What’s the deal with conservatives saying they’re going to contact law enforcement over their political opponents’ latest outrage — before turning out to apparently be full of it?
Last week, Rep. Sue Myrick’s office told us that, despite her claims to have uncovered a plot by radical Islamists to use interns to infiltrate Capitol Hill, they hadn’t actually gotten around to formally asking the authorities to investigate.
Then yesterday, the Chamber of Commerce huffed that it would contact law enforcement over a hoax perpetrated by a group of activist pranksters, who held a mock press conference in which they impersonated Chamber executives and announced that the group had shifted its stance on climate change.
But it looks like that promise may have been intended for PR purposes only. We’ve put in several calls to the group to ask whether they’ve been in touch with law enforcement. And none of those calls has been returned.
It would be hard to blame the Chamber for letting matter drop. The hoax, though surely irritating to the Chamber, wouldn’t appear to have broken any laws. But that only raises the question of why the Chamber decided to make the threat in the first place.
Spokespeople for the U.S. attorney’s office for Washington D.C., and the city’s police department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Late Update: A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office tells TPMmuckraker that he is not aware of any complaint on the matter being filed by the Chamber.
