From the Associated Press:

The national outrage that simmered after actor Jussie Smollett said he was attacked by people shouting racial and anti-gay slurs was fueled in part by celebrities who spoke out loud and strong on social media. But the outrage has now been replaced by surprise, doubt and bafflement as the singers, actors and politicians who came out in support of the “Empire” star struggle to digest the strange twists the case has taken. Some conservative pundits, meanwhile, have gleefully seized on the moment.

Why should anybody be baffled by this? Anybody who has paid any attention to the news — presumably, AP reporters do that — must know that the staging of fake hate crimes is a commonplace occurrence, a lamentable trend for which dozens of examples can easily be cited.

And, “conservative pundits have gleefully seized” — on what? The facts? Isn’t the Associated Press in the business of seizing on facts?