Please don't interpret this as a personal attack nor am I going to characterize you as a troll. The crux of the problem is "left-leaning sites and blogs". The very nature of liberalism is built upon a foundation of lies and smears. Since you're looking for the truth, you've come to the right place since the high standards of Free Republic are such that factual information is the underlying basis of this site.
In short, if the source is from the left, the veracity of any information is, at best, highly doubtful.
I really thought I would get the truth here and a few sites to counter this rumor. Instead, I get attacked, laughed at and called a troll.