Yesterday,
National Review announced to the world that it had filed suit against the city of Newark, New Jersey, its police department, and its mayor, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cory Booker.
The reason for National Review's lawsuit? They doubted the truth of a story Booker told about witnessing the final moments of a young man's life after rushing to his aid when he heard gunfire in the dead of night.
And the reason for their doubt? A story Booker last told 5 years ago about a drug-dealer named T-Bone, which turns out not have have been about single individual, but a composite. In their words:
According to Booker, he heard shots in his neighborhood, Miller stumbled backwards and collapsed into his arms, and then died, as Booker whispered into his ear, “Stay with me, stay with me.”
Now, we have no idea of the truth of this account, and as far as we know, the incident happened exactly as described by Booker. But, given the dubious existence of T-Bone, we’d like to see documents backing up Booker’s statements. Certainly, the public has a right to know if Booker has made a habit of embellishing or fabricating similarly cinematic stories.
According to
National Review, Booker and Newark had "stonewalled" their attempts to get to the bottom of the burning question of whether or not this story was in fact true, claiming that they had been denied access to evidence that would prove or disprove the claim despite the fact that New Jersey is an open-records state.
Well, according to Think Progress, it not only turns out that they misunderstood New Jersey's open records laws, but the police report filed in April 2004 after the shooting confirms Booker's account.
It was learned that former Newark City Councilman Cory Booker had been in the area when the incident occurred and had rendered aid to the victim. The undersigned contacted Mr. Booker and conducted an interview with him. He advised me that he had been in the area when he heard the gunshots. He stated that he did not witness the shooting nor did he observe the suspect. After hearing the gunshots, he responded to the victim and rendered aid and assisted in securing the scene until the arrival of officers. He could not provide any further information at this time.
Well, that settles that—at least as far as Cory Booker is concerned. But there's still a question worth asking: Of all the politicians who could be embellishing stories on any given day, what is it about Cory Booker that prompted
National Review to become so obsessed?