June 5, 2015
InTouch Points Out Falsehoods in Fox News' Duggar Interview
EDGE READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Do you think the Duggars had the final say on Fox News Wednesday night? Guess again.
As Megyn Kelly's exclusive interview with Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar on Fox News following the underage molestation scandal that tarnished the brand of the conservative Christian family continues to make headlines, InTouch Weekly, the publication that first obtained the police reports, is pointing out omissions and falsehoods in what they're calling an overly sympathetic interview on the conservative news outlet.
In an interview that many consider to have been an attempt to indemnify themselves against allegations of not reporting the molestation incident involving their then teenage son Josh in a timely manner, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar repeatedly played the victim, claiming the police report at the center of the controversy was illegally obtained by InTouch and that the release of the documents were the result of a bribe taken by Springdale police chief Kathy O'Kelley, who they also claim has a personal vendetta against the couple.
"Jim Bob suggested the records of Josh's crimes were released because the Springdale police chief, Kathy O'Kelley, may have taken a bribe," InTouch notes. "The records were obtained through Arkansas' Freedom of Information Act, which is one of the most liberal open records laws in the country, according to the state's attorney general."
InTouch also notes they have a paper trail proving that the city's attorneys reviewed the FOI request and approved the records' release. They say that Jim Bob's "bribe or personal agenda" claims don't hold water as the second report was released from the Washington County Sheriff's Office which O'Kelley has no involvement in.
As for the Duggars' and Kelly's repeated claims that the records were illegally released, InTouch points to a report in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette that said:
"'I don't think [the agencies] had a choice,' said John Tull, a Little Rock attorney who specializes in public-record cases. 'They had to release the reports. Those records are not closed under FOI. The alleged perpetrator had attained his majority at the time it was released, and once his name and all the victims' names were blacked out, it was subject to FOI.'"
Another key point the Duggars insisted on making was that they were not legally mandated to report the molestation incidents. Not so, says former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Michael Johnson.
"It is possible that investigators looking into this case could have cited the parents Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar with Arkansas Code 5-27-221 'Permitting Abuse of a Minor.' Having once learned of the behavior, they recklessly allowed it to continue." Johnson said, adding that the Duggars could have been subject to six years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.