Terri Schiavo case

===Schiavo memo===
During the Terri Schiavo case in March 2005, a [[talking point]]s memo on the controversy was written by [[Brian Darling]], the legal counsel to [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] Senator [[Mel Martínez]] of [[Florida]].<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite web|date=April 6, 2005|title=Senator's office produced Schiavo memo|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7412110|publisher=Associated Press|via=NBC News}}</ref> The memo suggested the Schiavo case offered "a great political issue" that would appeal to the party's [[Base (politics)|base]] (core supporters) and could be used against Senator [[Bill Nelson]], a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] from [[Florida]] who was [[2006 United States Senate election in Florida|up for reelection in 2006]], because he had refused to co-sponsor the bill which came to be known as the [[Palm Sunday Compromise]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=April 4, 2005|title=The Seattle Times: Nation & World: GOP memo says issue offers political rewards<!-- Bot generated title -->|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002213728_memo20.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127110336/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002213728_memo20.html|archive-date=January 27, 2007|newspaper=The Washington Post|via=The Seattle Times}}</ref>

Martínez stated that he had not read the memo before he inadvertently passed it to [[Iowa]] Senator [[Tom Harkin]], a Democratic supporter of the Palm Sunday Compromise legislation which gave [[United States federal courts|federal courts]] [[jurisdiction]] to review the Terri Schiavo case.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

After the existence of the memo was reported by [[ABC News]] and ''[[The Washington Post]]'', Senate Majority Leader [[Bill Frist]] denounced the memo and asserted that the Republican Party's interest in the case was solely based on moral grounds. Darling remained silent about his authorship of the memo as commentators from the conservative magazine ''[[Weekly Standard]]'' and other publications questioned its authenticity.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Barnes|first=Fred|date=April 4, 2005|title=The ABCs of Media Bias|url=https://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/406istku.asp|magazine=[[The Weekly Standard]]|volume=10|issue=27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051219144050/https://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/406istku.asp|archive-date=December 19, 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Hinderaker|first=John|date=March 27, 2005|title=Fake but Accurate Again?<!-- Bot generated title -->|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/416virea.asp|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401164354/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/416virea.asp|archive-date=April 1, 2012|website=The Weekly Standard}}</ref> The source of the memo had not been disclosed by either ABC News or ''The Washington Post''. ''The Washington Post'' says that it neither implied that the memo originated from a Republican source nor that it was circulated by Republicans, though it did in fact make these assertions when it published the story by reporters Mike Allen and Manuel Roig-Franzia on its wire service on March 19, 2005. The authorship claim was removed before publication of the print version on March 20, 2005.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kurtz|first=Howard|date=March 30, 2005|title=Doubts Raised On Schiavo Memo|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11250-2005Mar29.html|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Kurtz|first=Howard|date=April 4, 2005|title=Leaving the Anchor Desk, Its Greatest Generation|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24015-2005Apr3.html|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> On April 6, 2005, Darling admitted to writing the memo, and resigned his position as legal counsel to Senator Martínez.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Allen|first=Mike|date=April 7, 2005|title=Counsel to GOP Senator Wrote Memo On Schiavo|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32554-2005Apr6.html|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>