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David Brock blackmailed a woman by threatening to publicize details of her divorce
The following excerpt is from a piece published by FAIR way back in 1995, but I think it is very clear that this is still relevant today...
In order to test Brock’s reliability, we looked at his review of Mayer and Abramson’s own book, Strange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas, which he calls “one of the most outrageous journalistic hoaxes in recent memory” (American Spectator, 1/95).
Brock’s extraordinary 20,000-word review has already gained some notoriety, since he’s been accused of using methods more suitable to a blackmailer than a book critic. Jamin Raskin, a law professor at Washington, D.C.’s American University, told the New York Times‘ Frank Rich that he received a call from Kaye Savage, one of the sources for Strange Justice, who’s had an encounter with Brock. “She was distraught and said Brock was threatening to reveal damaging information about her from a divorce situation unless she agreed to retract everything she had said to the authors of Strange Justice,” Raskin told Rich (New York Times, 12/29/94). Interviewed by Extra!, Savage confirmed this account of Brock’s threat, and also reaffirmed the accuracy of her appearance in Strange Justice.
Extra! called another Strange Justice source, Bary Maddox, whom Brock quotes as saying, “I was misquoted in the book.” But when Rendall asked Maddox (a video store proprietor who says Thomas rented X-rated videos) if he had any problems with the way he was quoted in Strange Justice, he replied, “Absolutely not.” His account of Brock’s interview with him sheds light on the Brock method of journalism:
Mr. Brock, first of all, would not identify himself. He told me his name but he wouldn’t tell me who he was working for. When I pressed him, he told me he was a “freelancer.” Then he would ask me questions about areas that I would not comment on. When I said “no comment,” he would then say “I’ll take that as a ‘yes'” or “I’ll take that as a ‘no.'”I think he claimed that I was misquoted because when he asked me a question based on his interpretation of the book, I answered, “If the book says that, I was misquoted.” However, when I rechecked the book, I found his interpretation of the book was faulty; I was not misquoted. He had not been reading from the book. It bothers me, because it made it on to Rush Limbaugh and everyone’s claiming that I was misquoted when I wasn’t.
Brock’s extraordinary 20,000-word review has already gained some notoriety, since he’s been accused of using methods more suitable to a blackmailer than a book critic. Jamin Raskin, a law professor at Washington, D.C.’s American University, told the New York Times‘ Frank Rich that he received a call from Kaye Savage, one of the sources for Strange Justice, who’s had an encounter with Brock. “She was distraught and said Brock was threatening to reveal damaging information about her from a divorce situation unless she agreed to retract everything she had said to the authors of Strange Justice,” Raskin told Rich (New York Times, 12/29/94). Interviewed by Extra!, Savage confirmed this account of Brock’s threat, and also reaffirmed the accuracy of her appearance in Strange Justice.
Extra! called another Strange Justice source, Bary Maddox, whom Brock quotes as saying, “I was misquoted in the book.” But when Rendall asked Maddox (a video store proprietor who says Thomas rented X-rated videos) if he had any problems with the way he was quoted in Strange Justice, he replied, “Absolutely not.” His account of Brock’s interview with him sheds light on the Brock method of journalism:
Mr. Brock, first of all, would not identify himself. He told me his name but he wouldn’t tell me who he was working for. When I pressed him, he told me he was a “freelancer.” Then he would ask me questions about areas that I would not comment on. When I said “no comment,” he would then say “I’ll take that as a ‘yes'” or “I’ll take that as a ‘no.'”I think he claimed that I was misquoted because when he asked me a question based on his interpretation of the book, I answered, “If the book says that, I was misquoted.” However, when I rechecked the book, I found his interpretation of the book was faulty; I was not misquoted. He had not been reading from the book. It bothers me, because it made it on to Rush Limbaugh and everyone’s claiming that I was misquoted when I wasn’t.
http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/the-real-david-brock/
Let us be clear, David Brock was not just a right-wing liar, he was also an extreme misogynist who set out to destroy the reputation of women who got in the way of him or Clarence Thomas.
This is not just a guy who said stupid right-wing shit, this was a guy who blackmailed women and threatened to release extremely personal information about them to the media if they did not say what he wanted them to say.
We need to demand that Hillary condemn Brock and stop coordinating with Correct the Record immediately. Brock may have switched sides but he is still the same slimy person he has always been.
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