[dustincoates]

It's the Martha Mitchell Effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Mitchell_effect

> Mitchell was the wife of John Mitchell, United States Attorney General in the Nixon administration. When she alleged that White House officials were engaged in illegal activities, her claims were attributed to mental illness. Ultimately, however, the facts of the Watergate scandal vindicated her and garnered her the label "The Cassandra of Watergate".