Megyn Kelly's War of Words With Bill O'Reilly

“I spent this weekend on the phone nonstop, talking to many women at Fox News and otherwise, who are deeply disturbed over the latest New York Times report,” Kelly said on Monday at the outset of her show, “Megyn Kelly Today.” Calling the settlement figure “jaw-dropping,” she asked rhetorically, “What awfulness went on?” Then Kelly went directly after O’Reilly personally.

After telling her audience that Fox News was not a hospitable place for sexual harassment victims who wanted to report what they claimed happened to them, Kelly charged that, “O'Reilly's suggestion that no one complained about his behavior is false. I know because I complained.” However, based on her own account of her complaint, it did not deal with any allegations that Bill O’Reilly had sexually harassed her. She was upset that O’Reilly had defended Fox News during an interview on “CBS This Morning,” when he expressed displeasure with Fox News employees who had made their employer look bad.

Kelly seems to be protesting too much. In rebutting her latest charge against him, O’Reilly disclosed the contents of two very complimentary letters that Kelly had sent to O’Reilly while they were both working at Fox News.

The first undated letter reads as follows:

Dear Bill:

What a class act you are, coming to my baby shower. I was truly touched - I know how busy you are, especially that time of day. It meant a lot to me + Doug. And thank you for the darling bodysuits + snuggly – it’s hard to believe will soon have a little human being in our lives tiny enough to fit in the,

You’ve become a dear friend (no matter what you say) + I am grateful to have you in my life.

-Megyn & Doug

The second letter, also undated, reads as follows:

Bill –

Thanks for the plug on Doug’s book. I realize you didn’t have to do that, especially after mentioning it already.

I appreciate how supportive you have been of me over the years here @ FNC.

You are a true friend + mentor.

XOXO

Megyn

Why didn’t Megyn Kelly disclose the fact that she had expressed appreciation on more than one occasion in letters to O’Reilly for his help and friendship? Why is she piling on now if not to boost her sagging ratings?

There is also a problem with the New York Times story on the settlement of Lis Wiehl’s complaint that spurred the latest back-and-forth between Kelly and O’Reilly. Wiehl, a Harvard Law School graduate, rescinded her allegations as part of the settlement. She declared in her signed affidavit that she had “no claims against Bill O’Reilly.” It is one thing to say that she has decided to withdraw her complaint and that she acknowledges O’Reilly’s denial of her original allegations. It is quite another to take a huge settlement in return for actually denying her own allegations in her original draft complaint!

I don’t know whether the accusations against Bill O’Reilly are true or not. But neither do the New York Times or Megyn Kelly. Yet they appear willing to try him in the court of public opinion without presenting all of the relevant facts, including, in the Times’ case, the full text of Wiehl’s settlement affidavit and, in Kelly’s case, her own admission of how “supportive” O’Reilly was to her “over the years here @ FNC.” Kelly’s apparent willingness to exploit allegations against a former colleague she appeared to have used to advance her career while at Fox News in order to now boost her sagging ratings on a rival network does not represent her finest hour as a journalist.

Joseph A. Klein is a featured author for FrontPage Magazine and the United Nations correspondent for Canada Free Press. He has also authored the books "Global Deception: The UN’s Stealth Assault on America’s Freedom" and "Lethal Engagement: Barack Hussein Obama, the United Nations & Radical Islam." Klein, a Harvard Law school alumnus and practicing attorney, has been a guest on many radio shows as a commentator and has appeared on several TV shows including "Fox & Friends." For more of this reports — Click Here Now.