On Friday, the day after two women accused Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) of harassment, HuffPo published an article titled, “The Framing Of Al Franken By Two Trump Supporters; And The Dems Are Playing Right Along.” The piece is written by David Fagin, a frequent HuffPo contributor. According to Media Equalizer, the story was removed just a few hours later (the archive can be seen here).
According to the archive, HuffPo not only called into the question the credibility of both accusers, Fagin also smeared them personally.
“I’m sorry. But something is rotten in Denmark. Two Trump supporting, right-wing zealots come forward with bottom of the barrel accusations,” Fagin writes, “and no one, not even the Dems cries foul?”
The personal attacks came next.
“Leeann Tweeden, a former Playboy Playmate who’s spent half her life nude, or nearly nude, and the other half appearing on shows such as Hannity,” Fagin writes, adding “also just happens to be a Trump supporter, as well. Isn’t it interesting how she’s decided to share her nightmarish tale of horror and humiliation in the form of an unrequited kiss on behalf of a liberal-leaning Senator with us, now?”
As for the now-infamous photograph of Franken groping a sleeping Tweeden, HuffPo dismisses this with the claim it was all staged. There is a screenshot embedded in the piece where the supposed photographer claims, “[S]he was playing dead and SHE wanted him to revive her.” There is no credible reporting of the photographer saying any such thing.
Huffpo then goes after Franken’s second accuser, Melanie Morgan, who is the co-founder of Media Equalizer.
“Next up, we have Melanie Morgan. A conservative blogger who idolizes right-wing lunatic Laura Ingraham, amongst others, and Fox News to the point she chose a photo of her appearance on the network as her Twitter pic. This one says Franken harassed her by “calling her several times.” Spooky. Did he breathe heavy, too?” the HuffPo story reads.
Morgan is accusing Franken of another kind of harassment, of bullying her and repeatedly calling her after a TV appearance in August of 2001. Prior to becoming a senator in 2008, Franken was well known for his aggressive and bullying behavior, including physical bullying.
Since HuffPo disappeared its piece, Lindsay Menz, a Texas woman, has come forward with the claim that Franken groped her in 2010 while he was a sitting senator.
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