Newsweek Settles with Journalist Smeared by Kurt Eichenwald

7/21/17

In October, Paste reported on a disturbing story involving Newsweek’s Kurt Eichenwald and Sputnik editor Bill Moran. The former, it appeared, sought to silence the latter through the use of bribery and threats.

For the uninitiated, Moran had written a piece based on a Twitter user’s misattribution of a damning Eichenwald quote about Benghazi to longtime Clinton ally Sidney Blumenthal. Wikileaks had just dumped Clinton campaign director John Podesta’s emails, and there was a mad dash among journalists and non-journalists alike to find a big story in them. One of those emails had Blumenthal sending the Eichenwald story to Podesta.

Upon realizing his mistake roughly twenty minutes after publication, Moran took the article down. However, then-GOP candidate Donald Trump used the misattributed quote in a speech to attack his opponent.

From these facts, Eichenwald inferred that the only possible means by which Trump could have come across the misattributed quote was purposeful collusion with the Russians, and that the Wikileaks documents themselves had been altered. This conclusion led him to write a piece, “Dear Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin, I Am Not Sidney Blumenthal,” in which he wove a sordid web connecting the GOP candidate to Russia.

The piece went viral, earning the Newsweek journalist a top spot on various cable news shows. Moran was fired.

The young journalist reached out to Newsweek and Eichenwald, asking they update the story to reflect what had actually happened. After being ignored, Moran was contacted by Eichenwald, who offered to either help him get a job at New Republic, in seeming exchange for silence, or update the piece with a paragraph naming him. This latter option came with a warning that aligning himself with Sputnik made him unhirable.

Moran chose to come forward.

Following our reporting of the incident, Eichenwald and Newsweek doubled down with a follow-up, “How I Got Slimed By Russian Propagandist Site Sputnik” (this story and the original have both been removed, though no correction or retraction has been published by Newsweek), which named Moran, appeared to question his motivations for coming forward, and pointing out that Sputnik is a Russian state-funded outlet.

Around that time, suspicion surrounding Trump’s relationship with Russia blossomed into full blown collective hysteria with major media outlets like The Washington Post hastily publishing inaccurate stories about Russian hacking, and normalizing groups like PropOrNot, the unvetted, anonymous online collective that notoriously labeled left-wing media outlets “Russian propaganda.” This was also when demagogue and conspiracy theorist Louise Mensch became mainstream.

All the while, Eichenwald’s original article, “Dear Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin, I Am Not Sidney Blumenthal,” made its way around the Internet, cited by people like the hysterical Keith Olbermann. It was even referenced by former FBI special agent Clint Watts in his Senate testimony.

To Bill Moran, it felt like a witch hunt. Outside of whether or not Russia really had interfered in the 2016 election on behalf of Trump, the young journalist saw his name become a central part of a story based increasingly on innuendo.

“I felt powerless,” Moran told Paste in an exclusive interview. “I was afraid of suing given the political climate we were in.”

Instead, he took to social media, taking shots at Eichenwald and Newsweek. He became a man obsessed—moreso after his father passed in October. This loss catapulted him into a dark place.

“It was the only time I ever considered suicide,” Moran explained. “Eichenwald’s smears were one of the last things my dad heard about me before he died. I had the same birthday and same name as my father and he always took pride in that and always told me to protect that name—it was the one thing of value he had to give me.”

However, the family death also marked a turning point for Moran. The former Sputnik editor and Georgetown Law graduate decided to pursue admittance to the Maryland Bar, and sue IBT Media, Newsweek’s parent company (now renamed Newsweek Media Group), for defamation and libel.

Representing himself, Moran filed his initial complaint back in February, arguing that Eichenwald had, in essence, accused him of disloyalty to his country by implying he was a mouthpiece for Russia, and thus crippled his ability to find future work as a journalist. His work at Sputnik, he claimed, was his own, rather than dictated by a foreign source.

(It should be noted that in May, a Sputnik wire service reporter, Andrew Feinberg, did allege, after leaving his job, that the outlet was more interested in hiring “propagandists” than journalists. But, his previous postings on social media appear to contradict this assertion. On multiple occasions, Feinberg defended himself and his colleagues from what he called accusations of “treason.”) Note: Feinberg’s statement has been added to the end of this piece.

