Radio host Mark Levin sent out a scathing letter to the Associated Press over the weekend demanding a correction to a story on President Donald Trump.
The AP published a piece on March 9 titled “Media the enemy? Trump is sure an insatiable consumer,” in which he said Mr. Levin “voiced without evidence the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower.”
The radio host — who served as a chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese during the Reagan administration — was actually reading from The New York Times and other newspapers.
The report also lumped Mr. Levin in with the “edges of the conservative movement” after mentioning Gateway Pundit, Breitbart News, and The Drudge Report.
“You falsely reported in your wire story yesterday, in part, that ’Radio host Mark Levin voiced without evidence the idea that Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower.’ I sent you an email yesterday asking: ’Are you going to correct this?’ I never said that Obama had Trump Tower wiretapped. You not only misstated what I said, but you ignored the entire purpose and context of that Thursday’s (March 2) radio program,” Mr. Levin said in a statement posted to his Facebook page. “I addressed this methodically again on yesterday’s radio show. Still, you are silent.”
Mr. Levin has repeatedly cited previous reporting by The Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian on communications between associates of Mr. Trump and Russian officials that were intercepted by U.S. intelligence agencies.
“It is one thing to make an honest error in your reporting,” Mr. Levin continued. “AP and other news outlets make mistakes all the time, for which they publish corrections or make apologies. However, you persist in your false reporting, which is repeated by others since you write for a news service. This reveals your intent on driving a partisan, ideological agenda — e.g., your additional statement in the story about ’the edges of the conservative movement.’ This is why your profession has already been severely damaged with the public and, may I add, now your reputation, or lack thereof, for integrity.”
AP’s story remains unchanged as of Monday.
“We know that if a [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] warrant [against Trump’s campaign] was secured, it’s very likely … the president would be given a heads-up,” Mr. Levin told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on March 6. “I assume Obama knew something. I mean, unless he’s Helen Keller.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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