You may be aware that Charles C. Johnson of GotNews.com had a role in several notorious (and false) stories published by Tucker Carlson’s Daily Caller. Yes, this includes the infamous debunked article—to which Johnson “contributed reporting”—about New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez supposedly soliciting prostitutes in the Dominican Republic.

But today the conservative news site is trying to distance itself from its most famous former contributor. Why? Because the Washington Post decided to highlight Johnson’s tenure at the online rag.

Caller Columnist Matt K. Lewis begins by castigating the Post for documenting Johnson’s depravity:

If you want more bloggers threatening to expose the identities of an alleged rape victims, then you can thank the Washington Post for helping expedite that. Today’s profile of Charles Johnson is enough to fuel Johnson’s narcissism for years to come—and to embolden the delusional dreams of dozens more aspiring conservative Hunter S. Thompsons.

Later on, Lewis emphasizes that Johnson merely served as a freelance reporter, not a full-time Daily Caller employee:

In the future, I would ask the Post, and others, to be a bit more specific when it comes to associating Charles Johnson with this outlet. He has written some freelance articles for the Daily Caller—just as he has written for many other outlets over the years. Having actually worked here for nearly four years—I’m sitting in my DC office right now—I think I might have met Johnson maybe twice.

Why does it matter if Lewis has personally met Chuck Johnson only a few times? It doesn’t. At the same time, Lewis downplays the scope of Johnson’s work. He didn’t write “some” articles—he wrote over 100 stories for Lewis’ employer.

The Daily Caller gave Johnson one of the largest platforms in conservative media, in part because Johnson wouldn’t hesitate to publish absolutely anything. The same pattern holds today. So it’s long past due for the website to acknowledge, and understand, its role in creating Charles C. Johnson. The world will be a slightly better place.