Josh Owens, a former staff member at Alex Jones’s far-right conspiracy site Infowars, admits in the New York Times to making up stories for the site about the threat of Shariah law within the United States.
Writes Owens: “The information did not meet our expectations, so we made it up, preying on the vulnerable and feeding the prejudices and fears of Jones’s audience. We ignored certain facts, fabricated others and took situations out of context to fit our narrative.”
“A former Playboy model who has said she had an affair with Donald Trump before he was president sued Fox News on Thursday, saying that the host Tucker Carlson had intentionally defamed her on his television show,” the New York Times reports.
“The model, Karen McDougal, said Mr. Carlson had falsely accused her of extortion last year when he said that she ‘approached Donald Trump and threatened to ruin his career and humiliate his family if he doesn’t give them money.'”
Fox News emails a statement: “Fox News will vigorously defend Tucker Carlson against these meritless claims.”
Washingtonian: “It’s a Hardy Boys mystery for the MAGA age: A thief seems to be operating in one of the most secure buildings in the world—the White House.”
“A rash of personal items have disappeared from designated press areas, where some reporters maintain desks, and the incidents are being treated as suspected thefts, according to senior members of the White House press corps.”
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) sued CNN for defamation, accusing the cable network of publishing a “demonstrably false hit piece” about him amid his high-profile opposition to the Trump impeachment inquiry, Fox News reports.
Los Angeles Times: “More than 70 million viewers watched some portion of the House Intelligence Committee’s impeachment inquiry into President Trump, according to Nielsen data.”
“Viewing of live gavel-to-gavel coverage that aired on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and the three major broadcast networks peaked on its opening day, Nov. 13, when it reached an average of 13.1 million viewers. By the fifth session on Nov. 21, the audience leveled off to 11.3 million, comparable to what a top-rated non-sports entertainment program draws in prime time. Fox News was the most-watched network each day.”
“David Pecker, the head of the company that publishes the National Enquirer, has spoken with prosecutors with the New York district attorney’s office as part of its investigation into the Trump Organization’s handling of hush money payments to women who alleged affairs with President Trump,” CNN reports.
“The America Media Inc. chairman’s late October meeting with prosecutors from the major economic crimes bureau could provide key details on discussions that took place involving Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who allegedly had an affair with Trump, and agreements that were made with former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.”
Daily Beast: “Publicly, Trump hasn’t said a peep about the highly popular news aggregator run by right-wing media impresario Matt Drudge. But privately, he has simmered over the critical coverage that the site has run and linked to, with regards to the impeachment proceedings.”
“In recent weeks, Trump has even asked Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and a top White House official—who has had a friendly relationship with the site’s creator—to ‘look into it’ and reach out to Drudge.”
“CNN’s Jake Tapper thinks fact-checking Donald Trump is no longer enough — and he’s created an hourlong special exploring the effects on foreign policy, business and the national culture of the president’s compulsive lying,” Politico reports.
“While news organizations including The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have openly weighed when and whether to call Trump’s misstatements ‘lies’ — a term that implies malice and forethought — Tapper thinks the media is well past the point of giving Trump the benefit of the doubt. His special, therefore, represents a new benchmark in the mainstream media’s adjustment to Trump’s norm-shattering presidency.”
As the last publicly scheduled impeachment hearings begin, here are how the nation’s major newspapers covered yesterday’s hearings on their front pages:
New York Times: “We Followed the President’s Orders”
Washington Post: “Diplomat Acknowledges Quid Pro Quo”
Wall Street Journal: “Envoy Says Trump Directed Effort”
USA Today: “Everyone Was In the Loop”
For those wondering how Fox News covered the hearings, the front page of their website is all about Democratic debate last night. But if you scroll down the page, there’s a small headline: “Media Buzz: Sondlan declares quid pro quo, pundits call testimony damaging to Trump”
President Trump slammed Fox News over its coverage of the House impeachment probe, taking issue with the network’s decision to interview Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA).
Said Trump: “Fox should stay with the people that got them there, not losers!”
“Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman is hitting back at the smear campaign against him,” the New York Times reports.
“A lawyer for Colonel Vindman, the National Security Council’s Ukraine expert, sent a warning letter to Fox News on Wednesday seeking a retraction or correction of an October segment hosted by one of the network’s biggest personalities, Laura Ingraham, which baselessly suggested that the colonel, a decorated Iraq war veteran, might be guilty of espionage.”
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) asked a group of reporters: “Let me go off the record for just a second.”
He apparently did not realize he was being broadcast live on C-SPAN.
In an interview on MSNBC, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) “appeared to… well, rip an absolutely enormous fart,” BuzzFeed News reports.
Said Swalwell: “It was not me!!!!! Ha… It’s funny though.”
“Whenever President Trump turns on Fox News, he’ll usually see a stream of positive coverage,” CNN reports.
“In the United Kingdom, there’s no television equivalent because of rules requiring impartiality and accuracy from broadcasters, particularly during election campaigns. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson does have a cheerleader in print and online — The Daily Telegraph newspaper.”
Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times, accused President Trump in an interview with The Guardian of putting his reporters’ lives at risk by subjecting them to personal abuse and describing them as “enemies of the people.”
Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace repeatedly confronted House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) on Sunday over the top Republican’s characterization of last week’s impeachment testimony, accusing the congressman of “very badly” misrepresenting the witnesses’ positions, the Daily Beast reports.
Denver radio host Craig Silverman says his conservative station fired him in the middle of his show because he played a clip that was critical of President Trump, the Denver Post reports.
Silverman later tweeted: “I cannot and will not toe strict Trump party line. I call things as I see them. I see corruption and blatant dishonesty by President and his cronies.”
“Angered by the testimony of ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) upbraided a reporter for The Hill and ripped the outlet’s publication of columns by John Solomon, the conservative journalist whose work is at the center of what Yovanovitch described as a ‘smear campaign’ against her,” Politico reports.
Said Spier: “I just find it reprehensible that any newspaper would just be willing to put that kind of crap out that is not — has no veracity whatsoever, and not check to see if it had any veracity.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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