Biden spokesman calls reporter who broke unmasking story a 'right-wing hack'
The Intercept co-founding editor Glenn Greenwald shares his reaction and analysis.
The Intercept co-founding Glenn Greenwald slammed the mainstream media on "The Story" Friday for largely remaining silent after one CBS investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge was attacked by the Biden campaign over her reporting on the "unmasking" of national security adviser designate Michael Flynn.
"I find it extremely ironic," Greenwald told host Martha MacCallum, "because every time President Trump has insulted or attacked a journalist popular among mainstream media outlets, they proclaim that the republic is coming to an end, and it's assault on their free press.
"Every time he says something mean about Jim Acosta or tweets something about Chuck Todd or Wolf Blitzer, every reporter steps forward to express their solidarity as though they've been shipped off to a gulag," he added. And in here we have the Biden campaign viciously attacking a reporter who really is as straight of a shooter as it gets."
On Wednesday, Herridge broke the story that a list of Obama administration officials who had requested Flynn's "unmasking" had been given to Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
After Herridge tweeted her "scoop" and included photos of the files she obtained, Biden campaign rapid response director Andrew Bates blasted her on Twitter, saying his own "scoop" is that Herridge is a "right-wing hack" and "regular conduit for conservative media manipulation."
One of the few journalists to defend Herridge was CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who called the now-deleted tweet from Bates "gross," adding that the attack was "obnoxious and indecent."
"[Herridge exhibits] the highest integrity and professionalism," Greenwald said. "I worked in the national security world for a long time and have followed her reporting. I know it to be extremely reliable."
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Greenwald added that both Barack Obama's campaign as well as the government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have "threatened to imprison" him. By comparison, he said, public figures lodging insults at reporters is not a major offense, though it doesn't excuse the relative lack of backing for Herridge.
"It really is a double standard that I think is incredibly ignoble and shows some pretty corruptive motives," he said.
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