A request from National Review Online
Have you ever had an email, phone call or text message that caused your personal *warning bells* to go off?
Well, today was one of those days; please let me explain.
A couple of years ago I was doing everything I could to attack a candidate from Texas, Katrina Pierson, as she was trying to unseat Rep. Pete Sessions in that particular congressional election.
I used every tool at my disposal in my attempt to shine a light on Katrina Pierson for being exactly what I thought she was, a weak candidate and wrong for the job of Congressional Representative for Texas 32.
One of the stories I posted garnered an interesting comment about Pierson with allegations of an *affair* with a married man, one that had a wife 8 months pregnant with twins and how it led to a divorce.
Mary Anne Harper says:
February 15, 2014 at 1:15 PM
I worked with Katrina Pierson about 16 years ago where she booked appointments for Drs. She had an affair with a married man who worked there and whose wife was 8 months pregnant with twins; another person opened a letter Katrina sent to him and immediately gave it to the supervisor. I really liked his wife who got a divorce shortly after the twins were born. Katrina knew as did everyone that the couple were expecting.
Mary Anne HarperTexasFred says:
February 15, 2014 at 2:59 PM
Thank you for contacting me with this information. I had heard the story but had NO idea who the source was or how to make contact!This comes from the following thread, in comments. Pete Sessions rival Katrina Pierson says ’97 shoplifting charge helped turn her life around
So imagine MY surprise when I was contacted, via email, by someone with National Review, a Jillian Melchior, implying that she wanted me to give her the contact information for Mary Anne Harper.
In the spirit of transparency let me tell you this; as owner of this blog I have certain tools that allow me to view things that readers just don’t get to see, and as far as I’m concerned it’s all good because I DO NOT, now or ever, release ANY contact info to an outside source, person, business or governmental agency.
Seriously, I don’t release information, I even have a page about it, Privacy Policy and those that KNOW me know that my word is my bond.
So, let me share this email exchange between Jillian Melchior and myself.
Jillian Melchior <jmelchior@nationalreview.com>
2:36 PM (2 hours ago)Hi, Fred,
My name is Jillian Melchior, and I’m a reporter at National Review.
I’m interested in getting in touch with one of your frequent commenters about Katrina Pierson, Mary Anne Harper. Do you have her info?
Kind regards,
Jillian Melchior
To which I responded;
Fred Witzell <thetexasfredblog@gmail.com> 3:12 PM (1 hour ago)
I do, but as a journalist you should know, don’t reveal you sources and never share them…
It’s called integrity…
Jillian responded;
Jillian Melchior
3:13 PM (1 hour ago)She put her full name down, so I’m guessing maybe she doesn’t mind?
Not asking you to violate your integrity- trust me, I understand source confidentiality. But if she’d be willing to talk to me, I’d love to connect. Could you ask her?
Jillian Melchior
National Review
212-849-2859
jmelchior@nationalreview.com
And once again I responded;
Fred Witzell <thetexasfredblog@gmail.com> 3:16 PM (1 hour ago)
Sorry, no… The *trust me* part is why.. Last time I heard that I ended up in parts of the world I never want to see again…
And again Jillian, who just won’t take NO for an answer responded again;
Jillian Melchior
3:17 PM (1 hour ago)Did I do something to offend you? You’ve taken a kind of hostile tone, and I meant no harm…
Jillian Melchior
National Review
212-849-2859
jmelchior@nationalreview.com
Apparently this Jillian is an extremely thin-skinned person, OR, she has NO idea what I am like when I’m *offended*. To quote Bruce Banner, “Don’t make me angry, you won’t like me when I’m angry…”
Fred Witzell <thetexasfredblog@gmail.com> 3:19 PM (1 hour ago)
If you think that was hostile then you further enforce my reasoning as to why I won’t let you have her info… Thanks for the entertainment, now I have work to do…
And yet again Jillian responds;
Jillian Melchior
3:19 PM (1 hour ago)OK, have a nice life.
I have a very happy life, I have family that loves me, I have real FRIENDS, I have blog readers that are big fans and I am HAPPY!
Being HAPPY doesn’t stop me from being a curious, thorough, honest and a highly skilled investigative blogger, so, I had been wondering WHY I was getting a lot of hits on posts about Katrina Pierson and I decided to look at National Review and see what was cooking on their site.
Imagine MY surprise when I went to that site and saw this;
The Many Strange Inconsistencies and Occasional Outright Lies of Donald Trump’s Spokeswoman
So, not being one to *sit back and take it* I sent Jillian one last email;
Fred Witzell <thetexasfredblog@gmail.com> 3:27 PM (1 hour ago)
Jillian, I know WHY you want to talk to her, it’s her statements about Pierson and her *affairs* and you plan to use it in an attack against Donald Trump since she was hired by his campaign and you plan to attempt a shot at Trump not being a Conservative because he hired an adulteress…
Do you think I’m NEW at this? Do you think I haven’t seen NRO??
