I call complete and total BS on that, too.
If it happened, they did it themselves.
This is both an example of how liberals lie and how the media lies by omission to support the narrative.
1. These things probably were a complete fabrication.
2. You are right that if they are true they are most likely self inflicted.
3. I think it would be a logical step for a curious reporter (even a liberal one) to want to get the names of those "friends" and interview them to really exploit or honestly disprove the story.