NYT defends reporting after Trump attacks story about his legal team

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman and other journalists on Sunday defended the newspaper’s reporting that Trump is considering hiring an additional lawyer to handle the special counsel investigation, in the face of attacks from the president over the story.

“We — @nytimes — stand by our reporting, which was confirmed by multiple people close to the president,” Clifford Levy, the newspaper’s deputy managing editor, tweeted.

We — @nytimes — stand by our reporting, which was confirmed by multiple people close to the President.
Read the piece for yourself:https://t.co/k5zoCwm1TG https://t.co/xaq8OTjOMI

— Clifford Levy (@cliffordlevy) March 11, 2018

{mosads}Haberman noted on Twitter that multiple outlets confirmed the New York Times’ story, and that her report did not claim that Trump was unhappy with his legal team.

“But Trump may not have told all his lawyers he was meeting with (Emmet) Flood. He doesn’t want to inflame people who know a lot about the case,” she tweeted.

NYT story didn’t say that Trump was unhappy with his team, though other stories that confirmed our reporting later may have asserted it. But Trump may not have told all his lawyers he was meeting with Flood. He doesn’t want to inflame people who know a lot about his case. https://t.co/jeibBHb4RZ

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 11, 2018

The Times reported that Trump is considering adding Emmet Flood, the lawyer that helped Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial, to the White House legal team to handle special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

Trump on Sunday insisted he is “VERY happy” with the legal team defending him against allegations his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. He went on to criticize Haberman as “a Hillary flunky.”

“I am VERY happy with my lawyers, John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow. They are doing a great job and…have shown conclusively that there was no Collusion with Russia..just excuse for losing. The only Collusion was that done by the DNC, the Democrats and Crooked Hillary. The writer of the story, Maggie Haberman, a Hillary flunky, knows nothing about me and is not given access.”

The Failing New York Times purposely wrote a false story stating that I am unhappy with my legal team on the Russia case and am going to add another lawyer to help out. Wrong. I am VERY happy with my lawyers, John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow. They are doing a great job and…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2018

…have shown conclusively that there was no Collusion with Russia..just excuse for losing. The only Collusion was that done by the DNC, the Democrats and Crooked Hillary. The writer of the story, Maggie Haberman, a Hillary flunky, knows nothing about me and is not given access.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2018

In a tweet, Haberman laughed off Trump’s title of “Hillary flunky.”

Reporters from other publications also defended Haberman’s work, and noted Trump’s willingness to speak with her for stories in the past.

There have been no conclusive findings, as Trump says here. Maggie has been in the Oval, and the president have called her. The president talked to another lawyer, as the NYT reported. Anything else? https://t.co/EZGb1CQw7l

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) March 11, 2018

Trump talks to Maggie all the time. He’s even called her out of the blue. https://t.co/NUQGIBqgiX

— John Aravosis (@aravosis) March 11, 2018

The idea that Maggie “knows nothing about” Trump and “is not given access” is a literal “Lol.” She broke Hope Hicks and Gary Cohn’s departure news (the latter along with Kate Kelly) in the past month, to say nothing of her other reporting on Trump specifically. pic.twitter.com/UC0FXFuB5B

— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) March 11, 2018

Trump has given Oval Office interviews to Maggie Haberman. She breaks more stories about the administration than probably any other W.H reporter. The idea that she’s not given access is laughable.

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 11, 2018