Despite all of the attention the former vice-president’s been getting for his role in the National Enquirer‘s Al Gore Sex Attack scandal, Gore–or his spokespeople–have made only a couple of statements to the press. Taken together, the two statements prompt more questions about Gore’s behavior than they answer.
A few days after the National Enquirer broke its initial Al Gore Sex Attack story, the former VP, speaking through friends, seemed to have only a slight recollection of the sleazy events that allegedly took place in his Portland luxury hotel room.
According to a source friendly with the Gores, Al Gore confirmed he received a therapeutic massage in his hotel room that night, and likely from the therapist making the accusation. But, the source said, Gore remembers getting a massage without incident and the therapist leaving on good terms.
In fact, New York magazine headlined their June 25 account of the above information with Al Gore Recalls a Pleasant, Uneventful Massage.
A day later, in Byron York’s piece on the Portland cops reopening the case, Gore’s position hardened considerably. Gone was all the talk about a “misunderstanding” or “mix-up.”
A Gore spokeswoman says the former vice president welcomes the re-opened police investigation. “Further investigation into this matter will only benefit Mr. Gore,” says spokeswoman Kalee Kreider. “The Gores cannot comment on every defamatory, misleading, and inaccurate story generated by tabloids. Mr. Gore unequivocally and emphatically denied this accusation when he first learned of its existence three years ago. He stands by that denial.”
What had changed?
The National Enquirer upped the ante, that’s what. With a huge headlines proclaiming ‘Al Gore is a Pervert and a Sexual Predator,’ the Enquirer released a load of inconvenient information about the Academy Award-winner.
The tabloid latest highlighted ‘Massage Therapist comes forward with MORE EVIDENCE: Key Witness, Video Footage, DNA Testing.’ There was no more talk of Gore as a crazed sex poodle.” Instead, the Enquirer offered evidence–and lots of it.
Gore’s statement through his spokesman on July 1 was intended to make it quite clear that Gore had been categorically denying his accuser’s allegations for three years. Yet the reports of June 26 didn’t mention anything about making any previous denials.
Which raises a few questions:
- Is issuing a “categorical denial” through an attorney a part of “leaving on good terms” in Al Gore’s world?
- Is this behavior normal for Tennessee?
- How could Gore possibly characterize his meeting with the massage therapist as “uneventful” if his attorney had been contacted by a newspaper about a police report and possible sexual charges being filed? That could only be true if inquiries to Gore’s lawyer concerning those types of charges were a regular occurence.
Therefore, it would seem that Gore has a denial problem; both of the statements cannot be true. How long will it be before that point is noticed by the MSM? Which leads to another question:
- Was Gore’s wife Tipper aware of the denials in 2007?
Let’s take a look at the details of Gore’s “unequivocal and emphatic” denial. The only denial Al Gore has ever made about Molly Haggerty’s accusations were to the free weekly paper, the Portland Tribune.
In a private letter.
Which the paper did not publish.
About a story the paper did not cover.
The excerpt from that letter to the Tribune that’s been most widely-cited in the media is the following:
You … are aware that everyone who knows Al and Tipper Gore well can and does attest to the integrity of their 37 year marriage and to his honorable character. Moreover, no allegations remotely resembling the ones made by this lawyer have been made against Mr. Gore by anyone else.
Which is more an appeal for the paper not to besmirch the “integrity of their 37 year marriage” and Gore’s “honorable character” than a denial. In light of more recent revelations about the Gores’ marriage, it also renders the letter’s claims a bit suspect.
Just to be on the safe side, in her latest statement Kreider throws in the “Tabloid Trash” defense, a la John Edwards.
But really: Does it matter how many times Al Gore’s version of that evening changes? Maybe. Maybe not.
If Molly Haggerty has all of the evidence that she claims she has — an inconvenient truth, so to speak — there’s a good chance that Gore’s next statement might be to the Portland PD.
If that happens, maybe then Americans will be able to find it in the Mainstream Media, instead of having to wait for the National Enquirer to deliver another scoop.