The Washington Post has revealed that a woman approached them to make false claims against Roy Moore, the Alabama senate candidate who has been accused of sexual misconduct against a series of girls as young as 14.
“In a series of interviews over two weeks, the woman shared a dramatic story about an alleged sexual relationship with Moore in 1992 that led to an abortion when she was 15,” the paper reports. She repeatedly pressed journalists to give their opinion on the effect her story would have on Moore’s candidacy.
After being confronted by journalists over apparent holes and inconsistencies in her story, the woman – named as Jaime Phillips – was seen entering the offices of Project Veritas, a conservative activist group known for filming undercover videos.
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“The organisation, led by the activist James O’Keefe, has recently targeted journalists, trying to goad them into revealing biases or unethical schemes to discredit the news media,” says The New York Times.
“The intent by Project Veritas clearly was to publicise the conversation if we fell for the trap,” executive editor at The Washington Post, Martin Baron, said. “Because of our customary journalistic rigor, we weren’t fooled.”
Reporters at the Washington Post became suspicious when they discovered a GoFundMe page under Jaime Phillips’ name asking for donations to help her move to New York for a new job.
“I’ve accepted a job to work in the conservative media movement to combat the lies and deceit of the liberal MSM [mainstream media],” the web page said. “I’ll be using my skills as a researcher and fact-checker to help our movement.”
Project Veritas head James O’Keefe declined to comment on Jaime Phillips’ employment status with the group.
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