So what is it called when someone spouts accusatory comments toward another by making unverifiable statements so as to denigrate the other person in the eyes of everyone watching, when such comments are patently false?
Innuendo?
Got it! Thanks! Brain fart tonight.
But innuendo is not a logical fallacy, and innuendo can suggest things that are actually true. The distinguishing feature of innuendo is that is a veiled suggestion or insinuation of something negative.
Making a false accusation is not a logical fallacy, it’s simply a lie. It is a rhetorical device though I don’t know if there is a formal name for it. It might possibly be tapinosis.
Other than the false statements being unverfiable, it sounds like slander.
Just false ad-hominem attacks. The sad thing is they work.
Definitely ad hominem, sometimes with a taste of argumentum ad baculum (if threats are involved). Sometimes this is a lead-in to the argumentum ad populum…“all these people think you’re dishonest, so you must be!”
The ad hominem fallacy is an attack on a person to discredit an argument he’s making. If he’s making no argument - if the attack is intended only to damage his reputation - then it’s something else.
Attempt at the creation of a horn or halo for horn and halo effect?