Republicans and Democrats played the blame game this year

After two former Georgia election workers sued Rudy Giuliani for falsely accusing them of committing massive fraud in 2020, his attorney argued the real culprit in that calumny was The Gateway Pundit.

Meanwhile, Gateway Pundit publisher Jim Hoft, who faced a separate defamation lawsuit by the same plaintiffs, was arguing his website “fairly and accurately reported on the claims made by third parties, such as Donald Trump’s legal team,” which Giuliani led.

This month’s $148 million verdict against Giuliani suggests that jurors were not swayed by his attempt to shift the blame for his baseless allegations. His consolation prize is top billing in my annual list of memorable moments in buck passing, several of which involved the tireless peddler of Donald Trump’s stolen-election fantasy.

‘Really Crazy Stuff.’ That was Rupert Murdoch’s private description of Giuliani’s baroque conspiracy theory, which Fox News nevertheless helped promote. Although the outlet, like Hoft, blamed Giuliani et al. for the tall tale, its frequently credulous coverage of his allegations against Dominion Voting Systems resulted in a $787 million defamation settlement last April.

‘I Relied on Others.’ In October, Jenna Ellis, a member of Giuliani’s “elite strike force team,” pleaded guilty to a state charge of aiding and abetting false statements. Even while admitting she had failed to fact-check the team’s election fraud claims, Ellis tried to mitigate her responsibility, saying, “I relied on others, including lawyers with many more years of experience than I, to provide me with true and reliable information.”

‘There’s Nothing There.’ In January, we learned President Joe Biden, who had slammed Trump’s “totally irresponsible” handling of classified records, also had retained sensitive material he was not supposed to have. “We found a handful of documents were filed in the wrong place,” Biden said, taking refuge in the passive voice. “I think you’re going to find there’s nothing there.”

The Mask Slips. In May, after former White House COVID-19 adviser Anthony Fauci conceded face masks had, at best, a modest overall impact on coronavirus transmission during the pandemic, CNN’s Erin Burnett noted his admission seemed to contradict what Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and other public health officials had been saying for three years. Murthy implausibly blamed ever-shifting science, saying “sometimes guidance does evolve over time as you learn more,” which “can be disconcerting.”

‘Concerns Have Been Raised.’ A year ago, the World Journal of Oncology retracted an eyebrow-raising study claiming nicotine vapers face about the same cancer risk as cigarette smokers. Blaming the study’s authors, who failed to address post-publication “concerns” about their “methodology,” “data processing,” “statistical analysis” and “conclusions,” the journal’s editors did not explain why they and their peer reviewers had overlooked these and other glaring deficiencies.

Black Market Boosters. Nearly three years after New York supposedly legalized recreational marijuana, state-approved stores remain scarce and account for a tiny percentage of sales. Instead of admitting their complicity in this fiasco, state officials are promising a crackdown on the unauthorized vendors who have proliferated because the industry is hobbled by heavy taxes, burdensome regulations and maddening red tape.

‘Percocet via Snapchat.’ At a Republican presidential debate in September, Vivek Ramaswamy blamed deaths from fentanyl disguised as pain pills on “bio-terrorism” abetted by social media. He conveniently overlooked the fact that such hazards are a product of the prohibition policies he supports, which create a black market where the composition of drugs is uncertain and unpredictable.

‘Floored and Shocked.’ In August, after five of his deputies admitted torturing two men during an unlawful home invasion, Rankin County, Mississippi, Sheriff Bryan Bailey said he was “floored and shocked” by the “horrendous crimes” of “these few individuals.” Yet Bailey’s underlings had been committing similar abuses for nearly two decades, generating multiple complaints and lawsuits. “I’m gonna fix this,” he promised while insisting he was oblivious to that pattern of brutality. “I’m gonna make everyone a whole lot more accountable.”

Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason magazine.

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