Miss America Refutes D.A. Smear

A lot of media outlets are busy retracting harsh stories written yesterday criticizing Miss America Lauren Nelson for allegedly refusing to testify against Internet child sex predators she helped police to capture in a recent sting operation. I am happy to report that Capital Cloak was not among the media mob that attacked Miss America yesterday, having offered perhaps the only viewpoint that correctly identified Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota as having lashed out at Nelson because his ego was wounded by being left out of the sting operation. Now, official statements from the Miss America Organization and "America's Most Wanted" have vindicated my assertion that Spota was disingenuously condemning the operation and Nelson's motives for participation. From Fox News today:

"Miss America 2007 is dedicated to her personal platform and to the integrity of the events she participated in while working with 'America's Most Wanted' and the Suffolk County Police Department to capture online predators," the statement reads. "Lauren plans to — and has always planned to — fully cooperate with the Suffolk County Police Department and will continue to champion her cause."

"America's Most Wanted" also refuted the Newsday story.

"Despite the information to the contrary that appears in an article in Newsday, according to the Miss America Organization neither Lauren Nelson nor her representatives have told the Suffolk County District Attorney — or anyone else — that she would refuse to testify in any of the cases in which she participated," reads the statement on the television show's Web site. "We don't know why the D.A. would make the comments attributed to him without knowing all of the facts."

If you read yesterday's post on this topic, you know precisely why the D.A. acted as he did.