Jake Tapper and Yashar Ali hit John Conyers for his Mike Cernovich distraction

Greg P. | 6:49 PM on November 26, 2017

Earlier today, embattled Rep. John Conyers announced he will step down as the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee as Congress investigates the sexual harassment charges against him:

After careful consideration and in light of the attention drawn by recent allegations made against me, I have notified the Democratic Leader of my request to step aside as Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee during the investigation of these matters.

— John Conyers, Jr. (@RepJohnConyers) November 26, 2017

But Conyers went on to deny the allegations and attempted to use Mike Cernovich to make people question the authenticity of the documents uses as the basis for BuzzFeed’s report last week:

I deny these allegations, many of which were raised by documents reportedly paid for by a partisan alt-right blogger. I very much look forward to vindicating myself and my family before the House Committee on Ethics.

— John Conyers, Jr. (@RepJohnConyers) November 26, 2017

Nice try, but no.

Jake Tapper’s response:

Conyers using fact that docs came from alt-right conspiracy theorist with a history of lies and, er, bizarre comments about rape to undermine the case against him. But there is NO evidence the docs are anything but legitimate, per @Buzzfeed, which broke the story. https://t.co/pq2xFOl5cI

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 26, 2017