Maybe you could contact Pierson and ask her… Maybe you could ask Trump WHY he hired her… Mary and I are friends, she trusts me and she won’t tell me the full story, she certainly won’t tell a total stranger that plans to blast it all over the ‘net…
Do some investigative work, the information is out there, you just have to be good enough to find it…
Here endeth the story, I hope.
If National Review wants to blast Trump for hiring Pierson I am all for it, I still have NO USE for her and I seriously wonder why she was hired by the Trump campaign, and if I find dirt on her or Trump and that hiring I will blast it all over the blog world.
But I’m not giving up MY sources to anyone. It’s called Journalistic Integrity, and some folks need to look into it.
#Trump2016
Ron in Ohio Sez:
For God’s sake Fred who or what are we supposed to believe now that every Repug - Including all of the so called Conservatives are throwing mud at each other?
As usual I am not watching tonight’s version of the Repug’s “Dog and Pony Show.” I’ll wait and read the fall-out tomorrow. My only comment on Trump’s not attending tonight’s debate; Why would he want be limited to his “bringing a knife to a gun fight.” His withdrawal makes sense to me. Besides, Regan did in it 1980 and went on to win big. A little historical fact that has been conveniently forgotten by the Slime-Stream-Media.
At the start this election it appeared to be a “cake walk” for the Repugs after the Obungler’s dismal record and there seemed to be no way they could loose. But I’m beginning to see 2008 and 2012 all over again in spite of Shrill-Liar-Ly’s problems and Commissar Bernie’s overt Communist stance.
Repugs really need to learn how to get their guns out of their holsters before they start shooting. I don’t thing their feet can take much more self abuse.
PS:
Not that it matters to anyone but me but, I’m in total agreement with your assessment and lack of a “jump-to-conclusion” opinion on the Bundy debacle and killing. I have already seen and read so many comments, pro and con, about it until I’m sick of it. I smacks of the Jackson/Sharpton/Obama “finger pointing” antics before a shred of evidence is in. I too refuse to comment yet.
I am convinced of one thing; the people that inspired this post are looking to trash Trump and plan on using anything they can get on Katrina Pierson to do so..
I still believe she is an opportunist and goes whichever way the wind blows, read into that as you will… 🙂
Fred, you’re a man of your word. One of the many reasons I come here.
Thank you Bob, that means SO much to me… It’s what I have built this blog on, truth and fairness… Funny how those things can cause you to a bigot, racist, angry redneck and God knows what else in the eyes of others…
I wonder how much Trump is paying Katrina; she wants to get some tv time like she did at the Garland, Tx. cartoon contest which was interrupted by people with guns. I hope Trump gives it up soon!
There is a lot I would love to know about Katrina Pierson, and a lot I already believe, but I wasn’t going to give those people YOUR info to let them stir their own pot…
Pierson got the Trump job for *some* reason and I seriously don’t believe it was her skill as an orator…
Katrina Pierson wants to get money given to her without having to work or at least not having to work hard. Where she goes next is anyone’s guess. Both her boyfriend and she herself came after me outside the Garland primary election place because she didn’t like my sign against her . The last person voting on election day took a picture of my sign to show her mother and said she had worked with her so came from central Texas just to cast 2 more votes against her when she ran against Pete Sessions.
And to Jillian Melchior; yes, you did anger me, but you angered me in the way a fly can anger you with its persistence at aggravating you, and you insulted me as a journalist when you asked me to reveal a source to you…
But that’s OK, now I know what YOU are made of…
I cancelled my subscription to National Review the other day. I don’t even know what a conservative is anymore. The media have muddied the waters. Fred, call me a patriotic American, nationalist or a populist because I won’t, and never have voted strictly along party lines. I’m not telling anyone who I may have voted for in the past but, in New Jersey for all my working life, I may have voted for the “enemy” and not known it. I liked Chris Christie at first but he turned out to be a muslim ass kisser. We can’t, as a country, take any of these REFUGEES from these muslim hell holes. Trump has my support so far. By the way, I think the NR took a dump after Mr. Buckley passed away.
Keep the truth coming, Fred. We support you and your stance 100%.
I still don’t trust Trump, I think he is a wolf in sheeps clothing, a Trojan horse.
He is a New Yorker first by his own admission, and that makes him a Democrat in my book.
No fair Ron. Born and raised on Staten Island, I left for New Jersey when I was twenty one,but still had mom and two brothers on the Island. Politics was always on the table in our house and being what politics is we had some differing opinions. I knew, at the time, some of the local politicians personally. I couldn’t vote in New York but my mom was a staunch conservative. My first votes were cast in New Jersey which was a corrupt democrat controlled state for the most part and I believe it still is. Back to New York, don’t accuse the Donald of being insincere. I do believe he will do what he says he will, put America first. The wise crack by Cruz about New York values was a cheap shot meant for the attitude displayed by the Manhattan elites like DiBlasio. Upstate New York is like moving from Furgeson to Montanna only it takes less time to get there. Upstate New York is a whole different world, full of good, conservative people.
