The left-wing nonprofit ProPublica is under new scrutiny after email exchanges related to a recent unpublished article about Defense Secretary candidate Pete Hegseth were made public Thursday.
The media firestorm began with Hegseth's comments earlier this week. Revealed in X ProPublica, which he called a “left-wing hack group,” planned to publish a “knowingly false report” in 1999 that he had not been accepted to West Point.
Attached to the post was a photo of Hegseth's acceptance letter signed by U.S. Army West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Daniel Christman.
ProPublica Editor Jesse Eisinger I replied to the posta West Point spokesperson explained that Hegseth told the outlet twice that he was not applying.
“We reached out,” Eisinger wrote.
“Hegseth Spox gave us an acceptance letter. We didn't publish the story. That's journalism.”
After intense criticism from conservatives online, some of whom questioned why ProPublica did not press West Point about the inaccurate information and publish an article on that aspect, Eisinger said He made the following post: long x thread Outlining the steps ProPublica took in investigating the article, it claims and touts how it is “committed to accuracy” and “intellectually honest,” and tells Hegseth that “all salient information in the article He claimed that he had given him a fair opportunity to answer the facts.
Questions about ProPublica's journalistic standards intensified in the immediate aftermath. Daily caller released An email from reporter Justin Elliott contacted Mr. Hegseth's attorney, who gave a one-hour response to Mr. Hegseth's claim that he had never been to West Point, saying, “That's not true. “Why did Mr. Hegseth say he went to West Point?”
“How can Mr. Hegseth become Secretary of Defense after lying about his admission to the military's most prestigious military academy?” Elliott asked.
The email sparked the anger of many people on social media, citing both the accusatory tone of the email and the small amount of room for a response to such a serious allegation. He took issue with suggesting the story was already done.
“ProPublica did not contact Pete Hegseth to find out the full story,” said Bonchy, the Red State writer. Posted in X.
“They contacted him and claimed he was a liar, while instead of presenting their side, they asked why he 'lied' and what else he 'lied about. “I asked for a response within an hour.''
“This is not 'journalism'. It's unethical garbage.”
“There was nothing in Jesse’s thread of 11 tweets that even suggested that ***this*** was how ProPublica actually approached this story. “He repeatedly claimed and implied that he was a liar,” said journalist Jerry Dunleavy. . Posted in X.
“ProPublica Editor-in-Chief asserted that he gave @PeteHegseth a fair opportunity to respond to the West Point article because he is ‘committed to accuracy,’” Trump 2024 Rapid Response Director Greg Price said. said. Posted in X.
“According to this rambling email obtained by @reaganreese, they squarely accused him of being a liar and gave him a one-hour deadline to respond.”
“Reporters do their job by asking tough questions of those in power, and that's exactly what happened here,” a ProPublica spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. Responsible news organizations only publish what they can verify, which is why we did not publish the story after Mr. Hegseth provided documentation correcting West Point's statement. ”
Fox News Digital asked West Point whether any disciplinary action was taken against the staff member who provided false information and why there were no procedures in place to prevent such mistakes.
West Point directed Fox News Digital to quote a previously released statement.
“Upon reviewing our records, it appears that Peter Hegseth was offered admission to West Point in 1999, but did not attend. Incorrect statement regarding Hegseth's admission to the U.S. Military Academy But December 10, 2024 Upon further review of the archived database, the employee discovered that this statement was false. Hegseth was admitted to West Point as a candidate for the Class of 2003. The Academy takes this situation seriously and apologizes for this administrative error.”
“It is outrageous that West Point officials would interfere so grossly in the political process and make false claims about a presidential candidate,” Republican Rep. Jim Banks wrote in a letter to West Point this week. Ta.
“Even in the unlikely scenario that OPA accidentally makes false claims more than once or twice, OPA did not fully verify the accuracy of their information before sharing it with reporters. What he did was an act of incompetence that cannot be tolerated.”
This week's ProPublica controversy comes as the nonprofit organization, which receives millions of dollars from liberal foundations, has come under heavy criticism for its reporting on conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Critics refer to these as “hits”.
“Journalistic investigations into the private dealings of public officials are essential to our democracy. But honest investigations hold everyone to the same standards, rather than singling out those who disagree with them. We apply,” Gretchen Reiter, Stand Together’s senior vice president of communications, told Fox News Digital last year regarding ProPublica’s reporting on Thomas.
ProPublica's reporting on Alito prompted the judge to write an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal in which Alito wrote: , Second, there was a requirement to list certain items as gifts on the 2008 financial disclosure report. Both claims are invalid. ”
propublica supported the report He said of Alito, but acknowledged there were “lessons for ProPublica from this experience.”
