C-SPAN indefinitely suspended its political editor, Steve Scully, on Thursday after he lied about his Twitter account being hacked.
In a
statement, Scully said he lied about tweeting a message to former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci when he saw it had created “controversy.”
“For several weeks, I was subjected to relentless criticism on social media and in conservative news outlets regarding my role as moderator for the second presidential debate, including attacks aimed directly at my family,” Scully said. “Out of frustration, I sent a brief tweet addressed to Anthony Scaramucci. The next morning when I saw that this tweet had created a new controversy, I falsely claimed my Twitter account had been hacked. These were both errors in judgment for which I am totally responsible for. I apologize.”
C-SPAN said Scully admitted he lied to the network and the Commission on Presidential Debates on Wednesday, but the network said it would allow him to come back after some “distance from this episode.”
“By not being immediately forthcoming to C-SPAN and the Commission about his tweet, he understands that he made a serious mistake. We were very saddened by this news and do not condone his actions,” the network said. “Starting immediately, we have placed Steve on administrative leave. After some distance from this episode, we believe in his ability to continue to contribute to C-SPAN.”
Last Friday, Scully
said his account was hacked and denied sending a tweet to former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci asking if he should respond to President Trump calling him a “Never Trumper” during a Fox News interview. At the time, both C-SPAN and the Commission on Presidential Debates publicly supported Scully and backed his claim that the account had been hacked.
Shortly after the Associated Press first
reported on Scully’s suspension, President Trump gloated about his “good instincts.”
“I was right again! Steve Scully just admitted he was lying about his Twitter being hacked. The Debate was Rigged! He was suspended from
@cspan indefinitely. The Trump Campaign was not treated fairly by the ‘Commission,'” Trump
tweeted. “Did I show good instincts in being the first to know?”