Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Widower: Delete Trump Tweets Suggesting Wife Was Murdered
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
May 26, 2020

Share

WASHINGTON — The husband of a woman who died accidentally in an office of then-GOP Rep. Joe Scarborough two decades ago is demanding that Twitter remove President Donald Trump’s tweets suggesting Scarborough, now a fierce Trump critic, murdered her.

“My request is simple: Please delete these tweets,” Timothy J. Klausutis wrote to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

The body of Lori Kaye Klausutis, 28, was found in Scarborough’s Fort Walton Beach, Florida, congressional office on July 20, 2001.

Klausutis said in the letter, sent last week, that his wife had an undiagnosed heart condition, fell and hit her head on her desk at work. He called her death “the single most painful thing that I have ever had to deal with” and said he feels a marital obligation to protect her memory amid “a constant barrage of falsehoods, half-truths, innuendo and conspiracy theories since the day she died.”

Klausutis said Trump is among the conspiracy theorists spreading “bile and misinformation” on Twitter “disparaging the memory” of his wife and their marriage.

Trump’s tweets violate Twitter’s community rules and terms of service, he said.

“An ordinary user like me would be banished,” Klausutis wrote.

In a statement, Twitter said it was “deeply sorry about the pain these statements, and the attention they are drawing, are causing the family.”

But the company did not say it would do anything about Trump’s Tweets or mention them directly.

Photo fo President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump speaks during a Memorial Day ceremony at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, Monday, May 25, 2020, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump Has Long Feuded With Scarborough

“We’ve been working to expand existing product features and policies so we can more effectively address things like this going forward, and we hope to have those changes in place shortly,” Twitter said.

In general, Twitter has taken a hands-off approach to political leaders, contending that publishing controversial tweets from politicians helps hold them accountable and encourages discussion. It modified those rules last year to say that world leaders “aren’t entirely” above the rules and some tweets violating its policy could be slapped with warning labels.

Trump has long feuded with Scarborough, now a host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show, and has repeatedly tried to implicate him in the death even though Scarborough was in Washington, not Florida, at the time.

Trump tweeted this month: “When will they open a Cold Case on the Psycho Joe Scarborough matter in Florida. Did he get away with murder? Some people think so. Why did he leave Congress so quietly and quickly? Isn’t it obvious? What’s happening now? A total nut job!”

He echoed that “cold case” allegation in a new tweet on Tuesday,

Trump also has asked via Twitter if NBC would fire the political talk show host based on the “unsolved mystery” years ago in Florida. “Investigate!” he tweeted in 2017.

But there is no mystery.

Medical officials ruled that Lori Kaye Klausutis, who had a heart condition and told friends hours earlier that she wasn’t feeling well, had fainted and hit her head. Foul play was not suspected.

Scarborough has urged the president to stop his baseless attacks.

DON'T MISS

Crescent View West High Celebrates New Clovis Home

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Sentenced to 29 Years for Sexually Assaulting Children and Dog

DON'T MISS

Bulldogs’ Two-Position Standout Tommy Hopfe Signs With Rockies

DON'T MISS

Artists, Vendors Plan to Defy City’s ArtHop Crackdown

DON'T MISS

Former Bulldog QB Jake Haener: I Have a ‘Rare Form of Skin Cancer’

DON'T MISS

The Many Names of GOP Vice Presidential Nominee JD Vance

DON'T MISS

‘Fed Up’ Dyer, Councilmembers Unveil Plan to Crack Down on Street Campers

DON'T MISS

House Republicans Slam Trump’s ‘Worst Choice’ for VP Pick JD Vance

DON'T MISS

Companies Cut Prices to Boost Sales, Consumers Respond

DON'T MISS

Stay Cool, Fresno!

UP NEXT

The Many Names of GOP Vice Presidential Nominee JD Vance

UP NEXT

Warner Bros. Discovery Sues NBA for Not Accepting Its Matching Offer

UP NEXT

Netanyahu Will Meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Mending a Yearslong Rift

UP NEXT

Watch: Breaking Down Netanyahu’s Speech in Congress

UP NEXT

Recall of Boar’s Head Deli Meats Announced During Investigation of Listeria Outbreak

UP NEXT

Uvalde, Texas, School Officer Pleads Not Guilty to Charges of Failing to Protect Kids During Attack

UP NEXT

Spicy Dispute Over the Origins of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Winds up in Court

UP NEXT

Harris Tells Netanyahu ‘It Is Time’ to Get Hostage Deal Done and End Gaza War

UP NEXT

Biden and Netanyahu Meet With a Show of Amiable Relations Despite Tensions

UP NEXT

Fresno County Sheriff Thanks Community for Their Help in Finding Relatives of Deceased Man

Artists, Vendors Plan to Defy City’s ArtHop Crackdown

5 hours ago

Former Bulldog QB Jake Haener: I Have a ‘Rare Form of Skin Cancer’

5 hours ago

The Many Names of GOP Vice Presidential Nominee JD Vance

6 hours ago

‘Fed Up’ Dyer, Councilmembers Unveil Plan to Crack Down on Street Campers

6 hours ago

House Republicans Slam Trump’s ‘Worst Choice’ for VP Pick JD Vance

6 hours ago

Companies Cut Prices to Boost Sales, Consumers Respond

6 hours ago

Stay Cool, Fresno!

7 hours ago

Warner Bros. Discovery Sues NBA for Not Accepting Its Matching Offer

7 hours ago

Tanker Plane Crash Kills Firefighting Pilot in Oregon as Western Wildfires Spread

7 hours ago

Will Bonta Election Lawsuit Reverse the Will of Fresno County Voters?

7 hours ago

Crescent View West High Celebrates New Clovis Home

The arch of colorful balloons over the doorway of a storefront on Shaw Avenue in Clovis was a clue that something exciting was happening on ...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

Crescent View West High Celebrates New Clovis Home

4 hours ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to 29 Years for Sexually Assaulting Children and Dog

4 hours ago

Bulldogs’ Two-Position Standout Tommy Hopfe Signs With Rockies

5 hours ago

Artists, Vendors Plan to Defy City’s ArtHop Crackdown

5 hours ago

Former Bulldog QB Jake Haener: I Have a ‘Rare Form of Skin Cancer’

6 hours ago

The Many Names of GOP Vice Presidential Nominee JD Vance

6 hours ago

‘Fed Up’ Dyer, Councilmembers Unveil Plan to Crack Down on Street Campers

6 hours ago

House Republicans Slam Trump’s ‘Worst Choice’ for VP Pick JD Vance

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend