Over the weekend FOX 9’s Tom Lyden reported the sordid details of DFL state representative John Thompson’s domestic assault charges going back a decade and more. Following the publication of Lyden’s story, the DFL establishment turned on Thompson. Every member of the DFL establishment called in unison for Thompson’s resignation.
Since he first appeared on the public scene in the summer of 2020, Thompson has manifested as an obvious racial hustler, thug, and nut. He has a screw or two badly in need of tightening. Yet the DFL stood behind Thompson until Lyden’s story broke this weekend.
Thompson’s initial statement attributed Lyden’s story to “an amplified showing of systematic racism[.]” It has become a conspiracy so immense that it extends to the state’s DFL leadership.
That of course includes “light-skinned Native woman” Peggy Flanagan, our lieutenant governor. Calling for Thompson’s resignation on Saturday, Flanagan sacrificed the mention of the credential she otherwise invariably cites when she opines on matters of public policy.
After his initial statement yesterday, Thompson issued a formal statement elaborating on his response to the charges Lyden had unearthed:
Mr. Thompson challenges the authenticity of the police reports that have been circulated to the press. Mr. Thompson and his wife – the only person whom Mr. Thompson would have been with at the times of the incidents – categorically deny that any of the inflammatory allegations (including but not limited to choking anyone or exposing himself) ever occurred. Mr. Thompson’s wife further does not recall and does not believe she ever made such allegations. They have been together as a couple for more than twenty years, have worked through issues earlier in their relationship, and have a solid marriage. It is my understanding that the purported police reports were provided to reporters by persons associated with law enforcement groups. These are likely the same groups that have been constantly and vigorously waging a smear campaign against Mr. Thompson since his speech in Hugo, MN in August 2020 (11 months ago). If these police reports existed in their current form, it is unfathomable that the many people digging into Mr. Thompson’s past would not have found those police reports before the November election much less during the ensuing months. The police reports are a product of the campaign to silence an American African man who speaks out against powerful and abusive interests, and not the product of any effort to uncover truth.
According to his statement, the conspiracy so immense is even immenser than Thompson originally intimated. The documents on which Lyden based his report were fabricated by someone out to get him. Does anyone at this late date recall “Forgery by typewriter”? Alger Hiss, call your office!
Speaking on its own behalf, FOX 9 reveals that Lyden did not dig up the documents from a pumpkin patch, a la Whittaker Chamber. Rather, FOX 9 states that it “found the reports while making efforts to verify Thompson’s residency status….Furthermore, the FOX 9 Investigative Reporter Tom Lyden obtained the reports from police departments using standard data practice requests.”
Lyden has not taken kindly to Thompson’s insinuation that he is part of a plot to take him down. Tom first posted the law enforcement documents he obtained on Thompson via his data practices act requests on Scrbid and made them accessible via Twitter (below). FOX 9 also posted the documents at the bottom of its story on Thompson’s latest fulmination.
The five domestic assault police reports concerning MN Rep. John Thompson from Superior, WI., Eagan, and St. Paul (2003-2011) can be found here. I made additional redactions of names. Providing these after Thompson questioned reports 'authenticity.' https://t.co/PONWC68Q8r
— Tom Lyden (@LydenFOX9) July 18, 2021
Blois Olson adds this footnote to the story in his daily email news roundup this morning:
While Alpha News reported the domestic assault cases last August, sources say that Rep. John Thompson was dishonest with legislative leaders when he was asked about them last year. He denied that it was him and suggested it was a different “John Thompson.”
Perfect!
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