About the Claudine Gay affair, the AP writes the following:
The plagiarism allegations came not from her academic peers but her political foes, led by conservatives who sought to oust Gay and put her career under intense scrutiny in hopes of finding a fatal flaw.
I must say that I am extremely excited about this standard — especially as we enter an election year. Under these rules, no opposition research that hurts any candidate that I like ought ever to be considered as legitimate. Never mind if it’s demonstrably true. If its investigation was “led by” one’s political opponents or designed to engender “intense scrutiny” or aimed at “finding a fatal flaw,” it’s out. We should probably apply this rule ex post facto, too, so that any scandal that was uncovered or publicized by anyone other than the “peers” of the target is ruled off-limits. Come back, Richard Nixon, all is forgiven!