How the Trump White House is trying to intimidate journalists

Attacks on the press by President Trump and his aides are so frequent that they blur together. But not all attacks are the same. Some, such as the “opposition party” label applied by White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, are aimed at the entire mainstream media. Others target certain news outlets, such as the “failing” New York Times and “fake news” CNN. Still others zero in on individual journalists. What almost all of them have in common is a lack of specifics.

So, it was notable that when the Trump White House went after Politico reporter Alex Isenstadt on Feb 26, it took the unusual step of leveling a precise charge: Isenstadt, according to “one informed official” quoted by the Washington Examiner, laughed about the death of a Navy SEAL during a conversation with White House press secretary Sean Spicer. Politico fired back at what it called a “patently false characterization of the conversation.” Isenstadt declined to discuss the episode further, and the Examiner reporter who agreed to publish the claim, Paul Bedard, turned down an interview request