REPERCUSSIONS

Ed Whelan on ‘Leave of Absence’ Following Kavanaugh Conspiracy

Whelan offered to resign from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, but the board of directors declined.

Ed Whelan, the conservative activist who floated a conspiracy theory about Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual-assault allegation against Brett Kavanaugh and later apologized, will take a “leave of absence” from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the organization announced on Sunday. Whelan, the president of the group, offered to resign, but the board of directors declined and said it would re-convene in a month to “review the situation.” Whelan took to Twitter last week to suggest that Ford had mixed up her alleged attacker. In the process, he doxxed a different man and posted photos of him, claiming he was the one—not Kavanaugh—who could have allegedly assaulted Ford. Whelan later apologized for the “appalling and inexcusable” tweets.