Van Hollen did do something, paper insists

AG didn't do nothing, assures Journal-Sentinel fact checking team

I thought Democratic candidate for attorney general Scott Hassett was a bit over the top in the manner he went after incumbent Republican AG J.B. Van Hollen in the "sexting DA" affair too but Jeez, can't you let a guy indulge in a little hyperbole now and then? How about Van Hollen didn't do any of the things that Scott Hassett would have done as attorney general? I'm reasonably sure that was Scott Hassett's point.

And the PolitiFactWisc team performs a little editorial chicanery of its own. What Hassett's statement reads is this: "Even more troubling [than Kratz's antics] are reports that JB Van Hollen knew about this case for nearly a year and did nothing about it." But the PolitFactWisc version truncates that to, "JB Van Hollen knew about this case for nearly a year and did nothing about it." So it was "reports" that Van Hollen did nothing which Hassett was referencing.

Was Hassett being cute by throwing in "reports" and then directing his ire toward the alleged inaction revealed by those "reports"? Of course he was being cute, yet it is — and was meant to be — one step removed from making his own factual allegation against Van Hollen.

But it's no more cute than the PolitiFactWisc crew deliberately excising that germane consideration from Hassett's statement.

PolitiFactWisc's reiteration of the sexting DA's ongoing imbroglio's timeline is useful but it sure seems like a lot of trouble to go through to "check a fact" that wasn't really being presented as one, especially when you need to manipulate the claim you purport to be checking.

Photo: AG Van Hollen models an ostentatious concealed carry outfit.