The supposed launch of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s long-talked-about Green New Deal crashed and burned this week, not that that stopped any of the 2020 Democratic frontrunners from signing on to co-sponsor the resolution. By all means; we hope every single Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 signs their name to this mess.

Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff is even doing damage control on social media Saturday after her policy guy lied on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Friday night, claiming the most ridiculous bits of the policy being passed around were from a “doctored” version that leaked.

Did he lie to Carlson or didn’t he? The Washington Post’s Jeff Stein, for example, called the FAQ document accompanying the resolution a “mystery FAQ.”

Incredibly strange dynamic rn. A zillion outlets have run w/ GND = mystery FAQ sheet, which includes things like $ for those "unwilling to work" But thats not in the plan the Senators signed off on. Now AOC is retweeting her adviser telling Fox the sheet is itself not theirs pic.twitter.com/1Fcw2PvsIM — Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) February 9, 2019

You mean the “mystery FAQ sheet” that mysteriously vanished from Ocasio-Cortez’s own website? How many hours until she claims she was hacked?

It certainly *looks* as if the document below came from AOC's office AOC adviser, in clip rted by AOC, to Fox: "You're referring to some I think doctored document that someone other than us has been circulating" ????https://t.co/jVVBtzbQk1 — Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) February 9, 2019

Stein gave that claim four question marks, but others aren’t being so forgiving.

He is lying. — J.G. Petruna (@jgpetruna) February 9, 2019

Journalists should not be referring to an FAQ posted on AOC's own website as a "mystery FAQ." We know where it came from. We know what was in it. And we know AOC's staff are now lying about it. Sorry, journos. https://t.co/UvjyxrbDaS — Friendly Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 9, 2019

And here’s the smoking gun … a quick check of the properties of the PDF shows that, yes, it was authored by Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff.

Mystery document authored by *checks PDF properties*… AOC's Chief of Staff. https://t.co/MBdZkdqNM7 pic.twitter.com/btvMr8HO6y — Jon Lech Johansen (@jonlech) February 9, 2019

So when Ocasio-Cortez’s policy guy lied to Tucker Carlson about guaranteed income for people unwilling to work not being in the FAQ, the chief of staff whose name is on that FAQ claimed it was the doctored version floating around on Twitter.

He had only seen the doctored FAQ is my guess. So that's what he was referring to, not lying. Because there IS a doctored FAQ floating around on Twitter. — Saikat Chakrabarti (@saikatc) February 9, 2019

OK, suppose someone downloaded the PDF, altered it, and then somehow re-uploaded it to Ocasio-Cortez’s website?

It's incredibly easy to forge. All I have to do is buy a program and put any name I want in the registry. What other evidence is there that this is from AOC because that alone isn't compelling? — Nick Murica (@NicholasHeurich) February 9, 2019

It's not "that alone". The PDF was posted by NPR, who received it directly from AOC's office. It was also posted on AOC's website and picked up by the Internet Archive: https://t.co/2oA0ULHCq1 — Jon Lech Johansen (@jonlech) February 9, 2019

(1) AOC's staff provided the document to NPR. (2) AOC's staff posted it to her official website. https://t.co/aZVt0IoD1H — Friendly Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 9, 2019

We are so far down the rabbit hole, AOC defenders are like "we can't believe our own eyes because this thing was so embarrassing." — Friendly Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 9, 2019

Come on — this is more embarrassing than Gov. Ralph Northam “debunking” that blackface photo by noting the guy was holding his beer in his right hand, and he’s left-handed.

It's not strange in the least… it was in the document that AOC's advisor authored and posted on her website. The same document given to NPR and posted on their website. We are now to believe it was really talking about retirement security. The only mystery is your tweet. https://t.co/MHVvjNZsft — BayAreaFrau (@bayareahausfrau) February 9, 2019

For all the talk about how Trump is "gaslighting America," it's rather hilarious that the media & AOC's clapping-seal allies on Twitter, are willing to go along w/the patently obvious gaslighting lie that the Green New Deal document we spent an ENTIRE DAY clowning on wasn't hers. — Esoteric Jeff (@EsotericCD) February 9, 2019

It's a "mystery FAQ!" No, you simpering fools, it's not a mystery: it was published by AOC's office on her website and also sent by AOC's representatives to NPR, among other things. Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining. — Esoteric Jeff (@EsotericCD) February 9, 2019

Mystery? — Scott Thomas (@mstfl22) February 9, 2019

Mystery? They posted it, people all over saw how ridiculous it was and said so, they took it down and are trying to pretend it was a fake. — Patrick (@jd2319) February 9, 2019

