A former employee of Laura Ingraham who made headlines for impersonating a congressman has entered treatment for a pathological lying problem — and he says Ingraham's to blame.
Nelson Lewis, who Page Six has dubbed "Washington's 'Talented Mr. Ripley,'" is a former producer for "The Laura Ingraham Show" who was arrested recently for impersonating Georgia Republican Jack Kingston. Page Six reported that Lewis also claimed to be related to former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis and then posed as the banker, emailing the gossip column from "a fake e-mail account in [Ken Lewis'] name" verifying their family connection and praising Lewis as "talented" and "misunderstood."
Now the 28-year-old Washingtonian is admitting that he faked those e-mails from Lewis, and tells Page Six he is seeking treatment for his lying problem, blaming Ingraham:
He said he's in the Menninger Clinic in Texas receiving treatment for chronic lying....He said, "I thought the real Ken Lewis wouldn't complain. I just wanted something positive out there. I have a problem and am getting treatment."
He then went on to blame talk show host Laura Ingraham, for whom he worked until last April. He said, "She emasculated me."
A rep for Ingraham mocked Lewis, laughing off his claims in a statement to Page Six:
"We understood that His Excellency had left his three-month stint with the show because he had been offered the CEO position of Facebook, or was it the editorship of The Economist? We are relieved, however, that he is excelling in his new position as the Minister Plenipotentiary of Fictionalized Endeavors."
Lewis, who joined Ingraham's radio show as a senior producer in February, previously worked at Fox News, where he was a booker and had also appeared as a panelist on Greta Van Susteren's web show. A rep for Ingraham told Fishbowl DC last month that Lewis "worked as a producer for the show for approximately 15 weeks before being terminated."