These days the mainstream media seem to be myopically fixed on one news story alone, the one in which Donald Trump Jr. had a meeting with a Russian female lawyer.
While anchors and pundits endlessly obsess over the minutiae of the meeting, attention on one key attendee named Rob Goldstone seems to be routinely overlooked, perhaps because his persona and identity do not fit well with the establishment media’s narrative of choice.
Goldstone, a heretofore obscure entertainment industry publicist, is the author of the e-mail facilitating last year’s meet-up between the president’s son and a lawyer. The attorney ostensibly promised to provide opposition research concerning then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Hollywood is filled with public relations folks like Goldstone, who are on an eternal quest for the big-name client who will help catapult them onto the A-list of publicists.
Public relations professionals tend to be extroverts, and Goldstone certainly fits the mold. He is a gregarious character known for his amusing headgear and equally comical happy talk.
Beginning with a stint as a journalist for a couple of British newspapers, Goldstone eventually branched out and became a music publicist based in The Big Apple.
In the early 1990s, he worked as a marketing director for the New York office of a retail music company. In 1997, along with a partner, established his own public relations firm called Oui 2 Entertainment.
In exchange for writing press releases, Goldstone was allowed to occupy space in the offices of a New York production company, JSM Music.
Goldstone, who himself is generously proportioned, once wrote a story for The New York Times titled "The Tricks and Trials of Traveling While Fat."
He was involved with some Miss Universe events over the years and crossed paths with the owner at the time, who now happens to be president of the United States.
As is common practice for publicity firm websites, Goldstone’s company site spotlights events featuring A-list celebrities while also engaging in the name dropping game.
Events that have made the site’s digital roster include the Friar’s Club Roast of comedic actress Betty White and filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, a birthday bash for singer Tony Bennett, a Central Park splash featuring rocker Sting, a charitable gathering with the Dave Matthews Band hosted by Julia Roberts, a gala honoring film director Martin Scorsese, a Haiti social occasion headlining Mary J. Blige, and an awards ceremony honoring actor Tom Cruise hosted by Alec Baldwin.
Goldstone’s website bio states that singer Michael Jackson once asked the publicist to "accompany him exclusively on his 1999 Australian tour."
A music business executive told Billboard that Goldstone’s involvement in the Trump Jr. meeting was reminiscent of the Peter Sellers movie "Being There."
"The Goldstone I know is the friendliest, happiest and most comedic person. He is a really fun guy. To hear he is part of this international conspiracy thing is like a joke," the executive stated, adding that the publicist “has really been miscast” by the media.
The New York Times described Goldstone’s role in the mainstream media’s latest favorite meme as “Britain’s Gift to America: The New Sleazocracy.” According to the article, Goldstone is “an avatar of the new power-brokers in the age of politics as entertainment.”
If the story sounds as if it belongs on The Onion, it may be because the establishment narrative rivals the parody site’s own content.
The individual who, according to CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, among others, was seeking to interfere with our democratic process by colluding with then-candidate Trump was Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, before he was relegated to the establishment media’s scoundrel du jour, Putin graduated from law school, spent 16 years working as a KGB Foreign Intelligence Officer, rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and in a very rough and tumble system quickly climbed the ladder to take the seat of Acting President when Boris Yeltsin resigned.
This raises the 64,000 ruble question. Would someone with the intelligence and counterintelligence knowledge and experience of Putin really launch an interference effort in the 2016 U.S. presidential election by having a little known entertainment publicist send an e-mail directly to the GOP candidate’s son?
This is not how it works in either the entertainment industry or the business of spying.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read more reports from James Hirsen — Click Here Now.
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