Scoop of the Decade, Assertions Absent Evidence, Twister Twitter | Winners & Losers in Today’s Green Room

A Monday night scoop from Politico’s Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward is certain to dominate the headlines and reshape the 2022 midterms. The scoop of lifetime for the two reporters will undoubtedly be recorded in the history books as a major moment for the Supreme Court and abortion rights in the U.S.

Gerstein and Ward reported the leaked decision from Justice Samuel Alito that would overturn Roe v. Wade and end the federal protection for abortion rights in the country.

Gerstein, a former White House and China correspondent for ABC, serves as Politico’s senior legal affairs reporter and shares the byline with national security reporter Ward – who previously worked at Vox.

The Supreme Court verified the authenticity of the leaked draft, although few doubted the veracity of the reporting from the veteran journalists.

“It is not a final opinion. It was a draft opinion circulated in the court as a first draft by Justice Alito,” explained to Rachel Maddow.

Politico’s editors released a note to their staff defending the publication of the leaked draft, writing, “This unprecedented view into the justices’ deliberations is plainly news of great public interest.”

“We take our responsibilities to our readers and our publication with the greatest seriousness. Our obligation, as protected by the First Amendment, is to report the news and inform our audience,” the note added.

Politico urged staff exercise caution around the story, not least for their own safety. That wise advice has had no tempering effect on the earthquakes that ensued across media.

As Politico wrote: “No draft decision in the modern history of the court has been disclosed publicly while a case was still pending. The unprecedented revelation is bound to intensify the debate over what was already the most controversial case on the docket this term.”

It is the scoop of the decade, as the A Block below attests. Lightning captured in a bottle by Politico’s reporters, and taking that fact isolated from the nature of the story itself, a big win.

Megyn Kelly baselessly accused CNN’s Don Lemon of paying a “nice fat check” to settle a lawsuit on Monday, doubling down on the accusation after several reporters pushed back.

A former Hamptons bartender named Dustin Hice accused Lemon of assaulting him in a 2019 lawsuit. Hice’s case fell apart in stunning fashion.

Puck News senior correspondent Dylan Byers tweeted the news that Hice had dropped his suit entirely,  Monday. Byers included both a statement from Hice claiming he had “come to realize” his “recollection of the events that occurred” were not what he’d said when filing the lawsuit, as well as a statement from Lemon’s attorney Caroline Polisi specifically stating that Lemon had not paid Hice any money to settle the case.

Kelly reacted to the news by posting several tweets retweeting Byers and accusing Lemon of paying off Hice, without evidence to support that accusation.

Multiple Twitter users replied to Kelly, including Byers, Mediaite’s Sarah Rumpf, and CNN’s head of strategic communications Matt Dornic, pointing out Polisi’s statement that no money was paid to Hice and the case record showing the case “falling apart.”

But in a series of arguments by tweet, Kelly did not relent.

Polisi was unequivocal in her rejection of Kelly’s accusation, telling Mediaite “not a single penny was paid by Don Lemon or any of his representatives to Mr. Hice or anyone having anything to do with Mr. Hice.”

“The only monetary judgment in this case came from the Court ordering Mr. Hice to pay Mr. Lemon’s attorneys fees because of his egregious misconduct in this litigation,” she added. “It doesn’t get much clearer than that.”

“That’s not spin, that’s a fact, and there’s nothing more to say,” Polisi concluded.

Kelly insists that Polisi’s word should not be taken seriously, and that eventually a payoff will be exposed. Until then, her claims remain just that — claims, without actual evidence to support them.