"That's How Real Journalism Works:" Leaked Emails Show How ProPublica Tried to Manufacture a Smear Against Pete Hegseth

ProPublica -- which my friend Kyle Sheidler noted was not a journalistic operation at all, but a well-funded anti-conservative private intelligence service -- claimed that it had merely followed up on a hot tip, then abandoned a story when that hot tip turned out to be false.

That "tip" was part of the left's Full Kavanaugh smear operation against Pete Hegseth. ProPublica had written a completely false story, based on a claim from a surely hard-left West Point administrator, that Hegseth had "never applied" to West Point, but somehow just got added to the school by some Cigarette-Smoking Man conspiracy or something.

When Hegseth pre-butted the story by posting his acceptance letter from West Point, the editor who was ready to publish this complete fabrication said it was all good because he didn't wind up publishing his defamatory lies.

"That's how real journalism works," the editor at ProPublica claimed.

Is this how journalism works?

Really?

Full story from Reese Reagan at the Daily Caller:

Justin Elliott, a reporter for ProPublica, reached out to Hegseth's lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, on Tuesday about the story. Elliot told Parlatore he had an "urgent request" for comment and gave him just one hour to respond, an email obtained by the Caller shows.

"I'm reaching out with an urgent request for comment for your client Pete Hegseth. We're moving quickly so please let me know if you or he would like to comment as soon as possible. Our deadline is in one hour," the email reads.

Elliott explains that a West Point spokesperson told ProPublica Hegseth never even applied to the school. He then asserts, seemingly based on West Point's statement at face value, that Hegseth was lying.

"Why did Mr. Hegseth say he got in to West Point when that is not true?" Elliott wrote. "How can Mr. Hegseth be Secretary of Defense given that he has made false statements about getting in to the military's most prestigious academy?" he continued. "Is there anything else we should know?"

Elliot's assertion that Hegseth lied appears to have been based on a single email and phone call with West Point spokespeople. Eisenger tweeted that one West Point spokesman told them over email that Hegseth hadn't even applied to the school, citing the Admissions Office. ProPublica then called West Point and a second spokesperson confirmed the falsehood, saying "Absolutely. 100%."

The Daily Caller reached out to ProPublica to ask them a series of questions, including whether or not they would require more evidence than just two statements to accuse a cabinet secretary nominee of lying, and if they did any additional work to verify the story before accusing Hegseth of lying.

The Caller reached out to ProPublica nearly 6 hours before publication.

"Reporters do their job by asking tough questions to people in power, which is exactly what happened here. Responsible news organizations only publish what they can verify, which is why we didn't publish a story once Mr. Hegseth provided documentation that corrected the statements from West Point," a ProPublica spokesperson told the Caller.

The Caller followed up to ask if ProPublica did any additional work to verify their story beyond taking two Army public information officers at face value. The spokesperson said the first statement "speaks for itself" and they have no further comment.

The Caller also reached out to Elliot directly, but the email bounced back stating he was "out of office."

A one-hour deadline for comment (in a nothing story that no one else will touch, so there's no time pressure on the "journalist") is not a real opportunity for comment. It's a lie. It's a fake request for comment so that you can say "Pete Hegseth did not respond to questions before the publication of this article."

Taylor Lorenz is fond of this "journalistic" technique, except she takes it one small step further and just lies about having ever requested comment. She just doesn't bother asking for comment but "reports," "the subject did not respond to a request for comment."

But even if you do technically ask for comment -- people need more than one hour just to get their lawyers on the phone, for crying out loud.

Greg Price @greg_price11

"One hour deadline" by the way means they had already written the story they were gonna publish. ProPublica should be lucky Pete had his acceptance letter otherwise they would've taken one the fattest L's in journalism history.

posted by Ace at 02:25 PM

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