The Republican-led House Oversight Committee is holding its first hearing Thursday in the impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden – and Republicans on the committee have made a series of false and misleading claims, as well as some other claims that have left out critical context.
Below is a CNN fact check. This article will be updated as additional fact checks are completed.
I’m sure there are exceptions and whatnot for politicians and hearings but in normal circumstances this would be considered a buttload of slander. They’re not even using the qualifier “there’s evidence to suggest” anymore.
In Australia we have parliamentary privilege which means that things said in Parliament can’t be used against you. One of our politicians essentially admitted to fraud in Parliament and a political commentator called him out on it, the politician sued the commentator for slander and the commentator wasn’t allowed to use parliamentary transcripts to prove the truth defence. Eventually it was settled, but it cost him a lot of money and there were conditions.
Same thing in the us basically. If you hear a politician saying “strongly held belief” that’s what they’re trying to evoke though usually wrongly and even still poorly.
That in particular wouldn’t work in the US, because truth is an absolute defense for libel.
Commonwealth countries forgot: if your actions ruin your reputation, that’s what reputation is for.