President Trump said Thursday The New York Times was a “fake news paper” hours after the paper reported claims that Attorney General William Barr misrepresented the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
“The New York Times had no legitimate sources, which would be totally illegal, concerning the Mueller Report. In fact, they probably had no sources at all! They are a Fake News paper who have already been forced to apologize for their incorrect and very bad reporting on me,” the president tweeted.
The paper reported Wednesday some of Mr. Mueller’s investigators have informed associates Mr. Barr’s summary did not accurately portray how damaging the special counsel’s findings were for the president.
The New York Times responded the president’s accusation was “false,” tweeting their reporters “interviewed multiple government officials and others to gather the facts for the story.”
Peter Baker, The Times’ chief White House correspondent, also called the president’s statement “untrue,” adding the paper “neither apologized nor had reason to.”
“As for the Mueller report, one way to clear up what’s in it would be to release it,” Mr. Baker said.
The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to give Chairman Jerrold Nadler the power to subpoena Mr. Mueller’s full final report and all of his investigative materials. Mr. Barr said he would release the full report once adequate redactions were finished.
• Stephen Dinan contributed to this article.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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