The Weinstein Effect: The floodgates have opened on former “Today” host Matt Lauer with The NY Times and Variety both publishing stories in which more women accuse him of atrocious sexual behavior.

Lauer put out a statement this morning that somewhat owned up to it saying, “There is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed.”

Variety describes Lauer giving a colleague a sex toy with a note about what he’d like to do with it. One woman said Lauer dropped his pants in his office and exposed himself. Another told the Times, “Mr. Lauer had summoned her to his office in 2001 and then had sex with her.”

Lauer’s abrupt demise came after a woman went to NBC management complaining about Lauer’s behavior toward her starting during the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The NY Post reports that the woman kept damning “sext” messages that provided undeniable proof.

A statement from the complainant’s lawyer said that during their meeting with NBC, “Over the course of several hours, my client detailed egregious acts of sexual harassment and misconduct by Mr. Lauer.”

Despite being the father figure of “Today,” and being paid $20 million a year, Lauer has had a reputation within the industry. Reporters were on the brink of breaking the story when he was fired.

Yashar Ali of HuffPost said women “were terrified of Matt. Matt Lauer put the fear of God into these women.”

“Lauer is among the worst I’ve heard about,” Ali added. “Not in terms of the kind of misconduct but the way in which he manipulated these women into silence. It’s evil, frightening stuff.”

As the sexual harassment bodies keep falling, America’s grandfather, Garrison Keillor, announced yesterday that he was fired by Minnesota Public Radio for what was described as inappropriate behavior.

Keillor, 75, told The Associated Press he was fired over “a story that I think is more interesting and more complicated than the version MPR heard.” He told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune he was fired because he “put my hand on a woman’s bare back.”

Keillor was the creator and host of the homespun radio show “A Prairie Home Companion” for 41 years.

He told the AP, “It’s some sort of poetic irony to be knocked off the air by a story, having told so many of them myself, but I’m 75 and don’t have any interest in arguing about this. And I cannot in conscience bring danger to a great organization I’ve worked hard for since 1969.”

The Trump Truth: President Donald Trump caused another PR mess for himself yesterday retweeting inflammatory anti-Muslim videos originally posted by the far-right British organization, Britain First.

The videos purport to show Muslims committing violent acts. Among their postings; “VIDEO: Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!” and “VIDEO: Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches.” A clip showing young men burning a public Christmas tree reveals no evidence that the perpetrators were Muslim.

Several of the videos are not what they are purported to be, but White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the truth doesn’t matter. She defended Trump saying, “Whether it’s a real video, the threat is real and that is what the president is talking about.”

While complaining about “Fake News,” Trump has increasingly demonstrated a distant relationship with truth. The NY Times reports that he’s now questioning whether the voice on the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape is his, despite previously admitting that it is.

He is also reported to have returned to questioning whether President Obama was born in the US, despite declaring that he was.

Maggie Haberman of the NY Times tweeted, “He is constantly selling a version of reality that he wants to will into existence.”

The Russia Thing: Several news outlets report that Trump son-in-law and aide Jared Kushner spent 90 minutes talking to the Special Counsel’s office in the Russia-influencing investigation.

The questions “focused on a meeting between Mr. Kushner, the Russian ambassador and Michael Flynn, who at the time was the president’s incoming national security adviser,” The NY Times reported according to sources.

Death Sentence: After a UN judge upheld his 20-year sentence, 72-year-old Croatian war criminal Slobodan Praljak shouted on court, “Praljak is not a criminal. I reject your verdict.” He then took out a small bottle and drank from it. He said, “I just drank poison.” He had, and he died a short time later.

Praljak was one of six former Bosnian leaders convicted in 2013 of pushing out and murdering Muslims to create a Bosnian Croat mini-state during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Grounded: In a computer foul-up, American Airlines told too many pilots they can have time off during the holidays. American is scrambling to fill the gaps. When they do, the seats will still be too small and too close together.

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