When the establishment media points one way, it’s always worth checking in the opposite direction for the story being buried under cover of night. As President Donald Trump undergoes yet another gauntlet run of recrimination and blame over the DOJ’s request for records from New York Times reporter Ali Watkins, there are angles that are being carefully covered and deflected.
Ali Watkins
Watkins is not an intrepid, plucky young journo doing her beat on the Times news desk; she is a seasoned pro with a resume that includes both Buzzfeed and Politico. The request for 12 years of records by the Justice Department has nothing to do with her “getting the dirt” on Trump, as many in social media are suggesting. In fact, her involvement comes about through a very different case… and one which she has only herself to blame.
In an open statement to the Times, Watkins’ lawyer said:
“It’s always disconcerting when a journalist’s telephone records are obtained by the Justice Department — through a grand jury subpoena or other legal process… Whether it was really necessary here will depend on the nature of the investigation and the scope of any charges.”
The Real Story
James Wolfe
What is really happening is that Watkins is part of a much larger scandal involving former senior Senate Intelligence Committee aide James Wolfe. Even more troubling is the fact that Wolfe served as director of security for the Senate panel for almost 30 years; and it is to him that the accusation of leaking has turned.
Wolfe has been accused of lying to the FBI about communications with reporters through encrypted messages and of distributing non-public information about committee business. Serious charges indeed. It also transpires that Wolfe had a romantic three-year relationship with Ali Watkins, reporter for the New York Times.
Watkins claims that Wolfe did not act as a source of information during their relationship, in a story printed by the Times.
Smoke and Mirrors
Whether Watkins did receive information from Wolfe is almost irrelevant; the fact that the bigger story in the establishment media today is that a reporter is having her records requested, rather than a 30-year veteran of the Senate leaking like a battle-damaged submarine, should give some indication of what the real agenda is here.
This is about obfuscation, distraction, and ultimately, attack. The complicit members of the press do not care about government secrets or privacy. They care about their ideology, their self-styled moral superiority, and they will engage in any deceit they can to put the audience in their assigned lanes.
As the Mafioso Media try and pull the trigger on Trump, perhaps it’s time to start asking whose interests they really represent.
