Widower of Scarborough Aide Asks Twitter to Delete Trump Tweets

(Bloomberg) -- The widower of a woman who died in former Congressman Joe Scarborough's office has written to Twitter Inc. asking the company to remove President Donald Trump's tweets about the case, according to a letter obtained by the New York Times.

“My request is simple: Please delete these tweets,” Timothy J. Klausutis wrote in his letter to Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey. “I'm asking you to intervene in this instance because the President of the United States has taken something that does not belong to him -- the memory of my dead wife and perverted it for perceived political gain.”

The letter, dated May 21, was disclosed Tuesday in an opinion column in the Times by Kara Swisher entitled “Twitter Must Cleanse the Trump Stain.” It argues that Trump -- who renewed his tweets about the case later Tuesday -- is spreading a conspiracy theory that has been widely debunked and the company should remove the posts.

In a statement on Tuesday, Twitter failed to clarify whether they would remove the posts.

“We are deeply sorry about the pain these statements, and the attention they are drawing, are causing the family,” the statement said. “We've been working to expand existing product features and policies so we can more effectively address things like this going forward, and we hope to have those changes in place shortly.”

Trump's tweets involve the death 19 years ago of Lori Kaye Klausutis, 28, and unfounded allegations that she was murdered by Scarborough when he was a lawmaker representing Florida in Congress and she was on his staff. Klausutis was found to have had an undisclosed heart condition and she fell and hit her head on her desk at work, her widower said.

Scarborough is now co-host of MSNBC's “Morning Joe” program and a frequent Trump critic.

“When will they open a Cold Case on the Psycho Joe Scarborough matter in Florida,” Trump tweeted May 12. “Did he get away with murder? Some people think so. Why did he leave Congress so quietly and quickly? Isn't it obvious? What's happening now? A total nutjob!”

Trump again tweeted about the case Tuesday, as the widower's letter circulated, appearing to suggest it would be up to law enforcement to make any decision on reopening the case.

“The opening of a Cold Case against Psycho Joe Scarborough was not a Donald Trump original thought, this has been going on for years, long before I joined the chorus,” he said in one of a pair of tweets. “So many unanswered & obvious questions, but I won't bring them up now! Law enforcement eventually will?”

Trump has repeatedly tweeted about the conspiracy theory to his millions of followers and others, including his son Donald Trump Jr., have retweeted the postings to their followers.

“I am a research engineer and not a lawyer, but reviewed all of Twitter's rules and terms of service,” Timothy J. Klausutis wrote in the letter to Twitter. “The President's tweet that suggests that Lori was murdered without evidence (and contrary to the official autopsy) -- is a violation of Twitter's community rules and terms of service. An ordinary user like me would be banished from the platform for such a tweet but I am only asking that these tweets be removed.”

Twitter's Gadde Is Final Word on Blocking Tweets -- Even Trump's

Trump's more controversial tweets have been the subject of scrutiny over whether the posts violate Twitter's policies. In the past, Twitter has said that when Trump tweets insults at rivals and the media it is newsworthy. While the company has created warning labels for some of Trump's tweets that violate policies, they are left up because of a “legitimate public interest.”

Questions have been raised about whether Trump receives special treatment by Twitter and other social media companies and whether his posts are held to a different standard. Facebook Inc. and Twitter removed posts from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro regarding controversial treatments for coronavirus but they left posts about the same treatment when promoted by Trump.