GOP Senate Candidate Goes to War With The Press Over Questions About His War Injuries

Rachel Leathe/Bozeman Daily Chronicle via AP, File

Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Montana, Tim Sheehy, threatened to sue a Washington Post journalist this week after he reached out regarding the former Navy SEAL’s health, following Sheehy admitting he lied about a gunshot wound.

Last week, the Post’s Liz Goodwin was the first to report that Sheehy had received a citation for discharging a weapon in a national park after he told a park ranger that he had shot himself in the arm.

“Asked this week about the citation, which has not been previously reported, Sheehy told The Washington Post that the statement he gave the ranger was a lie. He said he made up the story about the gun going off to protect himself and his former platoonmates from facing a potential military investigation into an old bullet wound that he said he got in Afghanistan in 2012,” Goodwin reported.

“I guess the only thing I’m guilty of is admitting to doing something I never did. It was a small price to pay to make sure that a whole team of really great Americans didn’t get dragged through the mud over this,” Sheehy told Goodwin of the $525 fine he paid for discharging his weapon in a national park.

Naturally, the story raised eyebrows across the national media as Sheehy is now the leading candidate to take on Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) in the general election, a race that could very well determine the majority in the U.S. Senate.

The Post’s Isaac Stanley-Becker reached out to Sheehy’s campaign a few days after Goodwin’s story ran and asked some follow-up questions, including for a copy of “the full citation for the Purple Heart” that Sheehy received.

Sheehy shared part of Stanley-Becker’s email on X (formerly Twitter) and fumed at the Post for continuing to report on the topic, “The smear artists @washingtonpost are writing yet another hit piece attacking me for serving my country—even asking questions about my medical history and demanding my personal records. I’m done playing the liberal media’s game—here’s how DC ‘reporters’ treat veterans.”

“And get this—after sending my campaign a 1000+ word email trying to discredit every aspect of my service, then they only give you 24 hours to respond. It’s a joke. Everyone knows they would NEVER question a decorated combat veteran if they were a Democrat,” Sheehy added in a follow up tweet, before threatening to sue Stanley-Becker:

I was PROUD to serve with so many brave men and women who put their lives on the line for our country. @jontester and Chuck Schumer should immediately denounce these disgusting attacks & @isaacstanbecker should look forward to getting to know my lawyers.

The press is even raising questions about my Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor. I was there when we were under fire from the enemy, and I led the rescue operations in total disregard for my own safety because it was the right thing to do. I was there for the IED blast. Now the @washingtonpost is trying to twist it into “stolen valor!?”

The saga took an additional turn on Wednesday when the hard right website the Daily Caller accused another Post journalist of harassing the wife of a veteran who served with Sheehy.

“EXCLUSIVE: WaPo Harasses Veteran’s Wife After He Refused To Engage On Alleged Hit Piece Against Tim Sheehy,” blared the Daily Caller headline on an article by Henry Rodgers that lit into the Post’s Beth Reinhard for leaving what can only be described as a very polite voicemail.

“Hi, this is Beth Reinhard, I’m a reporter with the The Washington Post. I’m so sorry to bother you. I guess I’m trying to reach probably your spouse [redacted] and I wasn’t sure if I had the right number and I guess I don’t but if you could pass this message to him I would be super grateful,” read a transcript of Reinhard’s message.

“I’m working on a story about, profile, of Tim Sheehy, who knew your husband at the Naval Academy, and we just wanted to know, hoping to talk to him about his experience. Any recollections of his time with him would be just great to help fill out what we know about his background. This is my phone at the office it’s [redacted] and again my name is Beth Reinhard at The Washington Post, working on a story about Tim Sheehy,” she added.

Rodgers reached out to Republican Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) about the Post’s “harassment” and Cotton dutifully provided a bombastic statement, saying, “The Washington Post is no longer a media outlet — it’s now the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party. These ‘journalists’ are smearing Tim Sheehy because they know he’ll fight for Montana values and against Biden’s policies.”

The Daily Caller came under attack for its characterization of Reinhard’s voicemail. Aaron Blake, a Post political reporter, noted of the whole episode, “Sheehy, at the very least, has admitted that he covered up an incident from his military superiors and lied to a federal officer. This is called reporting. He’s a candidate. That an outlet treats this routine reporting as harassment says a lot more about that outlet than anyone else.”