May 20, 2021

LAWT News Service

 

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, issued the following statement after Fox News, The New York Post, and The Daily Mail have failed to inform their audiences of Rep. Waters’ full response to their false claims about her.

“Fox News and other publications like the New York Post and the Daily Mail published absolute lies and cited sources that claimed I had requested that Capitol Police, Secret Service, and U.S. Air Marshals travel with me on an April 17 flight. I immediately issued a statement refuting those false claims, highlighting how dangerous lies can be, and challenging Fox News to reveal the truth to its audience – something they continuously fail to do.

“Since I have publicly refuted their claims and called for a retraction of the article, these publications have chosen once again to continue in their mission to deceive their audiences and withhold the truth. Still, Fox News has kept the article online and, rather than inform their viewers of the truth, has decided to gloss over the fact that they deceived readers.

Today, the article’s only addition says that myself, Capitol Police, and Secret Service denied the claims. That’s a cop out. How about stating that your sources were wrong and that you published a completely false story? Maybe even take it down and try again?

“Surprising no one, they have not apologized nor retracted the article or even attempted to back their claims up with factual information. The reason being? The claims are based neither on truth nor on facts.

“If we learned anything from January 6, 2021, it should be that the truth matters. The truth is the one indisputable factor in our society that binds us together and helps us to move forward. News organizations and journalists have played a most important role in disseminating the truth, countering lies, and helping to establish a clear baseline of facts. Unfortunately, Fox News has abandoned the sacred duty of truth telling and instead, deceives its audience without consequence, and has endangered our democracy, and the safety of those Fox News deems its targets.

“And so, I will not simply disappear and drop this issue. I am going to pursue the fact that Fox News charades as a news organization. Moving forward, on behalf of all good people who cherish the truth, I will continue evaluating the best course of legal action. In any good and functioning democracy, we must have the courage to confront lies and champion truth in any and all circumstances. This is no exception.”

Background:

On May 15, Congresswoman Waters issued a statement responding to false claims by Fox News, The New York Post, and the Daily Mail. In this statement, Rep. Waters makes clear that each of the claims made regarding her April 17 flight are an absolute lie and shows the connection between these lies and death threats received by the office.

On March 2, 2021, the Office of Congresswoman Waters announced additional death threats following the January 6 insurrection.

Category: News