#C-SPAN suspends editor Steve Scully over Twitter hacking lie

C-SPAN indefinitely suspended its political editor, Steve Scully, on Thursday, after he admitted to lying about a hacker being behind his eyebrow-raising Twitter exchange with former President Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci.

When Trump criticized Scully last week as a “never Trumper,” the journalist asked Scaramucci on Twitter, “should I respond to Trump.”

Particularly as Scully was set to moderate the since-scrapped second presidential debate, the tweet raised questions about his impartiality.

Scully responded by claiming that his account had been hacked, as Trump likened him to disgraced former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, who used a similar false defense in his sexting selfie scandal.

Scully ultimately admitted that the hacking claim was a lie and issued a mea culpa.

“The next morning when I saw that this tweet had created a new controversy, I falsely claimed that my Twitter account had been hacked,” Scully said. “These were both errors in judgment for which I am totally responsible. I apologize.”

In announcing the suspension, C-SPAN condemned Scully’s actions, but nevertheless hinted that his decades-long tenure at the network isn’t over.

“He understands that he made a serious mistake,” the network said. “We were very saddened by this news and do not condone his actions.

“After some distance from this episode, we believe in his ability to continue to contribute to C-SPAN.”

Trump was quick to seize on the news, taking a victory lap on Twitter.

“I was right again! Steve Scully just admitted he was lying about his Twitter being hacked. The Debate was Rigged!” the president wrote. “He was suspended from @cspan indefinitely. The Trump Campaign was not treated fairly by the ‘Commission’. Did I show good instincts in being the first to know?”

The suspension came on what once promised to be a banner day for Scully, as he was set to moderate the second presidential debate Thursday evening. That was cancelled in favor of dueling town halls for Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden following the president’s coronavirus diagnosis, from which he has since recovered.

Hours before Trump’s town hall, set to air live from Miami on NBC, he questioned that event’s impartiality in a second tweet that also included another shot at Scully.

“I will be doing a major Fake @NBCNews Town Hall Forum, live tonight from Miami, at 8:00 P.M. They asked me to do it in place of the Rigged Steve Scully (he is now suspended from @cspan for lying) Debate,” the president wrote. “I wonder if they’ll treat me as well as Sleepy Joe? They should!”

Trump’s reelection campaign also weighed in, focusing more on the Commission on Presidential Debates than Scully himself.

“Having a debate moderator lie to try to explain away a tweet that revealed his anti-Trump slant is bad, but it is far from the biggest problem with the biased Commission on Presidential Debates,” wrote Trump 2020 communications director Tim Murtaugh.

“Filled with pro-Biden Democrats and anti-Trump ‘Republicans,’ the commission has done the bidding of Joe Biden every step of the way and protected him at every turn. There was no medical reason the candidates could not be on stage together tonight in Miami for the second debate, but instead they will be holding separate town halls,” he said.

“Everything the commission has done has been to benefit Joe Biden. Nevertheless, President Trump will be in Nashville on Oct. 22, ready to debate Biden and beat him for a second time.”

Scully has led the network’s presidential election coverage since 1992, but the suspension means he won’t be part of C-SPAN’s election night programming. Scully has been the moderator of “Washington Journal,” the weekly call-in program, and regularly hosted other C-SPAN programs.

With Post wires