Sen. Tom Cotton has called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to open a national-security investigation of four major media companies whose freelance photographers were present at the Hamas attack on Israel.
Mr. Cotton, Arkansas Republican, said the six Gaza-based photographers working that day for The Associated Press and Reuters “almost certainly knew about the attack in advance,” raising questions about whether the news organizations violated U.S. law.
“The DOJ needs to immediately open an investigation into whether @AP, @CNN, @nytimes, and @Reuters committed federal crimes by having journalists embedded with Hamas,” Mr. Cotton posted on X on Friday.
One of the freelancers, Yousef Masoud, works for The New York Times, and another, Hassan Eslaiah, has worked for CNN. The cable news network cut ties with Mr. Eslaiah following the Wednesday report by the pro-Israel media watchdog Honest Reporting.
The news organizations have denied any prior knowledge of the early-morning attack that saw Hamas terrorists invading from the Gaza Strip kill more than 1,200 Israeli civilians, prompting Israel to declare war.
“I write regarding reports that so-called ’journalists’ employed by the Associated Press, CNN, New York Times, and Reuters accompanied Hamas terrorists into Israel during the October 7 terror attack,” Mr. Cotton said in the letter released Friday. “These individuals almost certainly knew about the attack in advance, and even participated by accompanying Hamas terrorists during the attack and filming the heinous acts.”
He cited a widely circulated photograph of Mr. Eslaiah being kissed by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who has been described as a mastermind of the attack.
“Providing material support or assistance, including funding, to a terrorist organization such as Hamas is a federal crime,” Mr. Cotton said. “The Department of Justice must immediately open a national security investigation into these four media outlets to determine whether they or their leadership committed federal crimes by supporting Hamas terrorists.”
Mr. Cotton also wrote a letter Thursday to New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger asking, “How many employees of your organization were embedded with Hamas,” prompting a fiery response from the newspaper’s attorney.
“As I am sure you agree, the spread of disinformation and incendiary rhetoric threatens the health of our democracy,” said David McGraw, Times senior vice president and deputy general counsel. “Sadly, your letter to The New York Times of November 9 exacerbates those very problems.”
He accused the Republican senator of “parroting disinformation” and that Honest Reporting has not produced evidence that the photographers were embedded with Hamas.
“No employees of The Times were embedded with Hamas, or had advance knowledge of the attack, or played any role in the savage massacre of that day,” Mr. McGraw said in the letter posted online.
He added that “Falsehoods circulated on the internet are not ’reports,’” prompting Mr. Cotton to retort that The New York Times “just described its own ’newsroom.’”
“Falsehoods circulated on the internet are not ‘reports.’”
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) November 10, 2023
The @NYTimes just described its own “newsroom.” https://t.co/BYSaLHIwzv
Israel called Thursday on the four media companies to conduct a “thorough investigation into this matter.”
“These journalists were accomplices in crimes against humanity; their actions were contrary to professional ethics,” a statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The State Department has recognized Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization since 1997. Federal law prohibits knowingly providing “material support or resources” to designated terrorist groups.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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