I concur with your sentiments about Christie, Wayne. Corzine was was so overtly corrupt even a sizable contingent of democrat sycophants were moved to vote for The Incredible Bulk. His love for muslims was apparent even before his swapping spit with Chaka at the New Jersey shore in 2012. I too will vote for Trump and his blather as opposed to the other empty republican suits. While we can’t be totally sure he will do what he says we most certainly know the career politicians, without a doubt, will turn on us ala Paul Ryan, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell.
I had some choice words to say about Corzine back in 2007 & 2008 when he usurped the voters’ will and abolished the death penalty in New Jersey. It was an assault against the safety and security of the Nation, since it would allow murderers a chance to break out of prison and commit more murders with the possibility of crossing several state borders during their murder spree.
I posted things about this on MyFoxLA’s old blog site, which could be accessed by other bloggers on the sister My Fox blog sites at the time. Corzine had an accomplice aiding him as he passed his unroyal decree on the “peasants” of New Jersey. Even the moonbat extremists saw that their carcasses could become leaded swiss cheese, so they revolted and tossed Corzine’s bald carcass out.
One thing that occurs to me is that they have tried their mud-slinging at Trump, and it just does not stick. In fact, it seems to always backfire on them when they try. Kinda like the old kid saying…”I’m rubber your glue, anything you say bounces off of me and sticks to you”. That seems to sum up Trump and the media. No matter what they do, it does not hurt Donald, but makes them look like the pathetic jerks that they are.
So now, they can’t destroy Trump, so instead, they are going to go after those around him. Really?! How fricking pathetic. This is bottom of the barrel scumbaggery. The only thing left is to pick up the barrel and start licking the dirt below it. As if anyone should be judged by the people that work with them. How ridiculous.
And the comment above about how the voters are seeing this and making opinions about republicans. Bad opinions, to which they would be correct. All I can say is that this does not help the GOP at all. They fail to embrace the ONE candidate that can turn things around, and resort to all this in-fighting. I can only imagine the precious votes of those in the “undecided” category (those too stupid to pick a side…but that’s a whole other issue), that see this and decide to vote for the dems as they cannot stand this hatred and nit-picking nonsense. No one wants a leader that does this.
The libs do not eat their own. Especially if they have a person that can sweep them into power. Yes, they may fight, but the outside world never sees it. Hell, we all know obama and the clintons HATE each other, but you do not see this in public…ever.
It appears to me that the GOP would rather spend the next four (or eight) years licking the ass of BURNie or hiLIARy rather than have Donald Trump as President. How sad indeed. And if that happens, I will not blame Donald Trump, nor will I even blame whoever becomes the democratic president. Hell, you can’t blame a scorpion for being a scorpion. But I will blame the idiotic American hating or ignorant voters, and I WILL MOST CERTAINLY BLAME the GOP. They are once again preparing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
They need to rally around Trump. Whether they like him or not, they need to go with what We The People have told them we want. But instead, they are counting on giving us the choice of the lesser of two evils, and hoping that we will simply vote GOP for the sole reason that it is not a democrat again. And I will NOT do that again. My pride has been compromised way too many times. I had to bathe in bleach the last two elections to get the stink off of me from having to pull that GOP lever. NEVER AGAIN!!!
I will vote Trump, either in the republican box, or the independent box. I will not bother to waste my time if he is not among the choices for president. I will not take part in the destruction of my beloved America. I will not vote for someone I do not believe in, just because I am told it’s the only choice. If my country is to go down, it will be at the hands of my enemy…not someone that claims to have my best interest at heart, only to stab me in the back. NEVER AGAIN!!!
This is cut and dried. No. Your job is not to do her job. People speak or write to you in confidence. It’s a word that actually has meaning.
BZ
It means something to guys like us, these twit kids that crashed through a journalism course, not so much…
Hi Fred…As you know I stumbled on your blog about a year ago and have really enjoyed your in site and honesty in what you write. It seems these days many journalists and so called reports only look for dirt, half truths and in some cases no truths , and then write their “hit piece” and think they are wonderful people. I have not trusted the main stream media for a long time. Please keep up the good work , and keep your powder dry…Steve O
Steve O, the new school of journalism has become the Chrissie Matthews School Of Journalism: a search for tingles up the L’eggs.
I noticed that Jillian Melchior is a young reporter who is part of the GIMME GIMME GIMME generation, the generation of feeling entitled to everything. I hope for her sake that she grows up and gets her act together.
In Southern California, we have a television anchor who has been anchoring for over 25 years at KTTV Fox11. She was in her 20s when she started anchoring and reporting for KTTV, and is a hard worker. She is Christine Devine, and I remember watching her when she made her debut in Los Angeles. She never took anything for granted, and works with integrity to be fair and balanced, unlike a number of others I’ve seen. Jillian Melchior needs a mentor like Christine Devine to learn from.