The Times was an early arrival to the story, publishing every breathless claim made against the nominee as though they were gospel, with very little context and virtually no balance. Reading the Times’ stories gave one the impression that a) its editors and reporters had already declared Kavanaugh guilty; and b) there wasn’t even a hint of suggestion that the accusations from the two women were ‘timed’ to wreck the judge’s confirmation, given that it was a certainty after days of Democrat-generated chaos at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearings.
Now, it seems, the paper has been caught burying key details and facts regarding Kavanaugh, again with an eye toward helping like-minded Democrats tank his reputation and his nomination.
As The Daily Wire notes, the Times on Monday published a story alleging that Kavanaugh made reference in one of his high school yearbooks that turned out to be “hurtful” to a girl who was the subject of an inside joke between the judge and some of his high school football teammates.
"Among the reminiscences about sports and booze is a mysterious entry: 'Renate Alumnus,'" the Times reported, adding that it was a "mysterious" reference to a girl, Renate Schroeder – now Renate Schroeder Dolphin, whom some of the players once spoke about disrespectfully.
Kavanaugh and four other Georgetown Prep School classmates explained that “Renate Alumni” was a term they used innocently in reference to having gone on a date with her at some point.
Stop the presses. Yuuuuge scandal. (Related: White House SLAMS new Kavanaugh sex abuse allegations; pushes back with DETAILED rebuttal.)
Or not. As The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway noted in a column following the report, the ‘paper of record’ “hid multiple problems with its claims, including that it was sourced to a rabidly anti-Trump politician in Maryland and his associate.”
She wrote:
The original article published online on Monday night was quickly scrubbed of a reference to a “Mr. Madaleno.” The Times uses full names on first references to sources and titles on second references, though it was the first time his name was mentioned in the article. The claim of sexual braggadocio is sourced earlier in the article to one named and one anonymous individual who claims to fear retribution. NewsDiffs, a site that tracks changes to articles at the New York Times, caught the rapid deletion of his name. Reporters Kate Kelly and David Enrich did not explain why it was removed.
Turns out that Madaleno is Richard S. Madaleno Jr., a Georgetown Prep classmate for sure, but also a state senator who just lost a bid for the Democratic nomination for governor. You may recall that he recently generated headlines for a campaign ad featuring him kissing his male spouse as a dig at POTUS Donald Trump. The 30-second ad showed him telling viewers that he wants to “deliver progressive results and stand up to Donald Trump” before ticking off things he’s done “that already infuriate” Trump. For the record, POTUS has never openly disparaged LGTBQ persons; his decision to disqualify transgenders for the U.S. military was a readiness and training decision, not because he hates them.
Meanwhile, a second source for the Times piece was Georgetown Prep classmate William Fishburne, who was a campaign advocate for Madaleno. And Sean Hagen, also mentioned in the Times article as condemning what was printed in the yearbook, was also editor of the yearbook – something the paper did not include in its report.
What’s more, he’s a Facebook friend of Madaleno’s and some of his “likes” include Anti-Trump Army and Bernie Sanders, Hemingway reported.
Finally, the Times allowed anonymous sources to make the claims that form the basis for the story but would not publish anonymous sources refuting those claims and defending Kavanaugh and his classmates.
So yes, once again, Times editors and reports prove they are incapable of honest, fair, accurate reporting.
Read more about the fake news from the NYT at NYTwatch.com.
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