, she was selected to stand in the constituency of

, which she won at the 2010 general election with a majority of 1,951, defeating Labour incumbent

Phil Hope Philip Ian Hope (born 19 April 1955) is a former British Labour and Co-operative politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Corby from 1997 until 2010, when he lost his seat to the Conservatives. He held several ministerial roles d ...

. In June 2010, she was elected by other Conservative MPs to serve on the Select Committee for the

Department of Culture, Media and Sport , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...

Murdoch phone hacking affair

On 19 July 2011, in the hearings of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport, Mensch interrogated

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

and

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

concerning their roles in the '' News of the World'' phone hacking scandal. Political blogger Bagehot in ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' named Mensch as the "surprise star" of the hearing, writing that her "sharp, precise, coolly scornful questions" contrasted with her "waffling, pompous" fellow committee members, and citing her clever confrontation of the Murdochs. In the course of the hearings, Mensch erroneously stated that

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was ...

had written in his autobiography about conducting phone hacking while he was the editor of the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

''. When challenged on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

by Morgan, Mensch cited the protection of parliamentary privilege and declined either to withdraw the allegation or to repeat it. She later apologised to Morgan, and stated that she had misread a newspaper report about his book. Three days after the hearing, Mensch received an email that alleged, among other things, that she had taken drugs and danced while drunk with violinist

Nigel Kennedy Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and violist. His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and he has since expanded into jazz, klezmer, and other music genres. Early life and background Kenn ...

at a club in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

in the 1990s. Mensch publicly released the email, stating that the allegations were "highly probable" but said that she regretted only that others had to see her dancing and that she would not be deterred from asking further questions about phone hacking. Members of the Parliamentary committee denounced the attempt to intimidate Mensch, who subsequently admitted in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' that she had used

class A drugs These drugs are known in the UK as ''controlled drugs'', because this is the term by which the act itself refers to them. In more general terms, however, many of these drugs are also controlled by the Medicines Act 1968, there are many other drug ...

Resignation

On 6 August 2012, Mensch resigned as the MP for Corby in order to move with her second husband, American music manager

, to New York City. Mensch had appeared likely to be promoted in the expected September government reshuffle. She was appointed to the nominal position of

Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead Northstead is an area on the North Bay of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. The area near Newlands and Barrowcliff includes Peasholm Park and Scarborough Open Air Theatre. In 2011, the namesake ward had a population of 4,038, since 20 ...

on 29 August 2012, thus vacating her seat.

Regulation of social networking websites

Following the rioting in England in 2011, Mensch called for social media services Twitter and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

to be shut down or to "take an hour off" during disturbances to stop the spread of false rumours wasting police resources. She compared the action with brief interruptions to road and rail networks during emergencies. However, some other Twitter users compared such action to the online censorship of regimes such as

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and China, whilst Sussex police said they had used Twitter to stop rumours. In June 2012, a man was given a 26-week prison sentence suspended for two years for sending Mensch an offensive and threatening email including threats against her children. Following his conviction, Mensch called for networking sites to identify anonymous bullies saying it was impossible for the victim to ascertain the seriousness of the threat posed, while the bullies felt they could do as they pleased without fear of retribution.

Cyberbullying

In May 2012, Mensch used her Twitter account to condemn abusive and threatening tweets that she had received, describing them as "misogyny and bullying". The tweets were subsequently reported in the mainstream press, and she drew praise and support from Twitter users for drawing attention to the issue, as well as from public figures such as

Jeremy Vine Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio personality, presenter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guest ...

and

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman, Lady Walney (born 5 May 1986), is an English political journalist and the assistant editor of ''The Spectator''. In 2015, she was named Journalist of the Year at the Political Studies Association's annual awards. Early life Born ...

