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NYT publisher: Trump crossed 'dangerous line' in accusing outlet of 'treason'
The Hill ^ | 06/19/19 | Marina Pitofsky

Posted on 06/19/2019 8:12:18 PM PDT by yesthatjallen

New York Times Publisher A.G. Sulzberger slammed President Trump for accusing his paper of committing "treason" in an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal late Wednesday.

Sulzberger wrote that Trump's attack crossed "a dangerous line" in his "campaign against a free and independent press."

"He’s gone from misrepresenting our business, to assaulting our integrity, to demonizing our journalists with a phrase that’s been used by generations of demagogues," Sulzberger wrote of Trump.

"Now the president has escalated his attacks even further, accusing the Times of a crime so grave it is punishable by death."

Sulzberger's remarks came after Trump accused the Times of committing a "virtual act of treason" last week after the newspaper reported about the U.S. increasing its cyberattacks on Russia's electric power grid. The Times, citing current and former government officials in its report, noted that the actions are a warning to Moscow on how the Trump administration is using new authorities to unleash cyber tools in an aggressive manner.

“Do you believe that the Failing New York Times just did a story stating that the United States is substantially increasing Cyber Attacks on Russia. This is a virtual act of Treason by a once great paper so desperate for a story, any story, even if bad for our Country,” Trump tweeted.

On Monday, he called for the newspaper to release its sources for the report, tweeting that it "must be held fully accountable."

The Times stood by its story following Trump's remarks, stating that "accusing the press of treason is dangerous."

And earlier on Wednesday, New York Times CEO Mark Thompson condemned Trump for his frequent attacks on the news media, calling them "hostile, stupid but also dangerous."

Sulzberger hit back against Trump's remarks in his op-ed, accusing the president of "rhetorical recklessness."

“There is no more serious charge a commander in chief can make against an independent news organization,” Sulzberger wrote. Which presents a troubling question: What would it look like for Mr. Trump to escalate his attacks on the press further? Having already reached for the most incendiary language available, what is left but putting his threats into action?”

Sulzberger said The New York Times contacted several Trump officials to confirm the administration had no national security concerns about the story.

Sulzberger also held Trump responsible for encouraging anti-press sentiment at home and abroad.

“I met with the president in the Oval Office earlier this year and told him directly that authoritarian leaders around the world, with growing impunity, are employing his words to undermine free expression. The president expressed concern and insisted he wanted to be viewed as a defender of the free press,” Sulzberger said.

“But in the same conversation, he took credit for the term 'fake news,' a phrase that has now been wielded by dozens of leaders across five continents to justify everything from the passage of anti-free-speech laws in Egypt to the takeover of independent news organizations in Hungary to a crackdown on investigations into genocide in Myanmar,” Sulzberger continued.

He added that “the Times has sought to serve America and its citizens by seeking the truth and helping people understand the world.”

“There is nothing we take more seriously than doing this work fairly and accurately, even when we are under attack. Mr. Trump’s campaign against journalists should concern every patriotic American. A free, fair and independent press is essential to our country’s strength and vitality and to every freedom that makes it great,” he wrote.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: fishwrap; liberalfascism; newyorktimes; nyt; treason; trump; trumpmedia
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On Monday, he called for the newspaper to release its sources for the report, tweeting that it "must be held fully accountable."

The NYT has made a business using anonymous sources and when called out they claim to be the victim and rally their co-conspirators to join their defense.

1 posted on 06/19/2019 8:12:18 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
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To: yesthatjallen

The “independence” of the NYT, not including the DNC and the Hillary! campaign.


2 posted on 06/19/2019 8:13:40 PM PDT by coloradan (The US has become a banana republic, except without the bananas - or the republic.)
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To: yesthatjallen

Accusing the press of treason is “dangerous,” but accusing the president of it isn’t.

Got it.


3 posted on 06/19/2019 8:15:45 PM PDT by IronJack
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To: yesthatjallen

Treason is treason. The First Amendment does not excuse it. In life, there are consequences.


