-
OUTLET
REPORTER
CLAIM
Left-Wing Media Pushes Fake Washington Crime Narrative
CATEGORY
THE OFFENSE
The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times and Politico worked together to weave a narrative that President Trump’s enhanced law enforcement activities in Washington, D.C. were not taking place in the high crime areas of D.C.
THE TRUTH
Half of the arrests made in the Washington, D.C., crime crackdown have been in high-crime areas. The Washington Post included a map of “troops in the district” in one of their articles which was based on “accounts from Post reporters on the ground in D.C. and verified videos on social media.” Their reporters got it wrong, and used incomplete data to create their inaccurate map. NYT’s Peter Baker then made a post on X that cited the map as evidence that law enforcement efforts were not present in high-crime areas. Next, the Wall Street Journal released a story corroborating the narrative, but based entirely on the testimony of Ebony Payne, a Democrat neighborhood commissioner in D.C., and a deeply conflicted source. Finally, Politico continued the narrative by citing the WSJ story in their Playbook newsletter where they attempted to downplay the impacts of the enhanced law enforcement efforts.
KEY POINTS
• The Washington Post published a poorly substantiated map of law enforcement activity in D.C.
• NYT’s Peter Baker posted about the map, and caused the hoax to go viral.
• WSJ then released a story supporting the narrative, but only cited a Democrat neighborhood commissioner as evidence.
• Politico elevated the WSJ’s poorly source article on their newsletter which promoted the article and furthered the hoax.SOURCES
• On D.C. Streets, Feds Make a Show of Force
• Where National Guard troops and federal agents are patrolling D.C.
• Peter Baker's Post
• Playbook: Zelenskyy’s White House do-over
• White House: Half of D.C. crackdown arrests are in high-crime areas
• Ebony Payne Biography
-
OUTLET
REPORTER
CLAIM
Playbook: Trump’s crackdown hits Washington
CATEGORY
THE OFFENSE
Politico’s Playbook newsletter attempted to portray an illegal immigrant arrested by federal law enforcement as an innocent “moped driver.”
THE TRUTH
The “moped driver” was an illegal alien criminal from Venezuela with suspected gang affiliation and an active final order of removal from the country. Upon his arrest, the illegal alien criminal resisted arrest and a law enforcement officer suffered a concussion as a result.
KEY POINTS
• Politico intentionally mischaracterized a criminal illegal alien as a “moped driver.”
SOURCES
• Playbook: Trump’s crackdown hits Washington
• Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's Statement
-
OUTLET
REPORTER
CLAIM
‘His inexperience shines through’: Steve Witkoff struggles to manage Russia as Trump peace envoy
CATEGORY
THE OFFENSE
Politico’s Felicia Schwartz published an article disparaging Special Envoy Steve Witkoff for his “inexperience” as a chief negotiator on the world stage.
THE TRUTH
: From Vice President JD Vance: “This story from Politico is journalistic malpractice. But it’s more than that: it’s a foreign influence operation meant to hurt the administration and one of our most effective members. Notice how all of the people attacking Steve are on background? That means it’s two or three deep staters who are angry that Witkoff has succeeded where they’ve failed. You know what this “reporter” left out to make room for anonymous quotes? The full quote from the sitting vice president, on the record. A quote from the secretary of the state, on the record. The full quote from the UK’s Jonathan Powell, one of the most respected national security people in the Western World, who defended Steve vigorously from these malicious smears. The person who wrote this garbage is @felschwartz. Aside from the failure to include on the record information directly contradicting her reporting, I wonder if she ever asked herself why these anonymous sources came to her at this moment with this particular story. They have an agenda to blow up the president’s efforts to make peace, and they saw her as a useful vessel to launder garbage into the conversation, truth be damned. There are two possible explanations: Felicia is just not very smart, and allowed herself to be used by deep state con men. Or she’s in on it, and used her position to willingly participate in a literal foreign influence operation. Either way, it’s disgraceful. To set the record straight: Steve Witkoff is an invaluable member of our team. He did not mislead anyone on what the Russians told him and what the Russians conceded. (Trust me, I’ve seen the intel.) The fruits of his negotiations are that we have narrowed the list of open issues in the Russia-Ukraine war to a set of clearly defined issues–specifically, security guarantees and territorial concessions. Maybe we make peace, and maybe we don’t. If we do, it will be because Steve Witkoff and the President of the United States worked their tails off, in the face of outright lies from the mainstream press. A quote from Jared Kushner, on the record.
The full quote from the UK’s Jonathan Powell, one of the most respected national security people in the Western World, who defended Steve vigorously from these malicious smears.
The person who wrote this garbage is @felschwartz. Aside from the failure to include on the record information directly contradicting her reporting, I wonder if she ever asked herself why these anonymous sources came to her at this moment with this particular story. They have an agenda to blow up the president’s efforts to make peace, and they saw her as a useful vessel to launder garbage into the conversation, truth be damned.
There are two possible explanations: Felicia is just not very smart, and allowed herself to be used by deep state con men. Or she’s in on it, and used her position to willingly participate in a literal foreign influence operation. Either way, it’s disgraceful.
To set the record straight: Steve Witkoff is an invaluable member of our team. He did not mislead anyone on what the Russians told him and what the Russians conceded. (Trust me, I’ve seen the intel.) The fruits of his negotiations are that we have narrowed the list of open issues in the Russia-Ukraine war to a set of clearly defined issues–specifically, security guarantees and territorial concessions.
Maybe we make peace, and maybe we don’t. If we do, it will be because Steve Witkoff and the President of the United States worked their tails off, in the face of outright lies from the mainstream press.”KEY POINTS
• Politico omitted statements from the Vice President and Secretary of State in favor of anonymous; off the record sources to undermine the United States’ international peace missions.
SOURCES
• Vice President JD Vance's Statement
• ‘His inexperience shines through’: Steve Witkoff struggles to manage Russia as Trump peace envoy