. In May 2015, after that year's general election, Mensch herself was accused of cyberbullying Abby Tomlinson, the teenaged leader of the ' Milifandom'. Former Labour party deputy leader John Prescott "tweeted that Mensch's behaviour breached the Independent Press Standards Organisation's code on harassment," the ''Guardian'' reported at the time. Mensch stated that she would be deleting many of her tweets “as I do not wish to be accused of 'harrassing’." Mensch denied the accusation, asserting that she had only criticised Tomlinson. Shortly afterwards, she wrote a 4,000-word blog entry to reiterate that she had not bullied Tomlinson and made new assertions about the sixth-form student. Most recently, Mensch is alleged to have harassed a number of individuals who have taken issue with the veracity of the various conspiracy theories she has espoused online about Russia. Mensch, the ''

Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' has reported, has "resorted to ad hominem attacks on people with whom she disagrees," the website reported, "notably accusing Naval Reserve intelligence officer and former FBI double agent Naveed Jamali of disseminating 'what can only be described as pro-Kremlin propaganda,' she said. Mensch added that she was especially incensed by Jamali’s suggestion on Twitter that the Russians didn’t recruit top-secret leaker Edward Snowden "as Mensch has claimed" and initially weren’t even sure that he was on the level."

Journalism and internet ventures

In June 2012, Mensch joined forces with former Labour digital adviser Luke Bozier to set up a social networking website – a politics-based rival to Twitter. The site, named Menshn – pronounced "mention" – allowed users to select their topic of interest. Mensch hoped to raise

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

finance. The site was initially criticised by IT industry experts for using ''http'' instead of secure ''https'' to communicate passwords. Bozier disputed this claim, but the site switched to the secure protocol. Menshn closed in February 2013. After leaving Parliament and moving to the US in 2012, Mensch began working as an independent journalist and also wrote articles for several newspapers, including ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. In ''The Guardian'' she wrote two articles advocating "reality-based

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

", in particular " Conservative feminism" or "Tory feminism", and critical of Britain's "modern feminist movement" (including equality impact assessment), which she called "ultra-feminism" and contrasted unfavourably with "

American feminism Feminism in the United States refers to the collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending a state of equal political, economic, cultural, and social rights for women in the United States. Feminism has ha ...

". In May 2014, she started developing new digital projects for News Corporation. In February 2016 she co-launched '' Heat Street'', a libertarian news, opinion and commentary website, with television executive Noah Kotch. On ''Heat Street'', Mensch interviewed

Adam Baldwin Adam Baldwin (born February 27, 1962) is an American actor. He starred in ''Full Metal Jacket'' (1987) as Animal Mother, as well as in the television series '' Firefly'' and its continuation film '' Serenity'' as Jayne Cobb. His roles include St ...

regarding the movement involved in the

Gamergate controversy Gamergate or GamerGate (GG) was a loosely organized online misogyny, misogynistic online harassment campaign and a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. It was conducted using the hashtag "# ...

, claiming that it was Baldwin who created the Gamergate hashtag to "describe the scandal of falsely accused young men", and suggesting it is a hashtag that "divided the feminists – like me – and the fauxminists". Mensch left ''Heat Street'' in mid-December 2016, and launched her own political blog, ''

'', in January 2017. The blog is controversial, and cites unnamed sources in the intelligence community, publishing numerous conspiracy theories that have either remained unverified or debunked altogether. Mensch has stated that she prefers the freedom of self-publishing, which having her own blog affords; she told ''The Guardian'', "I didn't want to be subject to an editing process. Editors would ask: who are your sources? And I can't tell them." Mensch left News Corp entirely in March 2017.

Commentary on the 2016 U.S. presidential election

FISA warrant claim

In November 2016, ''Heat Street'' published an article titled "Exclusive: FBI 'Granted FISA Warrant' Covering Trump Camp's Ties To Russia", written by Mensch. Although ultimately it turned out that U.S. law enforcement agencies did utilise a FISA warrant against one former Trump aide, most of Mensch's claims were later thoroughly debunked. According to Mensch's article, the

FISA warrant The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA" , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and the collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign po ...

