REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the California psychology professor who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when the two were in high school in the 1980s, has become the target of a disinformation campaign on social media.
False rumors meant to discredit Ford are making the rounds on social media, including on Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, The New York Times and other news outlets reported on Wednesday. Some of those have already been amplified in some conservative media, like on Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s opinion program and conservative commentator Mark Levin’s radio program.
The disinformation bears some of the hallmarks of propaganda that spread online during the 2016 US election, which is now one of the threads in the ongoing investigation of Russian interference being conducted by the special counsel Robert Mueller’s office.
Read some of the false rumors about Christine Blasey Ford being spread online below:
CLAIM: College students wrote negative reviews about her on a website that ranks college professors. (FALSE)
Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images
College students posted scathing reviews about her on RateMyProfessors.com, claiming that she was “unprofessional” and had a “dark” personality.
The truth: The negative reviews that have gotten media attention in recent days were referencing Christine A. Ford, a professor at California State University, Fullerton in Southern California — not Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. She teaches at Palo Alto University in Northern California.
CLAIM: Brett Kavanaugh’s mother, Martha Kavanaugh, who is a district court judge in Maryland, once ruled against Christine Blasey Ford’s parents in a foreclosure case. (FALSE)
REUTERS/Mark Avery
The rumor says that Christine Blasey Ford’s parents, Ralph and Paula Blasey, lost their home in a 1996 foreclosure case, over which Brett Kavanaugh’s mother presided.
The truth: Ralph and Paula Blasey were indeed defendants in a 1996 foreclosure case where Martha Kavanaugh was the presiding judge, CBS News White House correspondent Steven Portnoy reported, but she did not rule against them, and they did not lose their home.
CLAIM: Christine Blasey Ford allegedly accused Justice Neil Gorsuch of sexual assault last year. (FALSE)
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
According to The New York Times report, a Twitter user named Josh Cornett, who has a history of spreading far-right-themed misinformation online, appears to have started the rumor.
A tweet posted on the account on Tuesday claimed Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California was hesitant to bring up Christine Blasey Ford’s letter accusing Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault because she allegedly sent a similar letter about Justice Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, last year. This is false.
The truth: No such letter accusing Gorsuch of sexual assault has been found, The Times reported.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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