Scott Brown Goes Birther on Elizabeth Warren | Mother Jones

Scott Brown Goes Birther on Elizabeth Warren | Mother Jones:

'via Blog this'

Former Boston Herald Eric Fehrnstron

On Tuesday, Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) went birther on Elizabeth Warren. "Serious questions have been raised about the legitimacy of Elizabeth Warren's claims to Native American ancestry," Brown said in a statement released to the press. 

But given the available evidence concerning Warren's ancestry, Brown is essentially implying there may have been an elaborate, years-long effort to fake his opponent's heritage—not unlike the conspiracy envisioned by right-wing activists who sought "answers" about President Obama's citizenship. (The Brown campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)

This faux controversy stems from a series of articles in the Boston Herald, which reported that Warren had listed herself as Native American in a Harvard Law School faculty directory. (Brown's top adviser, Eric Fehrnstrom, is a former Herald reporter.) This fueled criticism on the right that Warren had falsely claimed Native American status to advance her legal career. Now this bizarre kerfuffle has snowballed well beyond that, as conservatives pursue an in-depth probe of Warren's great-great-great grandmother's ethnicity and whether Warren's great-great-great-uncle lied about it.

LP - Thanks for all the assistance from the Boston Herald who Eric Fehrnstron, Mitt's etch a sketch adviser, use to work. No report whether the Herald is still being written at a third grade level or if they've boosted it to a fourth grade level.