After the testimony: More obfuscation and hearsay as Fox News still hypes Adams
Megyn Kelly falsely characterized a documentary about the New Black Panther Party as evidence of “the incident” that gave rise to a Justice Department investigation into alleged voter intimidation on Election Day 2008. But according to the general counsel for the Civil Rights Commission, the video was completed before Election Day.
Megyn Kelly calls pre-Election video “a video of the incident” that happened on Election Day
Kelly: Adams says that “some within the Department of Justice actually called a meeting to show the naysayers a video of the incident.” Reporting on J. Christian Adams’ testimony before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Megyn Kelly claimed, “Adams also testified about the attitude within the Justice Department once this New Black Panthers incident hit the national airwaves just after the ‘08 election, in part thanks to our own Rick Leventhal, who happened to be on the scene. Adams said that he heard Justice attorneys dismissing it as no big deal, as a media-generated event. Well, attorneys were downplaying the event to such an extent, says Adams, that some within the Department of Justice actually called a meeting to show the naysayers a video of the incident.”
Adams: “We got the National Geographic video where the Black Panthers are calling for the murder of white babies in their cribs, which I understand you showed here.” Kelly then aired part of Adams’ testimony where he said, “We got the National Geographic video where the Black Panthers are calling for the murder of white babies in their cribs, which I understand you showed here, and calling for the murders of white people to show the section. We thought, ’My goodness gracious, fair-minded people will soften their hearts — will soften their hearts after they see these things.’ I was not there the day that the video played but I’m told it did not exactly attract a large crowd.”
Kelly: “You may not have seen this Nat Geo video.” Kelly then said, “Adams suggested the video didn’t have much of an affect. What exactly does that video show? You’ve seen the cell-phone video of the guy filming the two New Black Panthers, and you may have seen the Rick Leventhal video. You may not have seen this Nat Geo video. Take a look. ”
National Geographic documentary produced before “the incident” on Election Day 2008
Civil Rights Commission General Counsel: “National Geographic Channel’s documentary” was “produced in 2008, before the election.” During an April 23 hearing of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, David Blackwood, the commission’s general counsel, introduced video evidence, including what he said was “the National Geographic Channel’s documentary on the New Black Panther Party.” Blackwood said that the documentary was “produced in 2008, before the election.” From Blackwood’s comments introducing video evidence to the Commission:
BLACKWOOD: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. What we’re going to show in this next segment are three video clips that the Commission has obtained. The first — and they will run one right after the other. The first is from the National Geographic Channel’s documentary on the New Black Panther Party, which was obtained by subpoena.
The documentary was produced in 2008, before the election. It has background as to the New Black Panther Party. It shows clips of statements from Malik Zulu Shabazz, who is head of the party, and has footage and comments from the New Black Panther Party members who were at the Fairmount Street Polling Place: Minister King Samir Shabazz and Jerry Jackson.
Kelly again lets Adams rely on hearsay
Kelly: “Adams also testified about the attitude within the Justice Department once this New Black Panther incident hit the national airwaves.” Kelly claimed that “Adams also testified about the attitude within the Justice Department once this New Black Panthers incident hit the national airwaves just after the ‘08 election.” Kelly also said, “Adams said that he heard Justice attorneys dismissing it as no big deal, as a media-generated event. Well attorneys were downplaying the event to such an extent, says Adams, that some within the Department of Justice actually called a meeting to show the naysayers a video of the incident.”
Adams: “I was not there the day that the video played, but I’m told it did not exactly attract a large crowd.” During the portion of Adams’ testimony aired by Kelly, Adams acknowledged that he was not present to observe the reaction of any attorneys viewing the video, or to know first-hand how many attorneys viewed the documentary.
Kelly previously hyped Adams’ allegations that were based on hearsay
Adams: “I don’t know. I wasn’t there.” During the June 30 edition of America Live, Kelly hyped what she called “Adams’ explosive new allegations.” But during the interview, Adams relied on hearsay and things that others said to support his allegations. For example, after claiming that a Justice Department attorney “threw [a] memo at” another attorney, Kelly asked, “What was the response? I mean that’s an extraordinary story,” and Adams replied, “I don’t know. I wasn’t there.”
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