Several far-right social media users claimed they would “end the career of a U.S. senator” with what turned out to be a fake sexual harassment claim against Democratic Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Charles Johnson and Mike Cernovich, two far-right internet personalities, boasted online about having the document earlier this week.
“Michael Cernovich & I are going to end the career of a U.S. Senator,” Johnson wrote on Facebook on Tuesday in an apparent attempt to drum up attention.
However, the document was a fake, as Axios first reported. The former staffer named in the fake accusation told the news outlet the charges are not true, and her signature was forged. Axios reports that the document was sent to several major news outlets including the Washington Post, BuzzFeed, CNN, the New Yorker and ABC—as well as Cernovich and Johnson.
The Daily Beast reports that parts of the document are “lifted verbatim” from a real sexual harassment lawsuit against Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), who resigned recently amid a number of sexual harassment claims.
On Monday, Cernovich tweeted a screenshot from Johnson’s Facebook that said, “Currently reading the sexual harassment settlement documents of a major Democratic US Senator” and added that he “spoke with Chuck Johnson on the phone, he told me he has the full case file.”
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/940440449344344064
Cernovich appeared to believe it was a hoax before Axios reported that Schumer called the police. He said it was a “high-level con” during a Periscope broadcast on Tuesday. He added that he may have been guilty of hyping a story.
“Whoever did this, I don’t know if it was a deep state operation, a Soros thing, or if it was just a prankster,” Cernovich said on Periscope, “but somebody’s in a lot of trouble for forging documents.”
Johnson also said he was sent a “very sophisticated” complaint and that he was offering $10,000 for the identity of “persons responsible,” before adding that he would be “happy to cooperate with any investigators.”
You can read more about it over at the Daily Beast.