NYT Editor: Paper Stands By Reporting on Trump Lawyer Story

The New York Times on Sunday defended its story on President Donald Trump considering the hiring of an additional lawyer to assist with the Russia probe, saying the report was confirmed by multiple people close to the president.

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

The Times story, published Saturday, alleged the president was looking into hiring veteran Washington lawyer Emmet Flood to help the president “navigate his dealings with the Justice Department.”

Flood, who met with Trump this past week to discuss the possibility, advised former President Bill Clinton during the impeachment process.

Trump tweeted that the Times “purposely wrote a false story stating that I am unhappy with my legal team on the Russia case.”

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

But Times’ reporter Maggie Haberman, who co-wrote the article with Michael Schmidt, tweeted that the story didn’t mention that Trump was unhappy with his team.

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

• WSJ: Trump's Lawyers May Offer Interview to End Russia Probe
• Nunberg 'Would Highly Suggest' Trump Testifies to 'Get It Over With'