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C-SPAN suspends political editor Steve Scully for lying about Twitter hack

15 October 2020
Dan Ackermann

C-SPAN placed political editor Steve Scully on administrative leave Thursday after he lied about his Twitter account being hacked.

Why it matters: Scully was set to moderate the second presidential debate on Thursday before it was canceled.

Context: Scully sent a tweet last week asking Anthony Scaramucci, a former White House aide who has become a prominent critic of the president, if he should respond to President Trump's attacks on him and the Commission on Presidential Debates.

  • Trump allies used the tweet, which Scully claimed he did not send and was a result of a Twitter back, to accuse the chosen debate moderator of being anti-Trump.
  • Worth noting: Scully is not being placed on leave for the political bias that some might have claimed he had based off of the tweet, but for using poor judgement and lying.

What they're saying:

"For several weeks, I was subjected to relentless criticism on social media and in conservative news outlets regarding my role as a moderator for the second presidential debate, including attacks aimed directly at my family. This culminated on Thursday, October 8th when I heard President Trump go on national television twice and falsely attack me by name.
Out of frustration, I sent a brief tweet addressed to Anthony Scaramucci. The next morning when I saw that this tweet had created a new controversy, I falsely claimed that my Twitter account had been hacked.
These were both errors in judgement for which I am totally responsible. I apologize."

Trump responded in a tweet Thursday: "I was right again! Steve Scully just admitted he was lying about his Twitter being hacked. The Debate was Rigged! He was suspended from @cspan indefinitely. The Trump Campaign was not treated fairly by the “Commission”. Did I show good instincts in being the first to know?"

What to watch: "After some distance from this episode, we believe in his ability to continue to contribute to C-SPAN," the nonprofit cable and satellite channel — which is not known to find itself in the center of these types of controversies — said in a separate statement on Thursday.

The big picture: Scully has been with C-SPAN for three decades. As a result of his suspension, he will not be involved in the channel's election-night programming.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.