As people dig around for incriminating evidence on Van Jones at 9/11 Truther sites and crazy conspiracy sites like the antisemitic, Holocaust-denying rense.com (which, by the way, is not a credible source of information about anything), here are a couple of tidbits that tend to back up Jones’ claim that he is not a Truther and signed that infamous document under false pretenses.

First, Ben Smith contacted two of the other “signatories” of that document, and learned that they had indeed been misled by the Truthers, and thought they were signing a legitimate document calling for further investigations.

Here’s the response from leftist Rabbi Michael Lerner:

I was asked to sign a letter which I was told had four demands:

As Americans of conscience, we ask for four things:

1. An immediate investigation by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
2. Immediate investigation in Congressional Hearings.
3. Media attention to scrutinize and investigate the evidence.
4. The formation of a truly independent citizens-based inquiry.

I did not authorize my name to be used for all the other stuff that I now see was included surrounding the letter, namely the sponsors of that 911truth.org, and would not have had I been aware that all that stuff was presented in ways that suggested that I agreed with it, and though I do recognize a few of the people I’d consider “nut cases” among the list of signatories, my guess is that most of those who signed were, like me, unaware of the context in which our names would appear.

And from far left “historian” Howard Zinn:

Zinn sent me a curt email in response to a question of whether he’d intended to suggest Bush’s complicity in the attacks: “I did not sign a statement suggesting that ‘Bush had prior knowledge.’ I signed a statement calling for an investigation.”

In other words, the Truthers lied about the real intent of their document in order to get people to sign it.

Imagine my surprise.

But that’s not all. The document currently posted at the Truther website was altered to remove a name: Rachel Ehrenfeld, author of “Funding Evil; How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It.” Checking the website of Ehrenfeld’s organization, the American Center for Democracy, we find the following statement (hat tip: Lee Coller):

PLEASE NOTE: Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld is not a signatory of the 911truth.org. She has asked several times to have her named removed from the list, but the organization failed to comply.

Again … Truthers lie.

Please note: if Van Jones is forced to step down over the issue, I’m not going to be unhappy. He’s clearly much farther to the left than a presidential aide should be.

But it’s a little pathetic that people would eagerly accept the word of Truthers and rense.com, without any other evidence.

UPDATE at 9/4/09 11:26:41 am:

If you want to get upset at Van Jones for something real, instead of allegations that come from conspiracy hate sites, here’s a good candidate; he supported the release of cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal.

Or you could read the LGF post from last July that exposes Van Jones’ weird pseudo-scientific beliefs: Obama’s Pseudo-Science Czar.

There are plenty of real, valid reasons to question the appointment of Van Jones, and there’s no need to go hunting around on zero-credibility hate sites to find them.

UPDATE at 9/4/09 12:18:08 pm:

There’s no need to lie about my position, Ace. I am not “supporting” or “defending” Van Jones, and I’ve made that extremely clear. I’m defending the apparently out-of-fashion concept that accusations like this should be based on credible sources, and not Truther sites and hate sites.