Democrats used the story to call for Justice Brett Kavanaugh's impeachment
The New York Times made a significant revision to a story published about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh over the weekend because the story withheld exculpatory information.
The supposed bombshell story reported new allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh. According to the story, Kavanaugh once pulled down his pants at a Yale party and "friends pushed his penis into the hand of a female student."
However, the story omitted a key fact relevant to the story's credibility: The alleged victim does not remember the incident.
"An earlier version of this article, which was adapted from a forthcoming book, did not include one element of the book's account regarding an assertion by a Yale classmate that friends of Brett Kavanaugh pushed his penis into the hand of a female student at a drunken dorm party," the Times said in a correction. "The book reports that the female student declined to be interviewed and friends say that she does not recall the incident. That information has been added to the article."
The correction was added only after The Federalist's Mollie Hemingway highlighted the glaring omission because she had obtained an advance copy of the book.
The Times later claimed the key detail was not included in the story because it was uncovered during the investigation for the book from which the story was adapted, despite the fact significantly altering the weight of the allegations.
"The new revelations contained in the piece were uncovered during the reporting process for the book, which is why this information did not appear in The Times before the excerpt," the Times said.
Unfortunately, the story still provided ammunition for Democrats to trigger another firestorm against Kavanaugh. Many Democratic presidential candidates claimed the story proved Kavanaugh lied to Congress during his Senate confirmation, therefore necessitating his impeachment.
Kavanaugh adamantly denies all allegations of misconduct.
Although Kavanaugh has not yet responded to this latest controversy, President Donald Trump said Sunday that Kavanaugh should begin suing for libel. The president reiterated that sentiment Monday morning.
However, the story omitted a key fact relevant to the story's credibility: The alleged victim does not remember the incident.
"An earlier version of this article, which was adapted from a forthcoming book, did not include one element of the book's account regarding an assertion by a Yale classmate that friends of Brett Kavanaugh pushed his penis into the hand of a female student at a drunken dorm party," the Times said in a correction. "The book reports that the female student declined to be interviewed and friends say that she does not recall the incident. That information has been added to the article."
The Times later claimed the key detail was not included in the story because it was uncovered during the investigation for the book from which the story was adapted, despite the fact significantly altering the weight of the allegations.
"The new revelations contained in the piece were uncovered during the reporting process for the book, which is why this information did not appear in The Times before the excerpt," the Times said.
Unfortunately, the story still provided ammunition for Democrats to trigger another firestorm against Kavanaugh. Many Democratic presidential candidates claimed the story proved Kavanaugh lied to Congress during his Senate confirmation, therefore necessitating his impeachment.
Although Kavanaugh has not yet responded to this latest controversy, President Donald Trump said Sunday that Kavanaugh should begin suing for libel. The president reiterated that sentiment Monday morning.
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