RNC Relies On Doctored Audio In Anti-Health Care Ad

Shortly after Solicitor General Donald Verrilli began his arguments in defense of the Affordable Care Act’s insurance coverage requirement on Tuesday, he momentarily had trouble speaking, took a single sip of water, and then resumed his presentation. I know this because I was sitting directly behind Verrilli in one of the seats reserved for members of the Supreme Court bar when it happened, and Bloomberg news verifies it by examining the argument transcript and the genuine audio of the exchange.

Nevertheless, a Republican National Committee attack ad released shortly after the argument tampers with the audio of Verrilli’s brief pause to give the impression that he was so feckless that he spent nearly 20 seconds unable to utter a coherent word. Watch it:

Of course, the entire case against the Affordable Care Act is based on falsehoods — false claims that the Constitution does not allow the United States to “regulate commerce,” false claims that upholding health reform would destroy the existing rules preventing much non-economic federal regulation, and false claims that judges are free to simply ignore the Constitution’s text. So it probably isn’t surprising that the RNC decided to add yet another falsehood into the mix.