CBS News: Greenwald Said Most of the Campaign Sign Photos Were ‘Staged’

We posted a story yesterday about a – specifically those of .

Two Davis residents – photographer Melissa Martinez and attorney Bernie Goldsmith – took photos of Greenwald lawn signs that appear to have been placed directly in front of signs for other candidates. One photo taken by Martinez showed Greenwald’s . 

After local media outlets reported on the issue, CBS rolled a van into town and interviewed Greenwald, Goldsmith and Wolk. The report aired Tuesday night.

In Greenwald’s interview, she says that in this campaign signs have “been ripped, they’ve been stomped, they’ve been thrown in the bushes, they’ve been stolen.” 

She concedes that her husband did discard the Dan Wolk sign and one other, but that's it. The CBS reporter quotes Greenwald as saying “most of the pictures posted on Facebook were staged.” 

The video itself does not show Greenwald saying those exact words, but she has said that her husband told her he had removed signs "only on this occasion and one other occasion." You can read her . 

The tension lies in the fact that there are at least a half-dozen photos on Facebook.

When asked about the "staging" of the photos, Goldsmith said:  

“I just came out here and took photographs of what I saw. I’m very disappointed in the contention that any sort of staging took place.” 

After the report aired, Goldsmith said that Greenwald's accusation equates to an attack on his character, and that she shouldn’t be targeting the messenger.

The Davis Vanguard ran a story Wednesday morning called “The 24 Hour Rule for Political Controversies." The article has this to say: 

Sue Greenwald has now made two critical mistakes herself in the handling of what should have been a relatively minor incident.  First, she deflected the blame on her husband, which, while perhaps completely accurate, seems unseemly.  She should have simply said, we made an error in judgment and we apologize.

The second error, in our view is more serious and that is the charge that Bernie Goldsmith planted or staged the photos of the signs. Now, instead of taking responsibility she has upped the ante and continued the disfavorable news cycle.  Unless she had evidence, she was better off not stating it. 

In this case, do you agree? Share your thoughts below. 

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