‘Parroting Disinformation’: NY Times Chastises Tom Cotton For Citing ‘Reports’ of Journalists ‘Embedded’ With Hamas
The New York Times hit back at Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) for relying on unfounded “reports” to accuse journalists of being embedded with Hamas.
The Times’ response, posted to social media, was in response to a letter Cotton sent to The Times, Attorney General Merrick Garland, CNN, the Associated Press, and Thomson Reuters.
Cotton wrote, “All the news organizations reportedly had employees embedded with Hamas during the terrorist group’s deadly October 7 attack on Israel.”
The Times called out Cotton for “parroting disinformation” with “no evidence” for the claims.
Deputy General Counsel for the Times, David McCraw wrote to Cotton:
As I am sure you agree, the spread of disinformation and incendiary rhetoric threatens the health of our democracy. Sadly, your letter to The New York Times of November 9 exacerbates those very problems.
You say in your letter that you are relying on “reports” that New York Times employees were involved with the deadly Hamas attack of October 7. In fact, you are merely parroting disinformation harvested from the Internet based on a website that has conceded it had no evidence for its claims. No employee of The Times was embedded with Hamas, or had advance knowledge of the attack, or played any role in the savage massacre of that day. Falsehoods circulated on the Internet are many things, but they are most certainly not “reports.” They also should not be abused by a U.S. Senator to falsely accuse fellow Americans of crimes. To make it plain for you: the only connection The New York Times has to Hamas is that we report on the organizalon learlessiv and al lines al great risk, Ounging essential information to the public about the terrorist attacks in Israel and the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Cotton posted his letter to news outlets on his senate web page in the form of a press release. In the letter, he instructed the organizations to provide answers to questions like, “How many employees of your organization were embedded with Hamas or otherwise present in Gaza and accompanied Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attack?”
Cotton also threatened news executives with criminal prosecution.
“If your employees, as part of their work, participated in terrorist activities or if your organization or employees provided material support (including any funding) to Hamas, the leadership of your organization may also face criminal penalties under federal law,” Cotton wrote.
