Washington Examiner Issues Correction That Wholly Discredits Its Story Claiming NY Times ‘Fed Info’ to FBI
Less than 24 hours after publishing an incendiary story claiming The New York Times “fed information” to the FBI about President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the Washington Examiner issued a lengthy correction that wholly abandoned the article’s central premise. The correction went on to apologize for publishing a story that “did not adhere to the Washington Examiner‘s normal standards and procedures”.
CORRECTION: The Washington Examiner has updated this story to: remove the characterization that the New York Times reporter “fed information” to the FBI; clarify when the email was written and when and to whom it was forwarded; include a post-publication response from the New York Times; and reflect the fact that four days after the email was sent the New York Times published a report headlined, “Senate Committee to Question Jared Kushner Over Meetings With Russians.” We regret that this story did not adhere to the Washington Examiner’s normal standards and procedures.
Immediately after publication, the story was subjected to intense criticism by reporters inside and outside the Times for misinterpreting what is normal journalistic outreach to sources as a nefarious plot by the Times against the president’s family. One Times reporter simply called it “a crap story,” while another called out the author, saying its premie shows “you don’t know much about reporting.”
In which the @washexaminer obliges Judicial Watch with a farcical spin on the practice of running your reporting past sources to find out more information.
This is a crap story.https://t.co/J9mKl9odxX— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) June 21, 2019
If you think that presenting new reporting to the @FBI for comment or background context before publication constitutes “feeding information” to the @FBI to advance an investigation, you don’t know much about reporting. https://t.co/BUvUfmbB80
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) June 21, 2019
And while Times reporters were quick to applaud after the correction was posted above the original story, the misinformation damage was already done. This morning, Trump obliquely cited the Examiner story in another Twitter attack singling out the Times, implying the paper had broken the law when, in fact, it was just doing its job.
Just revealed that the Failing and Desperate New York Times was feeding false stories about me, & those associated with me, to the FBI. This shows the kind of unprecedented hatred I have been putting up with for years with this Crooked newspaper. Is what they have done legal?…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2019
Trump’s tweet was retweeted more than 20,000 times before the Examiner’s correction was posted. It remains to be seen if Trump will delete or correct his original tweet so that his followers know the truth.
[image via Don Emmert / AFP / Getty Images]
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