giving permission to investigate the Trump campaign was granted in October 2016, in "connection with the investigation of suspected activity between the server n_ n_Trump_Tower">Trump_Tower.html"_;"title="n_Trump_Tower">n_Trump_Tower/nowiki>_and_two_banks,_SVB_Bank_and_Alfa_Bank."_The_article_also_claimed_that_"it_is_thought_in_the_intelligence_community_that_the_warrant_covers_any_'US_person'_connected_to_this_investigation,_and_thus_covers_Donald_Trump_and_at_least_three_further_men."Glenn_Kessler_(journalist).html" ;"title="Trump_Tower.html" ;"title="Trump_Tower.html" ;"title="n n_Trump_Tower">Trump_Tower.html"_;"title="n_Trump_Tower">n_Trump_Tower/nowiki>_and_two_banks,_SVB_Bank_and_Alfa_Bank."_The_article_also_claimed_that_"it_is_thought_in_the_intelligence_community_that_the_warrant_covers_any_'US_person'_connected_to_this_investigation,_and_thus_covers_Donald_Trump_and_at_least_three_further_men."Glenn_Kessler_(journalist)">Kessler,_Glenn._(5_March_2017)
"Trump's_'evidence'_for_Obama_wiretap_claims_relies_on_sketchy,_anonymously_sourced_reports"._
''The_Washington_Post''._Retrieved_23_July_2017._"Interestingly,_as_far_as_we_can_tell,_only_two_other_reports_have_touched_on_this_FISA_claim,_and_they_also_have_British_connections._One_is_a_report_in_the_BBC_from_January,_which_the_White_House_cited_as_a_source._ ..._Separately,_''McClatchy'',_in_a_January_article_mostly_focused_on_whether_money_from_the_Kremlin_covertly_aided_Trump's_campaign,_reported_one_source_had_confirmed_'the_FBI_had_obtained_a_warrant_on_Oct._15_from_the_highly_secretive_Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Court_allowing_investigators_access_to_bank_records_and_other_documents_about_potential_payments_and_money_transfers_related_to_Russia.'_This_echoed_the_BBC_report,_but_is_much_different_than_the_''Heat_Street''_account."_In_January_2017,_Paul_Wood_(journalist).html" ;"title="Trump Tower">n Trump Tower">Trump_Tower.html" ;"title="n Trump Tower">n Trump Tower/nowiki> and two banks, SVB Bank and Alfa Bank." The article also claimed that "it is thought in the intelligence community that the warrant covers any 'US person' connected to this investigation, and thus covers Donald Trump and at least three further men."Glenn Kessler (journalist)">Kessler, Glenn. (5 March 2017)
"Trump's 'evidence' for Obama wiretap claims relies on sketchy, anonymously sourced reports".
''The Washington Post''. Retrieved 23 July 2017. "Interestingly, as far as we can tell, only two other reports have touched on this FISA claim, and they also have British connections. One is a report in the BBC from January, which the White House cited as a source. ... Separately, ''McClatchy'', in a January article mostly focused on whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided Trump's campaign, reported one source had confirmed 'the FBI had obtained a warrant on Oct. 15 from the highly secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court allowing investigators access to bank records and other documents about potential payments and money transfers related to Russia.' This echoed the BBC report, but is much different than the ''Heat Street'' account." In January 2017, Paul Wood (journalist)">Paul Wood on BBC News reported a FISA warrant issued on 15 October 2016 to intercept the electronic records from two Russian banks in relation to the Trump campaign; a week later, ''The McClatchy Company, McClatchy'' independently confirmed the BBC report, and in February 2017 ''The Guardian'' wrote that "former officials said they believed that the Mensch and BBC account of the Fisa warrants was correct." However, Glenn Kessler (journalist), Glenn Kessler, writing in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', wrote that ''McClatchy''s article ", like that of the BBC, differed significantly from the ''Heat Street'' account. Despite this, Mensch often cited the ''McClatchy'' article as evidence that her story was true. In March 2017, the Trump administration cited the ''Heat Street'' and BBC stories as evidence for Trump's claims on Twitter that President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

