- Limbaugh: Did Wilson commit treason?
In an October 31 discussion of the indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh stated, "The more the left talks about Libby's alleged perjury, the more you have to ask did Joseph Wilson commit treason." Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, was indicted on October 28 for perjury, obstruction of justice, and false statements. Limbaugh later continued, "Did Wilson lie about Niger? Did Wilson commit treason?" Limbaugh also stated, "You still can't convince me ... that this whole thing is not a CIA-hatched plot to destroy Bush, undermine the war effort."
- Media mischaracterized Alito opinion striking down late-term abortion ban
Numerous broadcast and print media have mischaracterized a concurring opinion issued by 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. -- now a Supreme Court nominee -- in the 2000 case Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey v. Farmer, which struck down a ban on terminating later-term pregnancies. The media reports have juxtaposed Alito's opinion in Farmer with his dissent in a 1991 case striking down abortion restrictions to falsely suggest that Alito has issued conflicting rulings on abortion. In fact, Alito pointedly noted in his concurring opinion in Farmer that he was voting to strike down the abortion ban only because, as an appellate judge, he was bound by Supreme Court precedent, and he criticized the majority opinion for providing a detailed analysis of how the Supreme Court reached its decision.
- CNN's Crowley falsely claimed Reagan's final approval ratings were higher than Clinton's
On the October 29 edition of CNN's On the Story, CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley falsely claimed that President Ronald Reagan's job approval ratings as he left office were higher than those of President Bill Clinton as he left office.
- CBS added language to AP report to falsely claim "nuclear option" is a Democratic term
A November 1 Associated Press article republished on CBSNews.com repeated the false claim that "nuclear option," referring to the Republican-proposed Senate rule change to prohibit filibusters of judicial nominations, is a Democratic term. The article on CBSNews.com reports: "[Senate Majority Leader Bill] Frist [R-TN] said he's ready to move against judicial filibusters, using what Republicans call the 'constitutional option' and Democrats term the 'nuclear option.' " Other versions of the AP article, however, do not ascribe "nuclear option" to Democrats. CBS presumably added the language to the AP article.
- Hannity falsely claimed Ginsburg advocated legalizing prostitution, lowering the consent age to 12
Fox News host Sean Hannity repeated the false claim that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had supported both "legalized prostitution" and lowering "the age of consent to 12" prior to her 1993 confirmation hearing. A 1974 report co-authored by Ginsburg did address the constitutionality of prohibitions on prostitution and did refer to legislation that set the age of consent at 12 years. But Ginsburg did not assert a position on either issue, as Media Matters for America previously noted in response to a nearly identical claim made by Wall Street Journal columnist Manuel Miranda.
- O'Reilly deceptively defended "you gotta go to Israel" comment
On the October 28 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly renewed his defense of comments he made to a caller during the December 3, 2004, edition of his radio show. In the December 3 exchange, the caller said he was "concerned about the secularization of Jews and about the -- and Christmas going into schools." O'Reilly responded, "[I]f you are really offended, you gotta go to Israel."
- More conservatives falsely claimed that Plame leak investigation found that the leak itself wasn't illegal
Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh, and Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund mischaracterized the October 28 indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to claim that special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald's investigation determined that no underlying crime had been committed in the outing of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame. In fact, neither the indictment nor Fitzgerald indicated that any conclusion has been reached as to whether a crime was committed in leaking Plame's identity.
- Matthews falsely claimed Democrats accused Alito of being "lenient on the mob"
During MSNBC's October 31 coverage of the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court, Hardball host Chris Matthews repeatedly misrepresented a document about Alito that was circulated by Democrats. Matthews falsely claimed that the document accused Alito of being "lenient on the mob" and made the baseless assertion that, by mentioning a case involving organized crime, Democrats were "go[ing] after [Alito's Italian] ethnicity." In fact, the document, available here, made no mention of Alito's ethnicity and simply noted that he lost a high-profile mob case -- not that he was "lenient" on anybody.
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