WATCH: Diamond & Silk Confronted After Falsely Claiming Under Oath Trump Campaign Never Paid Them
It seems pro-Trump vloggers Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson (AKA Diamond & Silk) might’ve committed perjury at least once, possibly twice during their testimony before the House Judiciary Committee today.
The dynamic duo are on Capitol Hill for a hearing on their claims that Facebook is censoring their content because of their conservative beliefs. Despite all the questions surrounding the vloggers’ allegations, they stuck to their guns as the proceeding got underway.
“Facebook censored us for 6 months,” Lynnette Hardaway of @DiamondandSilk repeatedly claims under oath.
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) April 26, 2018
The duo’s claim has come under scrutiny since their viewership data shows no sign of any suppression to the point that they were effectively banned from the social media platform. More than that, even though Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that his website made an “enforcement error” regarding their official page, recent events and pieces of evidence have sown doubt regarding their claims of censorship.
Later in the hearing, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) asked the two if they ever received money from the Trump campaign. Here’s their answer under oath:
Hardaway (Diamond) says “We’ve never been paid by the Trump campaign” in response to Sheila Jackson Lee
— Joe Perticone (@JoePerticone) April 26, 2018
There’s a slight problem: according to documents the Trump campaign filled with the Federal Election Commission, Diamond & Silk were paid $1,274.94 in November of 2016 for “field consulting.”
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) confronted the duo their denial of the payment — which you can watch above.
CBS News reporter Katie Watson provides a play-by-play of their response:
Silk is calling the FEC filing of the Trump campaign payment to them “fake news” https://t.co/tSjFMzjVmq
— Katie Watson (@kathrynw5) April 26, 2018
Now they say they’re not calling it fake news — so it’s unclear what exactly they’re calling fake news
— Katie Watson (@kathrynw5) April 26, 2018
“There may have been a mistake from the Trump campaign,” Silk says. Says maybe it was because they were asked to join the Women for Trump tour. Says it could be because @LaraLeaTrump reimbursed their trip.
— Katie Watson (@kathrynw5) April 26, 2018
If you want to know how things have been going throughout the hearing otherwise, well, here’s some of the lowlights:
Steve King is entering Jim Hoft’s Gateway Pundit articles into the record at Diamond & Silk’s House Judiciary Committee hearing
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) April 26, 2018
Actual question from a Republican on the House Judiciary Committee to Diamond and Silk: Is it hate speech to say something positive about the president?
— Katie Watson (@kathrynw5) April 26, 2018
Diamond and Silk are claiming in their House hearing right now that they’ve never been paid by the Trump campaign. But the Trump campaign FEC filing disagrees! https://t.co/Fu6VrmXm66 pic.twitter.com/S2iJI3IX8I
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) April 26, 2018
Congressman Johnson on @DiamondandSilk: ““I’m just astounded that this committee would stop to this level to be positioning you all to make more money”
— Joe Bernstein (@Bernstein) April 26, 2018
Democratic lawmaker says Diamond and Silk will make good money after this hearing.
Diamond and Silk agree, and ask people to follow their Facebook page— Katie Watson (@kathrynw5) April 26, 2018
Multiple members of Congress are now laughing aloud as @DiamondandSilk hearing goes off the rails.
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) April 26, 2018
There is barely a person in this room who isn’t trying to suppress laughter right now or looking at each other wondering what the hell is going on. Gohmert & Steve King just busted out laughing as @DiamondandSilk starting promoting their social media page for folks to follow
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) April 26, 2018
It’s getting ugly at Judiciary Committee: Rep. Hank Johnson (D.-GA) asks if @DiamondandSilk made a “ton of money” & they hit back that their Facebook page was “demonetized” for 6 mos. & 25 days.
— John Gizzi (@johngizzi) April 26, 2018
.@tedlieu: “This is a stupid and ridiculous hearing.”
— Brian Tashman (@briantashman) April 26, 2018
[Image via screengrab]
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