Right below the latest news on reality TV show Project Runway, a website that claims to contain "gossip from Manhattan and the Beltway to Hollywood and the Valley" is claiming there's a scandal in the past of newly minted Republican Senator from Massachusetts Scott Brown. Gawker.com has dug up a civil defamation suit against then State Representative Brown alleging he harassed a woman named Jennifer Firth when she worked on his campaign in 1998. (source)

Continued...

Mr. Brown denied the charges and Ms. Firth's own attorney, Harvey Shwartz withdrew as her counsel two days after the lawsuit was filed claiming that the allegations were not supported by 'good grounds.' The day after that Ms. Firth withdrew her lawsuit.

Jennifer Firth's brushed up against the legal system again in 2007 when Wrentham, Massachusetts police sent a complaint to the state Ethics Commission against Ms. Firth, who they say falsely accused a police officer of making an online threat during the 2005 election season. (source)

There's little doubt why the mainstream media and then-candidate Brown's politcal opponents did not bring up Ms. Firth's decade-old and dropped charges during his recent campaign. Obviously there were more than a few holes in the case and anyone who attempted to use it for political gain would have faced a severe backlash when the least bit of investigation into the complaint and Ms. Firth's history was done.

So why is it being brought up now? Slow news day? Maybe. The folks
at Gawker.com thought it would get their website some attention? Probably. Desperate Democrats trying to plant any news story with any outlet to try and take the attention off the scandals and bad news about them that is filling the airwaves, websites and newspaper pages? Most likely.

But given how quickly the internet and the 24/7 news channels move to debunk such a non-story, this one shouldn't even last till the evening news broadcasts.

UPDATE: As predicted, more details emerged quickly online: In the lawsuit, Ms. Firth claimed Mr. Brown had sought to 'defame and humiliate' her by spreading rumors that she 'had made sexual advances' towards him. After Ms. Firth admitted sending "provocative" emails, the suit was dismissed with prejudice. (source)