Chumming

Metaphorically spreading the remains of a dead fish in political waters to catch a live shark. Typically a last ditch political strategy- assassinate character by publicly broadcasting salacious, unverified and unproveable accusations - typically based on events 20+ years old - to see if it will generate newer copy cat accusations. Hopefully, from younger, hotter accusers.

Senator Maxipad is chumming the waters to see if she can kill Judge McWhiteywhite’s Supreme Court nomination.