Numerous people have captured screenshots of it or links to the wayback machine from when it was posted on her own website. This is not some kind of forging conspiracy like Dan Rather tried to pull in 2004. — DespeRobbo (@Desperobbo) February 9, 2019

It's such a strange dynamic that the firefighters are joining AOC's people in memory holing a god awfulpolicy proposal that journalists were lauding before reading. Knowing Keeps Us Free#DemocracyDiesInDarkness — Jake R. (@jaker1419) February 9, 2019

The document is still on NPR website. — REALLY!?! ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@OscarGaldona) February 9, 2019

Lo and behold, who would pop up to explain everything Saturday afternoon but Ocasio-Cortez herself:

There are multiple doctored GND resolutions and FAQs floating around. There was also a draft version that got uploaded + taken down. There’s also draft versions floating out there. Point is, the real one is our submitted resolution, H.Res. 109: https://t.co/ZlgWmNQn57 — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 9, 2019

Oh, there are multiple doctored versions floating around. And the version on her website was a draft in which they forgot to take out parts like the bit about income for people unwilling to work.

Your chief of staff gave NPR a version of the FAQs that included the "unwilling to work" provision. How could "Economic security for all who are unable or unwilling to work" ever been under consideration?https://t.co/wHkTgCGEyV — Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) February 9, 2019

Incredibly strange dynamic rn. AOC posts #GND on her website, NPR releases, plus FAQ. Gets hammered for asinine ideas. Gaslights public by saying it wasn't her and was highjacked R's. Journalists defend her ideas. No one suggests she's attacking journalists. Media bias is denied. — Curtis Mahnken (@C_Anthony_Mahnk) February 9, 2019

It’s not a mystery. It’s called “lying”. — Charles Bellows (@charles_bellows) February 9, 2019

The very use of the word “mystery” in your tweet lends unwarranted credibility to their lies. It is no mystery. It was posted on her dot gov official House website. There is no mystery. — Saban•Byrne 2020 (@Cogita_ante_sal) February 9, 2019

I had to reread a few times to understand how this was being said. Are her and advisers that disconnected from what's being posted on their website regarding one of the biggest deals being proposed? — ThatGuyJohn (@John765012) February 9, 2019

You’re a joke. “Mystery” = CYA — Justin Hart (@justin_hart) February 9, 2019

How dare someone quote things DIRECTLY FROM HER OWN WEBSITE — It Gets Worse (@NedScrumpleton) February 9, 2019

Have you seen any examples of the doctored version? I have seen the actual resolution and the FAQ page from her website and the pdf version from what I assume is her office. — Ryan Hill (@RyanHillMI) February 9, 2019

Nice head fake by @AOC — Andrew Marvell (@JAlfredPrufro13) February 9, 2019

She's so much smarter than us — AirborneHeel?? (@abnheel) February 9, 2019

Tomorrow in the Washington Post: “Republicans pounce on doctored version of Green New Deal.”

* * *

Update:

Here’s a nice thread summarizing just how we got here from there:

I'm now watching this very carefully b/c it's becoming a master study in how, when you are wrong, the best option is to spread so much misinformation that normal people find it exhausting to try to figure out the truth.

Let's see if @JStein_WaPo aims for clarity or obfuscation https://t.co/fv4kwNDTCC — PoliMath (@politicalmath) February 9, 2019

Here is the clear version of what happened:

1) @AOC's team posted a Green New Deal FAQ on their website (and sent it to NPR)

Here's a copy https://t.co/l7qwAugA2r — PoliMath (@politicalmath) February 9, 2019

2) It was mocked for a variety of reasons (including the fact that said GND would provide economic security for those "unwilling to work")

3) part of the mockery included a parody version that said males would be forced to drink their own urine. That is the only parody I know of — PoliMath (@politicalmath) February 9, 2019

4) @AOC took the original doc down and her people started claiming that people were confused b/c of the parody version, claiming that *actual quotes* from her document were from the parody. They were not.https://t.co/qV1CTzAGgb — PoliMath (@politicalmath) February 9, 2019

5) Now @AOC team is claiming that the original document was a draft and also there are a bunch of "doctored" versions (untrue) and you should ignore it all anyway bc the only thing that matters is the text of the bill and we are not answering any more questions thank you — PoliMath (@politicalmath) February 9, 2019

Keep in my she also insists that dumpster fire of a PBS interview containing comments about Israel’s occupation of Palestine was “doctored.” (It wasn’t.)

6) This is actually a pretty simple story about a very myopic team unable to realize how their words would sound to a larger audience. It it NOT a story about 20 versions of a document that you should be confused about and why are Republicans pouncing on this? — PoliMath (@politicalmath) February 9, 2019

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