On the opening night of the Republican National Convention, one of the most notable events was unplanned. Donald Trump Jr. agreed to an interview with MSNBC from the convention floor, and in the course of the brief interlude, the network's approach was made crystal clear. Don Jr. was first asked about the divisiveness his father allegedly creates, a severely stunted approach following the assassination attempt. Then he was challenged about whether Donald Trump would recommit to separating immigrant children from their parents

Don Jr. brought up how this caging practice had begun during the Obama administration, rightfully mocking the correspondent and dismissing the network. This was the proper response based just on the questioning, but looking further into things we see how completely delusional all of this becomes.

The reporter confronting Don Jr. was MSNBC's immigration correspondent, Jacob Soboroff. This means for him to suggest that Barack Obama had not engaged in the activity, of which he was critical, was either journalistic incompetence or weak deception. Given that Soboroff announced, “I covered the family separation crisis closely,” and that he has written a book on the matter, I am leaning toward the latter. 

How any journalist, let alone one cloaking himself as an immigration expert, can deny the involvement of Obama in the caging of immigrants is borderline hilarious. “You know they didn’t do that, sir,” Soboroff claimed to Don Jr. 

Amazing. 

On Tuesday the intrepid correspondent next attempted to generate controversy when making an appearance on Rachel Maddow’s broadcast. Soboroff reported from the area where the South Carolina delegation was situated, noting the poor view of events from that vantage. Soboroff speculated the state was being “punished," possibly due to conflict with Nikki Haley.

This is sheer desperation, but it is also on brand for this reporting tandem. As we've recently learned, MSNBC is facing a defamation lawsuit stemming from reports made in part by Jacob Soboroff and featured on multiple shows. In a fashion similar to the massive defamation suit currently being faced at CNN, few in the press appear intent on focusing on these charges of journalistic impropriety.

The charges concern reports on several MSNBC broadcasts detailing a Georgia obstetrician who had been accused of performing serial sterilizations of female immigrants. Rooted in the testimony of a lone whistleblower, the reports – made by Soboroff with reporters Julia Ainsley and Danielle Silva – accused this doctor of working within a Georgia immigration facility and treating detainees and in the process performing unneeded hysterectomies. Dubbed “The Uterus Collector,” this doctor was alleged to have performed the procedures on numerous victims.

Court documents have revealed a process not unlike that of the CNN case, where many people inside the network, including the show hosts, expressed concerns over the validity of the reports. The whistleblower has since admitted she relied upon hearsay, and there may be no more than two confirmed procedures performed by the doctor, with those being done out of necessity.

The judge ruled that Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, and Chris Hayes made "verifiably false" statements about the doctor, who is suing NBC for $30 million. In her ruling last month, the judge, Lisa Godbey Wood of the Southern District of Georgia,  found that Maddow, Hayes, and Wallace made 39 "verifiably false" allegations about Mahendra Amin, a gynecologist who treated detainees at a Georgia Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. 

In one of the communications obtained in the discovery process, Soboroff stated he spoke with an immigration attorney who expressed concerns about the veracity of the whistleblower. At another point, Ainsley wrote to Soboroff about her surprise to learn the doctor had only performed two hysterectomies, over nearly two years. Despite all of these doubts, the network ran with a series of reports and interviews with the whistleblower on the shows of Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, and Nicolle Wallace.

These broadcasts inspired a Congressional investigation into the matter, a probe that turned up no evidence of the accused activity. “The Subcommittee did not substantiate the allegations of mass hysterectomies on ICDC detainees,” was the conclusion of the Senate report.

Displaying a rather cavalier approach to journalism, Jacob Soboroff appears to be perfectly suited for the slanted network that is MSNBC. His performance at the Republican Convention is hardly a surprise.