inspector general
Megyn Kelly Is Getting Called Out for Questionable Tweet Linking Trump's Ukraine Investigation and Kavanaugh Hearings
Completely false.
It's been nearly a year since former Fox News host Megyn Kelly was released from a lucrative contract with NBC after the television personality questioned whether or not blackface is appropriate on Halloween (it's not).
Judging from a recent tweet, it looks like Kelly wouldn't find it challenging to step back into her role as one of the most prominent faces of Fox News.
Kelly was reacting to an article from the New York Times which reported that an aide of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) was approached by the famous whistleblower whose complaint detailed President Donald Trump's corrupt interactions with the Ukrainian President and subsequently spurred Trump's impeachment inquiry.
The whistleblower was told by a member of Schiff's staff to instead go through official channels, which the whistleblower did with their complaint. The aide gave Schiff a vague run-down of the whistleblower's concerns without revealing the person's identity.
Desperate to shift the focus from the President to the ones holding him accountable, Republicans are scrambling to create a narrative that Schiff was directly involved in constructing the complaint and setting the stage for Trump's impeachment.
From this tweet, it appears Kelly is taking their side.
So Schiff coordinated w/whistle-blower from the start. And Blasey-Ford ran to Democrat partisan lawyers/reps in Kav… https://t.co/L0Dkt4mdkX— Megyn Kelly (@Megyn Kelly) 1570046843.0
This tweet is flat out wrong.
Schiff never "coordinated" with the whistleblower. Schiff's aide recommended the whistleblower go through proper channels: a complaint to the Trump-appointed Inspector General. The Trump administration would then block lawmakers from seeing the complaint, which motivated Schiff to press for its release.
The New York Times article states:
"The House staff member, following the committee’s procedures, suggested the officer find a lawyer to advise him and meet with an inspector general, with whom he could file a whistle-blower complaint. The aide shared some of what the officer conveyed to Mr. Schiff. The aide did not share the whistle-blower’s identity with Mr. Schiff, an official said."
What's more, as NBC News correspondent Ken Dilanian points out, this is a common occurrence.
Intel Committee aides tell me they get 2 to 3 complaints a month, and they tell everybody the same thing: Go throug… https://t.co/GnBM3eHEk8— Ken Dilanian (@Ken Dilanian) 1570052383.0
One of the story's authors, Matthew Rosenberg, spent the day on Twitter correcting Republicans' misinformation about what it revealed.
Despite what Trump claimed today, the @nytimes did NOT report that Adam Schiff helped write the whistleblower's com… https://t.co/bRakRsz2Ja— Matthew Rosenberg (@Matthew Rosenberg) 1570043948.0
@GOPLeader Nope. Not what the NYT reported. The whistleblower went to an intel committee staffer with a vague accou… https://t.co/Zs42hFaZ0D— Matthew Rosenberg (@Matthew Rosenberg) 1570045203.0
In Kelly's words, "maybe politics is at play" for Republicans leaping to discredit Schiff. And maybe she's helping them, especially by going after Dr. Christine Blasey-Ford, who credibly accused now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault while the two were at a party in high school.
@megynkelly While repeating a mischaracterization about the current fiasco, you couldn’t resist defending an allege… https://t.co/Q17W4SBHMQ— Elie Mystal (@Elie Mystal) 1570079461.0
@megynkelly Theres a reason your irrelevant. https://t.co/Oy48CiElvF— #RIPGOP ™ (@#RIPGOP ™) 1570050454.0
@megynkelly How sweet of you to completely dismiss the CONTENT of the WB complaint AND the Blasey-Ford story. Now… https://t.co/B1A5I3MBOr— MeanOl Kamala Stan (@MeanOl Kamala Stan) 1570106970.0
People called out Kelly for lying.
@megynkelly Hi Ms. Kelly, Your tweet is erroneous in many respects and you should delete it. The Whistleblower a… https://t.co/CdyVuTwRuw— Jon Cryer (@Jon Cryer) 1570051918.0
@megynkelly Wildly incorrect. Delete this tweet. I'd think you'd care about spreading misinformation if you want to… https://t.co/6uc34oFzTi— Allison Winn Scotch (@Allison Winn Scotch) 1570047521.0
@megynkelly It's perfectly within the Whistleblower with classified information procedure. https://t.co/dLfSNXZKLB— Puesto Loco™ (@Puesto Loco™) 1570057273.0
@megynkelly My god you need to read up on the guidelines before you tweet this nonsense and make people as misinfor… https://t.co/FWZs0XERMz— Miranda Yaver (@Miranda Yaver) 1570047561.0
It's surprising that Kelly would leap to defend the nonexistent innocence of a man who tweeted this about her.
I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct. Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1453895044.0
If crazy @megynkelly didn't cover me so much on her terrible show, her ratings would totally tank. She is so average in so many ways!— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1458400615.0
Highly overrated & crazy @megynkelly is always complaining about Trump and yet she devotes her shows to me. Focus on others Megyn!— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1458233884.0
Trump also accused Kelly of having "blood coming out of her wherever" after she asked him a challenging question during a Republican primary debate in 2016. Yet it's the Democrats whom Kelly feels the need to take to task.
Politics at play?