In any case, Newsweek’s attorneys did not see fit to pursue a protracted legal battle with Moran. On Monday, after a total of 64 filings, the case was officially disposed of after the parties settled. (Details of the settlement are confidential.)

“The lawsuit was settled amicably and to my satisfaction,” Moran told Paste. “After the settlement, the stories were removed, the parties agreed not to speak about the terms of the settlement, so I can’t talk to you about what the settlement entails.”

When asked how it felt to finally be done with the whole affair, Moran would only say he was relieved.

“Our institutions actually do work,” he said, a pensive look creeping over his face. “I was a young journalist with no power, but the facts were on my side, and the system worked. Our institutions are made to last.”

Paste reached out to Newsweek Media Group for comment, but they would provide none as per their company policy.

Update: Feinberg, who worked at Sputnik after Moran had left, and for a different branch of the D.C. Bureau, told Paste that he didn’t see anything inconsistent about defending his colleagues, “many of whom are young journalists who simply want to do a good job and are trying their best under what are—I think—near impossible circumstances. These people need to make a living, and their tolerance for the way things are done at Sputnik may be greater than mine.”

Additional articles:

The original story: https://www.pastemagazine.com/artic...eks-kurt-eichenwald-use-threats-and-brib.html

A followup story a few days later: https://www.pastemagazine.com/artic...nwalds-deception-and-newsweeks-ostrich-s.html

 

But that is back page news....

 

It doesn't support the leftists position that Trump colluded with Russia, so this is non news for them.

 

What do you mean? They just reached the settlement last Monday.

 

I will see your article and raise you one. In fact two.

New York Times Asks Fox for Apology After ‘Inaccurate Segment’

And;

Trump vs. New York Times: The Story Behind President's Claim of 'Foiled Assassination' of ISIS Leader Baghdadi

And again:

'Fox & Friends' Corrects Story Trump Tweeted Claiming Comey Leaked Classified Information

And let's be clear here. These are two instances where Fox News feeding really inaccurate stories to the President of the United States of America that Fox is later forced to retract, correct, and/or clarify but Trump does not which proves it is actually Trump spreading fake news.

 

Thank you General for spewing all over a thread that most people initially would not have given much note to.

By the way; figured out a definition for "Conservatism" yet?

 

LOL

Why is Stumbler the General?

 

Yes as a matter of fact and in deed I have been defining what "conservatives" claims to be on this thread

https://forum.xnxx.com/threads/the-lie-of-conservatism-shootersa-jdbfromnj.477776/

and pointing out how conservatives preach those values but that is a lie because they don't practice what they preach.

And also pointing out its no mystery why conservatives can't and won't offer their own definition of what a conservative is because they would have to confront the lie of conservatism as it is preached and practiced in this nation.

 

It damn sure isn't because he served in the military.
The chicken shit never served.

 

You mean like the party of "Everyone should pay their fair share in taxes, except for the 'first to raise 'em, last to pay 'em' Democrats"?


41 Obama White House aides owe the IRS $831,000 in back taxes -- and they're not alone


John Kerry Saves $500,000 By Docking 76-Foot Luxury Yacht Out Of State

 

Well I don't know. So far you've come up with about 42 Democrats who might gave either had trouble paying their taxes or trying to save on their taxes. But let's compare that to Trump, his family, his White House staff and his administration.

Oh wait we can't can we. None of that information is being released. The ethics director quit and Trump jumped the person in line for the job to get a more someone more friendly to him that won't ask so many questions or point out conflicts of interest. So much for that Abiding by the law and personal responsibility lie conservatives tell.

 

Fascinating. A thread about main stream media gets diverted to a discussion of taxes.
Of course, according to the nonsupporters, the supporters did it.

 

Of fuck @shootersa how can you try and claim it is anything else with these posts that prove it was absolutely you and M4MPetCock that is trying to derail and deflect this thread.

Here, everyone take a look.

@Jdbfromnj

But Fox News is no longer the #1 rated cable news channel.

For 1st Time Ever, MSNBC Is No. 1 in Prime Time on All of Cable