Chris Butler, using the pen name Bo Zhongyan (
柏忠言
), coauthored anti-Western books in China with his wife Wai Lana (Zhang Huilan,
张蕙兰
). They described Westerners as
"no more than dogs"
and dedicated their 1986 book to
"the great and magnificent Chinese nation"
—
这个伟大，壮丽国家的全体中国人民.
Source
Note: Thousands of decrypted documents and emails from Butler's secret political operation have been independently examined by the Washington Post. The content on this website is attributed solely to the site's author.
35 coaching transcripts. Chris Butler wrote every talking point, cultivated every host, and scripted every appearance. Fox thought it had a maverick Democrat. In reality, Butler had been a Chinese Communist Party propagandist since 1980.
Journalists are central to any democracy. But journalism is only as good as the integrity, intellectual curiosity, and due diligence of the journalists and the people running a media organization. Jumping on the bandwagon every time there's a juicy "attack" headline does not constitute true journalism, in my view. Readers and viewers deserve better.
Butler loved to push controversy and division, and he played Fox News like a fiddle to get maximum media exposure for Tulsi. He watched Fox obsessively, profiled which hosts were useful, ordered Tulsi to cultivate them personally, fed them anti-Clinton stories, wrote every word of her talking points, and had other people defend the appearances online.
Fox thought they had a maverick Democrat. Actually, Butler is just really good at propaganda. Before Fox, there was the Chinese Communist Party. Starting in 1980, Butler published anti-Western propaganda through five CCP state publishing houses. 7
He called Westerners "dogs." 8
His wife built a multimillion-dollar brand on CCP state television. 9
Then he coached Tulsi onto Fox News as a patriotic, independent-minded Democrat.
Fox got played.
Butler wrote every word
The transcripts show Butler dictating Tulsi's Fox News talking points, rejecting her team's drafts in real time, and correcting her phrasing down to individual words. Before a Fox & Friends appearance on February 5, 2015, a staffer read her draft talking points aloud, and Butler shot them down one by one.
Draft:
"They dream of seeing the Islamic flag flying above the White House."
Butler:
"Stop it. If you want to say something, say something that makes sense, that people can relate to for real. 'Our way of life,' 'the White House,' give me a break."
POL TRS 2015 02 05 1
Draft:
"These terrorists are most accurately described as Islamic extremists or Islamic militants or Islamic jihadists."
Butler:
"Don't say militants, just say Islamic terrorists or Islamic extremists."
POL TRS 2015 02 05 1
Draft:
"The stated goal of our enemy is to destroy our way of life."
Butler:
"That's too vague."
POL TRS 2015 02 05 1
After a Greta Van Susteren appearance on January 27, 2015, Butler critiqued her delivery:
"The way you said it previously was not that tight. I think it can be more clear if you write it down maybe, in bullet point form. It should be very simple."
POL TRS 2015 01 27 2
And when she kept repeating the same points without landing them:
"She has got to get down to why is it important. She can't just keep saying the same thing, like 'Words are important' and 'Words have meaning' and whatever, whatever."
POL TRS 2015 02 05 1
Butler cultivated Fox hosts as strategic allies
Butler didn't just prep Tulsi for appearances. He watched Fox programming obsessively and ordered her to cultivate specific hosts.
Andrea Tantaros (September 15, 2015)
After watching Hannity, Butler spotted Andrea Tantaros taking a position aligned with Tulsi's:
"There is a lady that goes on Fox regularly, Andrea Tantaros... Yesterday, she said, 'Obama is crazy. Russia is trying to get the Obama Administration to stop going after Assad,' she is saying the exactly same thing. Might want to send her a note, an email, or something: 'Your position is absolutely correct.' It's good to be sided with someone like her, because she is one of Fox's commentators that is there all the time."
POL TRS 2015 09 15 3
Greta Van Susteren
Butler ordered Tulsi's team to feed anti-Clinton stories directly to Greta:
"We should get that article about Hillary Clinton with Libya, how she didn't want to negotiate or anything... You might want to make that available to Greta."
POL TRS 2015 02 15 4
Neil Cavuto
Butler profiled which Fox hosts were suited for which messages:
"Cavuto is a business show."
POL TRS 2015 02 18 5
He tailored talking points to each host's format and audience. Cavuto got economic angles. Greta got foreign policy. Hannity got the red meat.
Butler had people defend the Fox strategy online
When Democrats criticized Tulsi for appearing on Fox News, Butler wrote responses for others to post:
"It is unfortunate that you are so partisan that you believe that anybody who appears on Fox News is automatically 'UnAmerican.' The fact is, Tulsi has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, and a few times on Fox News to express her views."
POL TRS 2015 02 08 6
Butler wrote the defense. Someone else posted it. Tulsi's fingerprints stayed clean.
The shows Butler scripted
The transcripts document Butler personally writing talking points for appearances on at least six Fox News programs.
| Show |
Host |
Prep transcripts |
| On the Record |
Greta Van Susteren |
9 |
| Your World |
Neil Cavuto |
10 |
| Fox & Friends |
Various |
1 |
| Hannity |
Sean Hannity |
3 |
| The Kelly File |
Megyn Kelly |
4 |
| Special Report |
Bret Baier |
2 |
| General / multiple |
Various |
6 |
35 Fox News coaching transcripts total. Every appearance scripted. Every word approved by a man in Hawaii who had spent the previous three decades publishing anti-Western propaganda for the Chinese Communist Party.
This wasn't just Fox
Butler also wrote talking points for CNN (Wolf Blitzer, Jake Tapper), MSNBC (Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes), and other networks. Another 67 prep transcripts document the same pattern across every network Tulsi appeared on. 10
But Fox gave Tulsi her biggest platform and her "maverick Democrat" brand. And Fox never asked who was writing her lines.