had illegally wiretapped his phones. According to Kessler the BBCs account differed substantially from that of Mensch, the BBC alleging that: "Neither Mr Trump nor his associates are named in the FISA order, which would only cover foreign citizens or foreign entities — in this case the Russian banks." Kessler stated: "''The Washington Post'' for months has sought to confirm this report of a FISA warrant related to the Trump campaign but has been unable to do so. Presumably, other major news organisations have tried to do so as well. So one has to take this claim with a huge dose of skepticism." Kessler added that the assertion that the FISA warrant was to examine possible activity between two Russian banks and a computer server in Trump Tower had not been confirmed by U.S. news organisations, and that the Trump Organisation server communicating with Russian banks may have actually been located in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, not Trump Tower. Moreover, according to the FBI as reported by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' in October 2016, "there could be an innocuous explanation or the server traffic like a marketing email or spam." In April 2017, ''The Washington Post'' reported that, during the summer of 2016, the FBI obtained a FISA warrant to monitor

Carter Page Carter William Page (born June 3, 1971) is an American petroleum industry consultant and a former foreign-policy adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential election campaign. Page is the founder and managing partner of Global Energy C ...

, an advisor to the Trump campaign; the story was later corrected to show the warrant was obtained in October 2016, after Page had left the Trump campaign. The warrant was granted as part of an investigation into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign. Although Mensch claimed that and similar reports vindicated her own report on purported FISA warrants, the FISA warrants on Page did not entail the surveillance of the two Russian banks Mensch claimed in her story, and Mensch's report, in turn, mentioned nothing at all about Carter Page.

Conspiracy theories regarding Donald Trump and Russia

During and after the 2016 US presidential election, Mensch's political commentary and social media accounts promoted numerous various

about the Russian government,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

and various individuals in Trump's circle. Mensch claims that she has seen evidence that

had

murdered to make room for

at ''

Breitbart ''Breitbart News Network'' (known commonly as ''Breitbart News'', ''Breitbart'', or ''Breitbart.com'') is an American far-rightMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * syndicated news, opinion, and commentary website founded in mid-2007 b ...

''. She has stated that the

was a Russian false flag operation, with Russian intelligence operatives posing as ISIL terrorists; that onetime Trump chief political strategist Steve "Bannon and his team" were behind bomb threats to Jewish community centres; and that Russian intelligence operatives planted Hillary Clinton's emails on Anthony Weiner's laptop just before the 2016 presidential election. Mensch has also accused numerous people and organizations of being Russian "shills", "moles" and "agents of influence", including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg,

, Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

, and elements of Mossad (Israel's intelligence service). In April 2017, Mensch claimed that "sources with links to the intelligence community" told her that it "is believed that

," he former campaign aide and foreign policy adviser, to President Trumpwent to Moscow in early July carrying with him a pre-recorded tape of Donald Trump offering to change American policy if he were to be elected, to make it more favorable to Putin. In exchange, Page was authorised directly by Trump to request the help of the Russian government in hacking the election." No evidence has ever surfaced or been published to corroborate any of these allegations either. When others have questioned her claims, she has often attacked them on social media as being witting or unwitting agents of Russia. In May 2017, Mensch wrote that then-Senator

Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senato ...

, Republican of Utah, who was named as "the ‘

Designated Survivor In the United States, a designated survivor (or designated successor) is a named individual in the presidential line of succession, chosen to stay at an undisclosed secure location, away from events such as State of the Union addresses and pre ...

’ at the inauguration of Donald Trump ... is likely to become President if charges" against President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and then-Speaker of the House Paul Ryan" were soon brought, "according to the evidence, of illegal collusion with Russia, money laundering, and obstruction of justice". Federal authorities had gathered "voluminous evidence" that "Donald Trump... knowingly colluded with the Russian state in the hacking of the U.S election, and laundered Russian money through shell companies". Mensch added that federal authorities had uncovered evidence that Pence had "obstructed justice, conspired to obstruct justice.. and violated the

Logan Act The Logan Act (, , enacted ) is a United States federal law that criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States. The intent behind the Act is to prevent unauthorized nego ...

