WaPo Forced to Correct 2021 ‘Fact Check’ Denying Tom Cotton’s Assertion the Boston Bomber Would Get a Stimulus Check
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The Washington Post was forced to correct a 2021 fact check on Thursday after the news that Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev received a federal stimulus check.
The Glenn Kessler-authored fact check centered on a legislative amendment in the Senate in March 2021 that would have prevented stimulus checks from going to federal prisoners. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) noted at the time that the legislation failed in a 50-49 vote along party lines, with Democrats voting against it and Republicans voting in favor. In a March 9, 2021 column, Kessler attributed two “pinocchios” to the claim, calling it “scaremongering” and explaining, in part, “It’s hard to craft rules that target mass murderers without also penalizing the families of people in prison for much less heinous crimes.” He also said that similar, bipartisan legislation in past years had not included such language.
The Justice Department revealed in a Thursday filing that Tsarnaev had indeed received a federal stimulus check in the amount of $1,400. The Post said in a Thursday update that it was amending its claims, citing a statement by Cotton’s press secretary, James Arnold.
“You portrayed Senator Cotton’s amendment as pure political theater — ‘not serious legislation’ — warning of an outcome that, according to your article, was very unlikely to happen,” Arnold wrote in an email to The Post. “Now that it has in fact happened, we’re asking that you update your story to include that Senator Cotton’s concerns did come true and that his amendment would have prevented it.”
Kessler said his “rating” was being reduced to one “pinocchio” to mean “mostly true,” because Cotton’s comments “lacked context.”
“He suggested this problem was the result of something Democrats did, when he had previously voted for legislation with the same language that allowed for checks to be issued to prisoners,” he wrote. “He also made it clear that he intended weaponize this debate for campaign ads.
“Still, Cotton’s predictive powers should be acknowledged,” Kessler added. “He said the Boston bomber would get a stimulus check — and Tsarnaev did. Now, if the government is successful, this money will go to victims. So Tsarnaev still will not keep it. But in retrospect, the use of the phrase of ‘scaremongering’ was inappropriate. Cotton had raised a legitimate issue of concern, even if he framed it in a political way. … His statement still lacks some context but he was certainly correct that Tsarnaev would receive a stimulus check.
