US — #WeeklyAddress: May 14–20: Trump denounces alleged leaks as exaggeration from “Fake News”

Organisation:

RSF_en

Below are the most notable incidents regarding threats to press freedom in the US during the week of May 14-May 20:

Trump denounces alleged leaks as exaggeration from “Fake News”

In a May 14 tweet, President Donald Trump said leaks within his administration “are a massive over exaggeration” caused by “the Fake News Media” to tarnish his reputation. He went on to say his administration would find out the identity of the leakers, whom he referred to as “traitors and cowards.”

The tweet appears to be in reference to a leak that White House aide Kelly Sadler dismissed Senator John McCain’s criticism of Trump’s CIA nominee because “he’s dying anyway.”

Eradicating leaks has been one of the priorities of the Trump administration since his inauguration. In August 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the Department of Justice (DOJ) had more than tripled the number of leak investigations compared with the number of open investigations at the end of the previous administration. Around the same time, Sessions announced during a press conference that the DOJ will review policies on media subpoenas in leak cases, failing to promise that the DOJ would not prosecute journalists for reporting leaked information. So far, two whistleblowers have already been indicted under the Espionage Act since Trump took office.

Stormy Daniels’ lawyer threatens defamation lawsuit against Daily Caller journalists

Attorney Michael Avenatti threatened suing the Daily Caller and its journalists for defamation in a May 14 email. The threat was made in response to an article written by Peter Hasson and Joe Simonson which highlighted the lawyer’s past controversial business dealings. Avenatti’s email read: “If you and your colleagues do not stop with the hit pieces that are full of lies and defamatory statements, I will have no choice but to sue each of you and your publication for defamation.” This is not the first time Avenatti has threatened to sue journalists for coverage he has not agreed with. In response to an April 26 Law & Crime article that Avenatti called “unfair” and “complete bullshit,” he threatened to sue reporter Colin Kalmbacher, the publication and the editor of the article in question. Avenatti is currently representing Stormy Daniels, the porn star who accepted a $130,000 payment from President Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, over an alleged affair she had with the president.

Editor of Pittsburgh City Paper fired following critical coverage of state representative

Charlie Deitch believes he was dismissed from the Pittsburgh City Paper on May 15 because of his critical coverage of Daryl Metcalfe, a conservative Pennsylvania state representative. Most recently Deitch, the City Paper’s editor, was asked by the publication’s general manager to tame his coverage of Metcalfe and to remove an editorial that was published on May 3 calling him “racist, xenophobic, close-minded and full of general numb-skullery.” When Deitch argued that Metcalfe is not a client of the paper, the manager responded: “He’s a client of mine.” Deitch, who has worked for the publication for 13 years, believes this, and other critical coverage of Metcalfe, angered the paper’s parent company Eagle Media Corp., which also owns the Butler Eagle, a publication in Metcalfe’s district. The incident mirrors the recent resignation of former Denver Post Editor Chuck Plunkett on May 3, in response to the questionable business practices of parent company Alden Global Capital (AGC). Both incidents exemplify a growing threat to editorial independence stemming from the agendas of publication owners.