How O'Reilly Lies: A Case History

The evolution of one of Bill O’Reilly’s many lies, as reported by Joe Muto:

“Case in point: In summer 2011, a story surfaced on the right-wing blogs that an auditor for the Justice Department had found out some DOJ employees attending a meeting at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC, had been served refreshments, including muffins for which the hotel charged sixteen dollars apiece.

“It’s no surprise that the story spread like wildfire on the blogs and was soon picked up by cable news. It was a great story for the right, reinforcing preexisting notions of government excess and willingness to waste taxpayer money, the incompetence of the Obama Justice Department, etc.

“One problem: It wasn’t true.”

That did not deter O’Reilly when he was confronted with the facts.

…“’I don’t give a shit what the guy said,’ Bill interrupted, suddenly angry. ‘It’s the same old thing. They come out and deny it, but the story is there. We know it’s true. We have the proof.’

Steiner tried gamely one more time to convince Bill to drop the story, explaining that he didn’t have the proof, but O’Reilly was adamant. He’d latched on to the story, and pesky things like ‘facts’ weren’t going to convince him otherwise.”