Questions linger after C-SPAN's Steve Scully claimed his Twitter account was hacked

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Debate commission co-chair: Steve Scully’s Twitter account was hacked

Frank Fahrenkopf, chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, addressed controversy over debate moderator Steve Scully sending out disparaging tweets on President Trump; Chris Wallace weighs in.

Mystery still surrounds the hacking claim made by C-SPAN host Steve Scully, who was set to moderate the now-canceled president debate, after C-SPAN, the debate commission, Twitter and the FBI all remain silent on details of the alleged hack.

Scully claimed last week that his Twitter account was hacked after he went viral because a tweet from his account indicated he had reached out to former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci for advice about President Trump.  

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Questions linger regarding the mysterious hacking claim made by C-SPAN host Steve Scully.

Scully, who was chosen by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) to moderate the now-canceled Trump-Joe Biden town hall event that was set for Thursday, claimed the would-be-unethical tweet was the result of his account being hacked. 

Scaramucci, who was once a supporter of Trump's but has since joined the #Resistance and has been outspoken in favor of Biden's candidacy, thought the tweet was legitimate and even responded publicly.  

"Ignore. He is having a hard enough time. Some more bad stuff about to go down,” Scaramucci responded.  

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While it appeared Scully thought he was sending a private message to Scaramucci, he insisted the tweet was the result of his account being hacked. The hacker allegation was widely mocked, and critics unearthed other instances in which Scully claimed his account was hacked.  

"'I can't wait to hack the Twitter account of the second debate moderator so I can send one tweet @Scaramucci to make it look like they're talking' said literally no hacker ever," The Daily Caller's Greg Price joked. 

Trump didn't buy the claim, either. 

Scully's credibility as an unbiased debate moderator was previously questioned after it became known that he once served as an intern for then-Sen. Biden and served as a staffer for the late Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy. During the 2016 campaign, Scully also shared a New York Times op-ed headlined, "No, Not Trump, Not Ever."  

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The controversial tweet didn’t help Scully’s case that he was a credible moderator, but the CPD has had his back throughout the ordeal.  

Frank Fahrenkopf, a co-chairman of the commission, first made the hacking claim on Fox News Radio's "The Brian Kilmeade Show" Friday morning. 

The CPD did not immediately respond on Monday when asked if they had gotten to the bottom of who hacked Scully.  

The Twitter account of NBC News correspondent and third presidential debate moderator Kristen Welker was oddly deactivated Friday amid the controversy surrounding Scully. She deactivated her own account and was not asked to by the debate commission to do so, according to an NBC source. 

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The bizarre series of events drove social media last week, and the debate commission even stated it had "reported the apparent hack to the FBI and Twitter" as part of its investigation. 

Last week C-SPAN said in a statement that Scully "did not originate the tweet" in question. 

C-SPAN declined to comment when asked a series of questions, including an update on the investigation and whether it would stand by Scully if it's determined he was not hacked.

The FBI did not immediately confirm if it was investigating the hacker claim.  

Twitter declined to comment Monday when asked if it determined whether Scully was hacked.  

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The debate was scrapped by the CPD after Trump wouldn’t agree to a virtual event, saving Scully from additional scrutiny in the process.  

The situation conjures up memories of the infamous hacking claim made by MSNBC host Joy Reid, who once claimed hackers planted homophobic rhetoric on her pre-fame blog. The FBI was allegedly summonsed in the case, too, but never confirmed that she was a victim of hackers.