Chuck Schumer Latest Target In Fake News Setup

WASHINGTON, DC — New York Sen. Chuck Schumer was subject to an attempted smear campaign Wednesday, the latest example of someone trying to dupe media organizations into publishing or broadcasting a false story. Someone forged a sexual harassment claim against Schumer, the Democrat said, and shopped phony court documents to major media organizations about the supposed harassment.

Schumer’s office reported it to Capitol Police, a spokesperson told Patch.

Schumer said at a press conference Wednesday that his office will pursue “every legal path” against the person who sent it. "It was a phony allegation, forged, false from start to finish," he said.

It’s a tactic similar to those used by Project Veritas, a right-wing investigative outlet headed by James O’Keefe. The site uses hidden cameras and other tactics in an attempt to find supposed liberal bias in the media and other dirt on Democratic politicians and social programs.

Project Veritas appears to be the organization that sent a woman to falsely tell the Washington Post that she had been impregnated by Roy Moore, the defeated Republican Senate candidate in Alabama. The Post believes the attempted sting was meant to undermine the paper's credibility.

The new smear against Schumer "is of a piece with O’Keefe’s operations,” said Todd Gitlin, chair of the Ph. D. program in Communications at Columbia University.

There’s a specific element in right-wing circles that is likely to continue to carry out attempted smears, Gitlin told Patch.

“There are among them, people who will stop at nothing to score points and damage their enemies,” he said.

“Now we have two of the these instances this fall,” he said. “That to me suggests there will be more to come.”

Project Veritas said it cannot comment on investigations “real or imagined.”

Photo credit: Alex Brandon/Associated Press