A Twitter Account With Two Fake IDs Accused a Democrat of Assault. Then Pro-Trump Sites Ran With It

[DonViejo]

Source: The Daily Beast



Linda Flores emerged on Twitter to allege that she was assaulted by Sen. Richard Blumenthal. He denies it. And she may not actually exist.

BEN COLLINS
GIDEON RESNICK
SAM STEIN
11.17.17 4:50 PM ET

A woman claiming to be from Connecticut made an explosive allegation of sexual assault against Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) on Friday. Her account quickly made its way through conservative chat forums, where contributors roundly called for the Senator to address the allegations and be held accountable for them.

But it is not entirely clear that the woman making the charge actually exists. In fact, a quick search shows that the account ripped off bio photos of women in Texas and London and misspelled the name of the accuser’s Connecticut hometown. The account was quickly shut down once the accusation went viral on rightwing media, with the user then emerging to claim she’d been hacked. After that, the account was suspended. And in a statement to The Daily Beast, Blumenthal’s office strongly denied the charge.

It began at 5:56 pm, on Thursday, when the initial tweet was posted. In it, “Linda Flores” said that she had “waited almost 40 years to tell my story” about how she was “an intern at a law office with @SenBlumenthal & was sexually assaulted by richard countless times.”

“Told the story to my husband has been eaten me alive since,” Flores tweeted.




Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/a-twitter-account-with-two-fake-ids-accused-a-democrat-of-assault-then-pro-trump-sites-ran-with-it

[NanceGreggs]

1. I don't doubt ...

... that there will be more such accusations coming out of the woodwork.

It's a traditional GOP tack: If one of yours is accused of something, simply accuse the other side of having done the same thing.

We just saw this play out with the "Hillary colluded with the Russians" meme. And let's face it, the GOP really has no other option than to throw this stuff out there and hope that it sticks.

[LisaL]

10. Who didn't see that coming?

And of course it was easy, since many democrats already think we have to believe anybody accusing anybody of something.

[pangaia]

27. I saw it coming as soon as the Moore thing popped up..

[marble falls]

2. Simmons is a degenerate. That's not anexcuse for his behavior, its a condition and the reason...

why. He's never been held accountable and its way past time.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

7. Who? nt

[DonViejo]

9. Huh?

[marble falls]

12. WHOOOOOOPS wrong thread, I thought I was on the Simmons/Fox ban OP!!!! I plead being old....

very, very old!

[orangecrush]

3. Russian ops

Once is coincidence.

Twice is suspicious.

Three times is enemy action.

[FakeNoose]

14. Except now we can jump straight to #3

No need to wait for 1 and 2 any more.

I may sound paranoid, but I see Russian trolls behind everything now.

[KT2000]

15. yes -

it's been eaten her alive? Wouldn't an intern know how to spell eating?

[orangecrush]

16. Obvious bot

Is obvious!



(Referring to the twitter troll.)

[KPN]

4. This (the Blumenthal accusation) was on the tv news

tv news here in SE Oregon. It's more than just overtly proTrump sites.

Isn't there any way that Twitter and FB can be held accountable? Lawsuits? I 'd be willing to donate toward legal action against these two sites in particular. Or am I just barking up a tree.

We need to deal with this somehow -- can we really count on the American people given corporate and oligarch control of media and campaign finance, not to mention GOP control of the federal government currently?

[blueinredohio]

22. I would be willing to donate too

[SergeStorms]

5. I'm sure that....

apologies from all concerned GOP operatives will be forthcoming.

[BigmanPigman]

6. Be prepared for Stone and Breitbart

to be starting a lot of this shit...it is called DISTRACTION!

[tblue37]

26. It's also called ratf**king. nt

[LisaL]

8. Don't you know, we now have to believe every accusation.

Even when it comes from people that might not actually exist.

[George II]

11. They picked the wrong guy - anyone who knows or has ever met Richard Blumenthal....

....would know he's the most bland, asexual man in the Senate.

I'm not even going to think about the possibility that this is true.

[pnwmom]

18. That's what I was thinking! It will be hard to get people worried about Richard Blumenthal. n/t

[LisaL]

21. But we have to believe all the accusations.

Apparently even when bots are making them.

[LisaL]

24. He isn't sexy to you.

But bot don't care.

[Bengus81]

13. It took this long for this to happen--Karl Rove just wake up??

[Dawson Leery]

17. Stone/Breitbart/Veritas/Russians.

These enemies of the free world will not give up.

For this vile assault on good man, they deserve not to be pissed on if they caught fire.

[CTyankee]

19. Dick Blumenthal? WTF?

He and Chris Murphy are wonderful senators. They are a bulwark of liberalism in a sea of retrogrades.

This is just horrible. I am so sorry for the Blumenthals because they have to deal with these lowlifes. Talk about a special place in hell...

[not fooled]

20. And all they have to do

is get the verbiage out there....facts and subsequent debunking don't matter--the damage is already done: putting the idea in 'Muricans' heads that both-sides-do it.

[dchill]

23. I bot-believe the accusations!

Even though they put me in a state of dis-bot-belief.

[Roland99]

25. We are under attack

Russians? Who knows

What we do know is that social media is a sizable force. It has the ability to affect lives, policy, elections

An abusive social media is an enemy

[Pugster]

28. This bears the hallmarks of a Russian Op

Blumenthal is a harsh Putin critic.

[Bengus81]

29. Keeping this KICKED............nt