4 posted on 06/19/2019 8:16:16 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
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To: yesthatjallen

Just STFU you treasonous bastards.


5 posted on 06/19/2019 8:16:16 PM PDT by Bullish (My tagline ran off with another man.)
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To: yesthatjallen

Here’s the legal definition of treason:

treason
n. the crime of betraying one’s country, defined in Article III, section 3 of the U.S. Constitution: “Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.” Treason requires overt acts and includes the giving of government security secrets to other countries, even if friendly, when the information could harm American security. Treason can include revealing to an antagonistic country secrets such as the design of a bomber being built by a private company for the Defense Department. Treason may include “espionage” (spying for a foreign power or doing damage to the operation of the government and its agencies, particularly those involved in security) but is separate and worse than “sedition,” which involves a conspiracy to upset the operation of the government.

So, did the NYT commit treason? Yes, obviously.


6 posted on 06/19/2019 8:17:13 PM PDT by be-baw
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To: yesthatjallen

Well, I guess Trump’s had it.


7 posted on 06/19/2019 8:19:02 PM PDT by moovova
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To: yesthatjallen

Stop committing treason and you will no longer be accessed of it...by people who actually want the truth and nothing but the truth. RATS like their lies and want to believe in those lies.


8 posted on 06/19/2019 8:19:47 PM PDT by Nateman (If the left is not screaming, you are doing it wrong.)
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To: yesthatjallen

Oh but you didn’t the past two years when you accused him of treason right Racist New York times?


9 posted on 06/19/2019 8:20:27 PM PDT by FLT-bird
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To: coloradan

Oh poo... it’s just politics of personal destruction on a quantum level... not treason you stupid deplorables.


10 posted on 06/19/2019 8:20:38 PM PDT by Texaspeptoman (Even cannibals... get fed up with people sometimes.)
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To: yesthatjallen
I've noticed when Trump mentions something, theres usually something behind it. He gets ridiculed, only to have the truth of the matter come out later.

"I was wiretapped". Ridiculed in most media, only to have come out he and others were indeed spied upon (or surveilled, if you prefer).

If he is saying the New York Times is guilty of treason, I would not be surprised if there was some sort of collusion along those lines.

11 posted on 06/19/2019 8:21:23 PM PDT by Tench_Coxe
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To: yesthatjallen

The NYT claim was reckless if false, and a betrayal of our nation’s defenders if true.


12 posted on 06/19/2019 8:21:48 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: Nateman

Accused


13 posted on 06/19/2019 8:22:07 PM PDT by Nateman (If the left is not screaming, you are doing it wrong.)
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To: yesthatjallen

Pot...kettle...black


14 posted on 06/19/2019 8:22:36 PM PDT by econjack
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To: yesthatjallen

Pooch should STFU or end on a tree.


15 posted on 06/19/2019 8:23:03 PM PDT by kiryandil (Never pick a fight with an angry beehive)
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To: IronJack

rope.

tree.

A.G.

Some assembly required.


16 posted on 06/19/2019 8:24:00 PM PDT by kiryandil (Never pick a fight with an angry beehive)
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To: yesthatjallen

The irony here is that Democrat-dominated media has been accusing Trump of treason for three years. That’s the whole basis of wanting to impeach him for supposedly colluding with Russia.


17 posted on 06/19/2019 8:26:09 PM PDT by tbw2
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To: yesthatjallen

Trump in his genius way rips the masks off of everyone.


18 posted on 06/19/2019 8:27:07 PM PDT by IncPen ("Inside of every progressive is a Totalitarian screaming to get out" ~ David Horowitz)
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To: yesthatjallen

If the treason fits.......


19 posted on 06/19/2019 8:27:32 PM PDT by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents_Know Islam, No Peace-No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: yesthatjallen

And what crimes, precisely, did the NYT accuse the president of performing that led to this accusation?


20 posted on 06/19/2019 8:29:50 PM PDT by Louis Foxwell (The denial of the authority of God is the central plank of the Progressive movement.)
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