A right-wing poster who helped spread the debunked claim that Texas Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico was treated at a mental health clinic has backed out of an interview, saying his lawyer told him to avoid the press, according to HuffPost.
Journalist Jesse Singal said on X Tuesday that Rhein Amacher had been scheduled to speak with him but pulled out. Singal posted a message in which Amacher said his attorney had given him a “stand down order” against interviews and podcasts.
“I don’t want to potentially get myself entangled in any legal hot water at this point,” Amacher wrote, apologizing for leading Singal on.
Amacher and independent journalist Nick Sortor had claimed to have evidence that the Texas Democratic Senate nominee was discharged from the Lindner Center of Hope, a mental health facility near Cincinnati. Their theory rested largely on a phone call they said confirmed Talarico’s treatment there. The clinic and Talarico both denied it. Talarico, who had a case of the flu, is back on the campaign trail.
The report drew heavy criticism, including from fellow conservatives. Pundit Carmine Sabia apologized Tuesday for what he called a “false report,” saying he’d relied on available reporting and “got it wrong.” Neither Amacher nor Sortor has publicly acknowledged an error.
Recent polling has shown Talarico competitive with or slightly leading Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has had to deal with an endless parade of personal and professional scandal and was exposed this week for having partied in Dubai with two fugitives from federal law.