John CoatesJun 9, 2023
As more details come out, note how Trump tried to PR-minimize the event: none of yesterday's reporting in the NYT or elsewhere that I saw used the phrase "Espionage Act." None pulled back to the prior reporting of a tape in which Trump bragged of having military plans. Shame on the NYT and other mainstream papers for their willingness to parrot the PR messaging of someone with a proven penchant for lying.
Show threadJohn Coates

Notice, too, this spin, still in the main coverage in the NYT:

"The indictment...is the first time a former president has faced federal charges. It puts the nation in an extraordinary position..."

The focus should not be on what the DOJ has done, but on what Trump has done.

It should read:

"The alleged crimes would represent the first time that a President has committed felonies in handling of sensitive military documents, and puts the nation in an extraordinary position..."

Jun 9, 2023 at 10:56amWeb
Show threadJohn CoatesJun 9, 2023
Or, if you think perhaps other Presidents committed the same felonies, the write-up could add "while repeatedly insisting that he had returned all documents, despite evidence that he had not."
Show threadJohn CoatesJun 9, 2023
And note that other papers (e.g., the Financial Times) were much more careful than the NYT, being careful to distinguish between what Trump and his flacks were saying, what was not yet known, and what was already in the public domain but suppressed in the Trump PR missives.