P1/ Faked news+investigative Failures = False narrative on Franken
@CNN @HuffPost @Jezebel @politico @TheAtlantic
did not vet stories like @washingtonpost @nytimes @NewYorker,
often failed W5H: Who,When,Where,What,Why,How?
We need good investigative reporting more than ever!
P2/ Top level overview of complaints and my opinions
3 Lies #1, #5, #8
3 False: at least part Lie/absurd #2, #4, #6
2 Unproven: unlikely, vague #3, #7
Do these 2 pages raise doubts?
(Be ready to ZOOM IN on some pages.🙂)
P3/ The 8 allegation threads linked in P5 share context:
Z https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/942786010756218880 D A I L
M https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/947877100957995008 malleable memory
U https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/950532237920935936 USO
Despite oddities,people just assumed Franken guilty of Deliberate act, ignored possible Accident,Imagination,Lie.
P4/ Photos of Franken with women
This thread collected miscellaneous photos, including some with other celebrities.
https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/949059918023176192 photos, misc
Flickr galleries enable quick, easy perusal of Franken with members of the public:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/137713489@N06/galleries/?rb=1
P6/ Complaint timeline & overall chronology
Most claimed actions occurred while Franken was on talk radio or candidacy.
Timeline: primary leapt rushed to publication with little obvious due diligence.
Only first or key stories, interviews; no attempt to be comprehensive.
P8/ Sexual misconduct in American Politics @ballotpedia
Ballotpedia has been collecting examples, snapshotted here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20180523201126/https://ballotpedia.org/Sexual_misconduct_in_American_politics_(2017-2018)
How often do politicians grope strangers during quick public photo ops (#2,3,4,5,8) or force kisses onstage (#6), at radio studio (#7)?
P11/ The Post detects a false claim (21 days)
@ShawnBoburg @byaaroncdavis @alice_crites & @TomLeGro and @DDaltonBennett
"A woman approached The Post with dramatic — and false — tale about Roy Moore. She appears to be part of undercover sting operation."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/a-woman-approached-the-post-with-dramatic--and-false--tale-about-roy-moore-sje-appears-to-be-part-of-undercover-sting-operation/2017/11/27/0c2e335a-cfb6-11e7-9d3a-bcbe2af58c3a_story.html
P12/ Excellent postmortem on story gone badly wrong
@SheilaCoronel, @SteveCollNY, @derekkravitz
Rolling Stone and UVA: The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Report - An anatomy of a journalistic failure A Rape on Campus' - What Went Wrong https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/a-rape-on-campus-what-went-wrong-20150405
P13/ George Takei’s Accuser Has Changed His Story of Drugging & Assault
Fine investigation by @shanesnow
http://observer.com/2018/05/george-takei-accuser-scott-brunton-changed-his-story-of-drugs-assault/
Imagination, Malleable Memory, "party story" + #MeToo ==> The Hollywood Reporter, (vague stories failed later, ) @donnajobridge
H/T @cabinloon
P14/ W5H: WHO, WHEN, WHERE, WHAT, WHY, HOW?
This section summarizes the detailed threads into a common format, as checklists for W5H.
Gray highlights => weaknesses in story, arrows show levels of concern.
P15/ A dense spreadsheet was used during my investigation as a checklist & aid to seeing patterns. Most of its information has been summarized earlier, but here it acts just as a reference header for the W5H analysis of the stories.
(Charts may need ZOOM IN).
P16/ WHO – got contacted by reporters
Most events were public, but reporters found zero eyewitness to harassment.
They got 13 Complainant-provided contacts provided by Complainants, most relatives & friends, but zero Independent contacts.
See Rolling Stone & Takei cases, P12-P13.
P18/ #2 False @LindsayMenz
A https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/943557901104193536
@mj_lee @CNNPolitics @wccoradio
P19/ #3 Unproven Anon1
C https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/949745046743531520
@jenavievehatch @zackroth @HuffPost
P20/ #4 False Anon4
D https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/950271105134075905
@zackroth @jenavievehatch @HuffPost
P21/ #5 Lie Stephanie Kemplin
J https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/965652476564144128
K https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/952792459485958144 (earlier)
@mj_lee @CNNPolitics
@LarryDavisWKRC @NewsLaw1@KbieryGolick @AmandaWLWT
P22/ #6 False Anon3
G0 https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/969095764751237122
G1 https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/953416287329296384 (earlier)
@annamerlan @Jezebel
P23/ #7 Unproven Anon4
E https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/955691889323159554
@heatherscope @politico
P25/ Errata, updates additions if needed
Please report errors or evidence, whether confirming or disconfirming analyses. My goal is best approximation of (often messy) truth.
I’m especially interested in process of Tweeden launch & interactions with Kemplin and perhaps Menz.
P26/ H/T @cabinloon Typo in P23, Politico, NOT Jezebel:
"It is really strange that she would not tell Boss right away, and that Boss wasn't interviewed/quoted by Jezebel."
P27/ The @nytimes published a summary of the effects of #MeToo cases on 20 women, very useful as comparison with the 8 @AlFranken cases.
Hint: these were credible allegations, investigated credibly by reporters who know how.
https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/1035024074622136322
This logically fits after P7.
P28/ HOW DOES EVIDENCE CHANGE OPINIONS?
@the_unitron asked excellent question, well worth a formal thread to answer: https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/1035312314411433985
P29/ CORRECTION: Left frame 2nd column: "Stone certainly knew night of 11/16" was typo:
"night of 11/15"
P30/ CORRECTION Typos in P8.
As with Rep. Speier, allegations often came from women who worked for knew politician, whose goal many through sex. Many
Should read:
As with Rep. Speier, allegations often came from women who worked for/knew politician, whose goal many thought sex.
P31/ This analysis avoided discussion of the internal Senate dynamics that led to @alfranken's resignation, since I have no inside info.
However, since it keeps arising in campaigns, see these threads:
https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/1086722677753012224 TL1-TL49
https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/1122398333459243008 KG1-KG24
P32/ In light of events here, it is clearly unwise for any male politician (or one who may sometime run for office in future) to ever touch any (non-relative) female except to shake hands. Even if asked, no hugs or arms-around in photo ops.
https://twitter.com/JohnMashey/status/1117226333665259520 1-6
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