Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Right-wing media criticized after Las Vegas man reports lying about Reid’s injuries

Lawrence Pfeifer

Mikayla Whitmore

Las Vegas resident Lawrence Pfeifer on Friday, April 24, 2015, in Henderson.

Hours after the Las Vegas Sun published the story of Lawrence Pfeifer, who claimed to have fabricated a story about Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid being beaten up by his brother, the liberal political blog Think Progress published a related item it headlined, “Las Vegas Man Epically Punks Conservative Media.”

Hours after that, a conservative blogger at downtrend.com countered with a post headlined, “Liberal Who Made Up Story About Harry Reid That No One Believed Thinks He Punked The Right-Wing Media.”

Pfeifer’s reported hoax sparked opinions along partisan lines after the Sun’s story was reposted in the political blogosphere and picked up by such national media outlets as Bloomberg and Politico. Pfeifer, a 50-year-old former consultant in the nightlife and entertainment industry, said conservative bloggers and commentators published his tale about the Reids despite having no corroboration or demanding to know his true identity after he approached them using a pseudonym.

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For liberals, the story exposed right-wing partisan media as irresponsible and entirely agenda-driven, devoid of journalistic standards and willing to give voice to any conspiracy involving moderate or left-leaning political figures.

“Pfeifer’s actions certainly should not be condoned since he spread damaging lies about both Larry and Harry Reid that amount to character assassination,” wrote Keith Brekus on the liberal site politicususa.com. “However, Pfeifer does not bear that responsibility alone. Right-wing media outlets that were overeager to slander the Nevada Senator also should be ashamed that they promoted his story without verifying any evidence to determine if the story were reasonably likely to be true. By failing to apply even the flimsiest of journalistic standards or ethics, the right-wing media has demonstrated once again that they are far too willing to sacrifice the truth, as long as it furthers their extremely narrow and petty partisan agenda.”

But conservatives criticized Pfeifer for making up the story and pointed out that the media figures who relayed the lie, including blogger John Hinderaker and radio host Rush Limbaugh, didn’t present it as fact. As reported at Media Matters, the story also appeared on the Glenn Beck program, at World Net Daily and in The Gateway Pundit, which referred to Reid’s brother as “the main suspect in his brutal beating.” Pfeifer, using the name Easton Elliott, told the story in a phone call on Laura Ingraham’s talk show, on a day when Hinderaker sat in as the host.

Far from proving anything other than he’s a (expletive deleted) artist, Pfeifer has now become a darling to the left,” wrote Brian Anderson at downtrend.com. “Why is it that liberals always admire the worst kind of people? They never rally behind someone with honesty or virtue; it’s liars, cheaters, and murderers that get the lefties pumped up. I say if your heroes are scumbags; you are a scumbag. Period.”

Pfeifer said he made up the story after becoming appalled that Hinderaker published a rumor that the severe facial injuries suffered by Reid early this year were the result of an attack by the Mafia. He said he contacted Hinderaker and made up the story about Reid’s brother on the fly.

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Reid has said his injuries, which included several broken ribs and fractured facial bones, were the result of an exercising accident. He said an elastic resistance band broke as he was using it, causing him to fall into a cabinet.

Hinderaker addressed the Sun story on his blog, saying Pfeifer lied about Hinderaker publishing the story without knowing Pfeifer’s real identity. Hinderaker said he demanded that Pfeifer identify himself, and Pfeifer complied by giving his full name. With that information, Hinderaker said, he conducted Internet research showing that Pfeifer was connected to a Las Vegas consultancy business.

“But I did check him out to the extent reasonably possible,” Hinderaker said.

In a telephone interview with the Sun, Hinderaker said Pfeifer was insistent on telling the story, emailing and calling him dozens of times. Hinderaker said Pfeifer was consistent in retelling the story, which he found plausible.

“Obviously, if I thought he was a liar, I would have hung up on him,” he said. “But I thought he deserved his day in court, so to speak.”

Pfeifer said Hinderaker never demanded to know his true identity, but rather only asked for a name. Pfeifer said he revealed only that his name was Larry. As for repeatedly contacting Hinderaker, Pfeifer said he was urging the blogger to promote his story to Limbaugh, in hopes of getting on Limbaugh's show and exposing the lie to the host's large audience.

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In an interview with Talking Points Memo, Hinderaker acknowledged he did not have corroboration for the story.

“So next time would you actually seek out the evidence?” an interviewer asked.

“I mean, obviously, once burned twice shy,” Hinderaker replied. “Would I wonder if some crackpot is calling me on the phone? Absolutely, you bet I would.”

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