Thread by @FordFischer

Today political fraudsters Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman held a presser to deny allegations that Wohl "kidnapped" former White House staffer Merritt Corrigan, as her Twitter account was used to tweet homophobic messages that got her fired.

This is how the "presser" began.

Before I post the rest - and there's a lot here to unpack - here's a writeup by @willsommer of the drama leading into this.

thedailybeast.com/the-most-absur…

Also, I'll publish the full presser in HD, but for posterity, here's the livestream:

https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1291419001118056452

When Jacob Wohl took the mic, he blamed conservative journalist @RaheemKassam for Merritt Corrigan's accusations of Wohl engaging in abusive behavior.

He then claimed to have had a two hour phone call with Corrigan that would exonerate him.

Fast forwarding to after the presser, Wohl posted the audio he says is "proof" that @RaheemKassam is responsible for false allegations.

The audio basically amounts to Wohl aggressively blaming Kassam on the phone with Corrigan.

She accuses him of keeping her from her friends.

I reached out to @RaheemKassam, who describes that his role was just picking her up and helping her explain what happened.

I'd add that Wohl claims that he had a two hour conversation with Corrigan, so if those 90 seconds are what make him sound good, then this was bad.

Wohl goes on to use screenshots of him talking erotically with his girlfriend and her complimenting his arms and being as he calls it "smitten" as evidence that he couldn't have been "abusive" or forceful.

Wohl goes on talking more about how friendly selfies and the fact that she complimented his arms amount to evidence that he couldn't possibly have committed a crime against her.

As an aside, Burkman, standing there nodding, is still a member of the Bar Association.

I question Wohl on why images of him and Corrigan happy at some point mean that he couldn't have hurt her at some other point.

He again deflects to the same evidence and that there "were relations that night" and again blames @RaheemKassam for the accusations Corrigan made.

Burkman reiterated that Jacob Wohl and Merritt Corrigan had sex in Burkman's house on the day she says she was kidnapped.

I followed up by pointing out that this sounds like "slut-shaming" to hurt her credibility, which Wohl denied.

I then asked why - since Wohl claims Corrigan would agree with his telling of events - she isn't here saying it herself.

"It's been a turbulent week for Merritt" claims Wohl.

I ask if she'd approve of what he's doing in her name.

"I'm not sure," he says.

Daily Dot / Mediaite reporter @ZTPetrizzo asked Jack Burkman about his current standing with the Bar Association.

Burkman is still a lawyer "as far as I know" he says.

He also denies using shell corporations on a followup from Zach.

I asked if Wohl retained a lawyer in case police charge him with kidnapping.

Burkman (a lawyer) stepped up to reiterate that Wohl and her had sex the day after the alleged crime.

I said that no serious lawyer would claim this exonerates him.

Burkman disagrees, presser ends.

Wohl and Burkman then opened up their garage and offered to show @ZTPetrizzo and I the recording they have that would "exonerate" Wohl but didn't want us to record it, which we refused.

Here's the conversation that followed.

Journalist @ZTPetrizzo kept grilling them in the garage, but we ultimately left empty-handed because Wohl didn't want us recording the recording (which he later released 90 seconds of) because it's "evidentiary."

Never mind the implication that the rest of his presser wasn't.

Here's the full video of today's Jacob Wohl / Jack Burkman "press conference."

Photos and write-up here.

Like any other story, all photos and videos available for license.

news2share.com/start/2020/08/…

I don't actually care, but it appears I got literally Rick Rolled.

A guy trying to interrupt the presser played loud music. Youtube detected the "Never gonna give you up" song playing in the background.

I was alerted that one of the screenshots in Jacob Wohl's Powerpoint today includes the personal address of Merritt Corrigan.

I attempted to blur using a tool Youtube has for that, but it looks like it won't process quickly. I've deleted the video and will repost with a blur.

I hadn't noticed this when it happened, and I appreciate those who reached out.

Jacob, however, composed this event. I have no doubt he knew exactly what he was doing by putting her address on screen.

https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1291530379573235714

Here is the video reposted with Jacob's attempted dox blurred out.