Yuri Gripas/Reuters
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was reportedly targeted with a forged sexual-harassment claim shopped around to multiple media outlets. The New York Democrat told Axios that his office called Capitol Police over a document claiming to contain scandalous accusations by a former Schumer staffer. “This was an apparent effort to dupe a news organization and smear a senator,” Axios’ Mike Allen wrote. “The former staffer told me in a phone interview that she did not author the document, that none of the charges ring true, and that her signature was forged.” The password-protected PDF document was reportedly sent around to major media outlets and, per Axios, named no lawyer for the plaintiff (a “red flag,” Allen noted) and made several accusations that did not line up with Schumer’s whereabouts at their alleged times. Last month, The Daily Beast reported that Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) was apparently the target of fraudulent sexual-misconduct claims from a fake Twitter account.