." She also claimed that conversations of Paul Ryan had "been legally intercepted", were on tape, and included Ryan admitting that he knew Russian money was being laundered into the Republican Party. Because Trump, Pence, and Ryan might be removed from office at any moment after facing criminal charges, Mensch said, Senator Hatch would likely be named President. None of these claims turned out to be true, and none of these events that Mensch forecast ever occurred. Mensch claimed that former U.S. Representative (D-NY) Anthony Weiner was brought down as the result of a Russian intelligence operation to put the Clinton emails back in the news in the final days of the 2016 presidential election, saying: "I can exclusively report that there is ample evidence that suggests that Weiner was sexting not with a 15 year old girl but with a hacker, working for Russia, part of the North Carolina hacking group ‘Crackas With Attitude’, who hacked the head of the CIA, and a great many FBI agents, police officers, and other law enforcement officials." When the 15-year-old girl went public with her story for a '' BuzzFeed'' article, Mensch continued to state that Weiner was speaking to hackers posing as underage girls, while he also happened to also be in touch with a real 15-year-old girl at the same time.

Personal life

In 2000, she married Italian-American

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re- lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to othe ...

Anthony LoCicero. They have three children, but separated in 2009 and later divorced. In June 2011, she married American music manager

, whom she first met 20 years earlier, and resided with him in New York City until their divorce in August 2019. Mensch disclosed in May 2016 that she was diagnosed with

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inap ...

(ADHD), which made her realise she was "self medicating" with wine for stress, and as a result, has thus almost completely given up alcohol.

Drug use

Mensch has also commented, on BBC TV's ''

Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...

'' during a debate on calls to decriminalise hard drugs, about taking hard drugs in her twenties, and subsequently told the press, in 2012: ''It is something that I regret incredibly, that, in my youth, I messed with my brain. I said 'we all do stupid things when we are young'.'' ''It's had long-term mental health effects on me. My mind is messed up after taking hard drugs.''

Bibliography

;Novels Writing as Louise Bagshawe: * ''Career Girls'' (1995) * ''The Movie'' (1996) aka ''Triple Feature'' * ''Tall Poppies'' (1997) * ''Venus Envy'' (1998) * ''A Kept Woman'' (2000) aka ''For All the Wrong Reasons'' * ''When She Was Bad...'' (2001) * ''The Devil You Know'' (2003) * ''Monday's Child'' (2004) aka ''The Go–To Girl'' * ''Tuesday's Child'' (2005) * ''Sparkles'' (2006) * ''Glamour'' (2007) * ''Glitz'' (2008) * ''Passion'' (2009) * ''Desire'' (2010) * ''Destiny'' (2011) Writing as Louise Mensch: * ''Beauty'' (2014) * ''Career Game'' (2015) ;Anthology * ''Five Romantic Reads'' (2005; with

Donna Hay Donna Hay (born 28 January 1971) is an Australian food stylist, author and magazine editor.

Cookbooks < ...

, Laura Wolf, Jane Elizabeth Varley and Stella Chaplin)

References

External links

* * * *
Articles authored as Louise Bagshawe
at

Journalisted The Media Standards Trust is a British media think tank formed in 2006. It carries out research on issues in the media sector. It also advocates for press freedom as well as industry quality, transparency and accountability. It is a registered char ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mensch, Louise 1971 births 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists 20th-century British women writers 21st-century British women writers 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics 21st-century British women politicians Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Anti-Russian sentiment British chick lit writers British conspiracy theorists Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English bloggers English expatriates in the United States English feminists English Roman Catholics Fake news Female critics of feminism Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Living people People associated with the News International phone hacking scandal People educated at Beechwood Sacred Heart School People educated at Woldingham School Roman Catholic writers The Sun (United Kingdom) people The Times people UK MPs 2010–2015 American women bloggers American bloggers Catholic feminists Writers from London 21st-century American women