Ali Watkins and the rise of casting-couch journalism – IOTW Report

Ali Watkins and the rise of casting-couch journalism

AT: The Beltway’s Get Trump movement has added another pair of lovebirds to the morass, this time in the Ali Watkins-James Wolfe hook-up, evidently uniting love with a common mission to destroy the president.

Here’s what went down, according to Philly.com, which isn’t too flattering in its reportage:

Watkins, who interned at the Philadelphia Daily News in spring 2013, started a personal relationship with Wolfe sometime around December 2013 when she was a Temple intern working with the McLatchy [sic]-Tribune news service, according to a federal indictment.  The relationship continued after she graduated in 2014 until last December, when she joined the Times, the indictment said.  Before joining the Times, Watkins had also worked at the Huffington Post, BuzzFeed and Politico.

Watkins said Wolfe was not a source of information during their relationship, the Times reported.  Wolfe, who retired in May, has also denied providing her confidential information he had learned through his position on the intelligence committee.

The federal government suggests otherwise.  Its indictment, which identifies Watkins as Reporter #2, says she published dozens of news articles about the committee and its activities, and that she and Wolfe “exchanged tens of thousands of electronic communications, often, including daily texts and phone calls.”  The two, the indictment added, frequently met in person, including at restaurants and her apartment.

We had been wondering who was doing all that leaking from the Senate Intelligence Committee, and well, now the matter seems to be coming to light.  Someone was sleeping with a reporter and the reporter was getting scoops as a result. National Review notes that the Senate leaks seemed to have skewed to just one political side in their motiveMORE

23 Comments on Ali Watkins and the rise of casting-couch journalism

  1. Looks like we’ll have another Redford/Hoffman type movie from Hollywood trying to obfuscate the facts this time around. The title could be something like “Deepthroat From the Swamp” or “Pulitzer on my Back.” Maybe with Jennifer Lawrence or Scarlett Johansson with Robert De Niro as the star-crossed traitors. Could be EPIC. Or not.

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  2. Is this another Orange Hitler EO? When did journalists, pundits, and all the other “talking heads”, swapping genetic material and pillow talk with “public servants”, become a bad thing? When did publishing it even become a “that’s not doxing” thing?

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  3. “Let’s go live to Ali for an update on this late breaking news.”

    “Mmmmfmmffffmmffmfffffmmmm.”

    “Thanks Ali. Now back to our regular Trump bashing programming.”

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  4. Miss Dumpy McDumpDump.

    Not much of a HoneyTrap. Just a fireplug with glasses.

    If Wolfe would leak to Dumpy, he’d leak to any Russian or Chinese hottie just as eagerly.

    Follow the money.
    DC leaks for money, blackmail, drugs or sex, usually in that order.
    How much have the news corporations been paying Wolfe for exclusive leaks, for how long, and using what methods?

    And enough with the nicely-nicely treatment. Wolfe needs to be An Example For The Others. DC General Pop lockup, no bail, Civil Forfeiture, facing multiple Espionage Act charges.

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