Trump’s appointee to an office at the Department of Energy was linked to some pretty nasty things on social media. You can read what he supposedly said, the smears against Obama’s mother and other overtly racist remarks (this is hard core birther stuff), at The Hill. I don’t think that even a Trump supporter, at least not in public, would defend such things. Bradford claims that the comments were not his, but that his Internet identity had been hacked.

The problem with the “hacked defense” is that it is an easy claim to make, but difficult to prove one way or another. Trump regularly lies, and Bradford’s claim could be a convenient lie as well. All he has to do is say it and Trump supporters will believe it. They will see Bradford as a victim. He could be a victim, but I doubt it.

So who is Bradford? He is a “Jewish-American lawyer and scholar of political science,” says the Wikipedia. That sounds pretty solid, but he also called for treason charges against some US legal academics. The Wikipedia goes on to detail how Bradford had lied about his military record.

Bradford apologized for some of his disparaging remarks about Barack Obama (which is an admission that he made them) but he has denied the more offensive comments about Obama posted on the Disqus site. (This writer also posts on Disqus.)

In any case, the charges are very serious, and I strongly urge the Senate not to confirm Bradford unless this issue is fully investigated and resolved in his favor.

UPDATE:

A Democratic senator requested documents from the FBI regarding the Bradford excuse. Bradford has resigned.