The New York Times reporters who penned an article claiming they'd uncovered a “previously unreported” sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh have not alerted their followers to the major correction that was issued on the piece.
Kate Kelly and Robin Pogrebin are writers for the publication and are authors of a forthcoming book, “The Education of Brett Kavanaugh.”
The authors reported that Kavanaugh was seen committing a lewd act to a woman while in college, citing Max Stier, a former lawyer for President Bill Clinton.
But they left out information from their own book that undermines the claim.
After a backlash, the information was added and an editor’s note was appended to the piece. The correction notes that multiple friends of the woman told the reporters that the woman does not recall the alleged incident.
The editor’s note also mentioned that the reporters had not been able to interview the woman herself.
It wasn’t clear why the information was initially withheld.
She also noted that the claims in the piece spurred Democratic lawmakers to call for Kavanaugh’s impeachment.
The adapted book excerpt “reveals [a] new allegation,” she wrote.
Pogrebin was back on Twitter on Monday morning but failed to mention the major correction, instead promoting interviews that she and her co-author did about the book.
Kelly shared a post on her page that was aimed at Trump, who said on his own page that Kavanaugh “should start suing people for libel” following the article’s publication.
“The lies being told about him are unbelievable. False Accusations without recrimination,” Trump wrote.
The person who responded to the president, David Enrich, also works for the Times. “Once Kavanaugh reads the book that details these allegations, he will realize that @rpogrebin @katekelly handled this with the utmost of professionalism and fairness,” Enrich wrote.
Kelly shared, or retweeted, the post.
Kelly later Sunday shared a series of posts by the New York Times public relations account saying the article was published in the Sunday Review, not the regular paper, because it contains information that was “uncovered during the reporting process for the book.”
Kelly also took to Twitter Monday but did not mention the editor’s note to her followers.
Neither author—nor top editors at the Times—have said how or why the original information was left out before being added.
The New York Times axed its public editor position several years ago, and writers frequently post analysis, opinions, and pieces on Twitter.
