Well, the Ed Whelan theory we told you about last night just took a hit from … Ed Whelan:
I made an appalling and inexcusable mistake of judgment in posting the tweet thread in a way that identified Kavanaugh's Georgetown Prep classmate. I take full responsibility for that mistake, and I deeply apologize for it. I realize that does not undo the mistake.
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) September 21, 2018
Whelan’s theory, which relied on a case of mistaken identity, was shot down last night when Christine Blasey Ford released a statement saying she knew both Kavanaugh and the other student and had even visited that other student in the hospital:
Christine Blasey Ford shoots down the Whelan conspiracy theory to WaPo: "I knew them both, and socialized with Chris Garrett. I even visited Chris Garrett when he was in the hospital. There is zero chance that I would confuse them." https://t.co/E6NzU6Gp5T
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 21, 2018
Whelan’s backtrack, however, didn’t come in time to keep the theory off the air at Fox & Friends:
Fox and Friends is spreading Ed Whelan’s smear of Kavanaugh’s classmate. Totally irresponsible. pic.twitter.com/mrK1ZqtV9J
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) September 21, 2018
The thread has reportedly been deleted:
Whelan just deleted his tweet thread on the topic, and offered an apology, calling it an "appalling and inexcusable mistake of judgment." pic.twitter.com/oq4wnIJC6R
— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) September 21, 2018
Some of the early reaction is, needless to say, not good as Whelan’s defenders were hoping for a Part 2 to all of this today:
So much for the theory Whelan knew something he wasn't saying. https://t.co/i2YLApqsTr
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) September 21, 2018
It was a momentary lapse (that took him days to map out). https://t.co/nMJYJ6SCDj
— Jamie O'Grady (@JamieOGrady) September 21, 2018
Will Fox and Friends also issue a retraction? https://t.co/O8ETOAHqwP
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) September 21, 2018
Wow, full fledged apology from the guy who started the conspiracy theory about the Kavanaugh doppelgänger https://t.co/iFpeJaQDA4
— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) September 21, 2018
And this doesn’t do Judge Kavanaugh any favors as this will not be brought up, at great length, if/when there’s another hearing:
Plus:
"Judge Kavanaugh, do you agree that if it were determined that you were involved in discussions with Mr. Whelan about his plan to implicate one of your classmates, you should be disqualified from serving on the Supreme Court?" https://t.co/05GLL7uLxg
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) September 21, 2018
And Senate Republicans will possibly feel the heat, too. Like this now-deleted tweet from a staffer for Sen. Orrin Hatch:
the Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director for Senator Orrin Hatch wants us to believe that he did not know about Whelan's thread ahead of time despite tweeting & deleting this
— J.D. Durkin (@jiveDurkey) September 21, 2018
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Related:
the Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director for Senator Orrin Hatch wants us to believe that he did not know about Whelan's thread ahead of time despite tweeting & deleting this
— J.D. Durkin (@jiveDurkey) September 21, 2018
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