AG
A bogus complaint claiming mass hysterectomies was filed with the help of an activist group of immigration attorneys. This false smear was first picked up by The Intercept (9/14), which regularly publishes false claims without vetting. Then it was picked up by NBC News (9/15) and MSNBC while naming the doctor. Other outlets soon joined in and Congressional Democrats, led by Rep Pramila Jayapal, parroted the claims attacking the facility. Within a few weeks, it was widely spread that this particular doctor was essentially experimenting on migrant women at this facility. This all happened despite there being plenty of evidence available at the time to suggest the complaint was full of falsehoods. In this case, NBC/MSNBC made the mistake of naming the doctor the smear was targeting so there may be consequences, but think about how often this pattern repeats when they target more public figures or report the claims more generally.
Eliana Johnson
NBC News headed for defamation trial after judge finds Nicolle Wallace, Rachel Maddow, and Chris Hayes made “verifiably false” claims about a doctor they termed the “uterus collector” https://freebeacon.com/media/rachel-maddow-and-her-co-stars-made-verifiably-false-statements-about-a-doctor-they-called-the-uterus-collector-now-his-30-million-lawsuit-is-headed-for-trial/