Now, this is the story of a tragic descent into hysterical insanity. David Schippers is a Chicago lawyer who, in 1998, accepted the role of Chief Investigative Counsel for the US House Judiciary Committee related to the Lewinsky affair – because, in part, of his reputation for integrity, skill and professionalism. Schippers, who recommended impeachment, summed up his role in his book Sellout: The Inside Story of President Clinton’s Impeachment, where he vigorously attacked the White House and several members of the Senate.
What happened next is … complicated. At present Schippers is a dubiously coherent conspiracy theorist exploring a territory somewhere between the InfoWars (indeed, Schippers has been happily interviewed by Alex Jones) and the WND (he has written for them, too). Accordingly he has also acquired status as something of a star in the world of right-wing radio and among conspiracy theorists and people who believe the government covering up the Oklahoma City bombings (which Schippers claims was Islamic, not rightwing, terrorism), about the 1996 explosion of TWA Flight 800 off Long Island, and the link between those tragedies and 9/11 – yes, Schippers is an ardent 9/11 truther; according to himself, FBI agents warned him of the attack in advance. In 2000 he endorsed Alan Keyes for President; he has toyed with Vince Foster conspiracies, and he admires Ann Coulter. He can even note on his CV a post as “national adviser” to Larry Klayman. Yes, that Larry Klayman.
For a brilliant portrait of Schippers, this one is, though overly sympathetic, hard to beat.
Diagnosis: Ravingly lunatic and minimally coherent, Schippers seems to swallow it all – if his gut says a source is trustworthy, then he’ll stick with that, no matter where it’ll lead him. And it has already led him impressively far from anything resembling reality.
Seems his sources for the date and locations of the 911 attacks were legit. John Vincent, Robert Wright and Coleen Rowley.