Michael S. Schmidt

NY Times Blames Dylann Roof's Gun Purchase on 'System' Loophole, Then 'Law' Loophole
By Tom Blumer | July 11, 2015 | 11:54 PM EDT

Apparently nothing is ever the government's fault during the Obama era — even a clear failure by authorities to prevent an alleged mass-murderer from acquiring a gun, and their failure to retrieve it once he obtained it.

Earlier today, before it went down the paper's frequently used memory hole, reporter Michael S. Schmidt wrote in his second paragraph that alleged mass murderer Dylann Roof got a gun despite having a disqualifying drug-possession arrest because of "A loophole in the (national background check) system and an error by the F.B.I." After apparently pushback from some readers, Schmidt revised his report, moving his "loophole" language to a much later paragraph, and characterized it as a problem with "the law," which is still completely wrong.

GOP Exposes Second Hillary Clinton Email Address NY Times Ignored
By Tom Blumer | May 18, 2015 | 11:51 PM EDT

The New York Times has published two articles on the relationship between former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton and longtime confidant Sidney Blumenthal. It has been known for some time that Blumenthal, barred by the Obama White House from working at State, nevertheless ran "a secret, private intelligence network" for Mrs. Clinton's benefit, "apart from the State Department’s own Bureau of Intelligence and Research."

The Times also published certain of the emails exchanged between the two, and either missed or ignored a major revelation contained in three of them. The national Republican Party didn't:

NYT Bemoans August Al Qaeda Plot Leak After Blowing Open Bush Admin Financial Monitoring in 2006
By Tom Blumer | September 30, 2013 | 8:17 PM EDT

Isn't this rich? The New York Times, in a Sunday story placed on the front page of Monday's print edition, took shots at another news organization for leaking sensitive intelligence. The Old Grey Lady must think we all have short memories.

Unfortunately, Dylan Byers at the Politico does have a short memory — either that, or he's protecting the sacred Times and its history-challenged reporters Eric Schmitt and Michael S. Schmidt. Here's how Byers lays out the situation (bolds are mine throughout this post):

WashTimes Writer Miller Notes Media 'Obsessed' with Linking AR-15 to Navy Yard Murders
By Tom Blumer | September 18, 2013 | 10:19 AM EDT

At the New York Times on Tuesday, Michael S. Schmidt claimed that "The suspect in the killing of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday test-fired an AR-15 assault rifle at a Virginia gun store last week but was stopped from buying one because state law there prohibits the sale of such weapons to out-of-state buyers, according to two senior law enforcement officials."

The portion of that statement about being "stopped from buying" an AR-15 isn't true, writes Emily Miller at the Washington Times, not only because "state law" wouldn't have prevented such an attempt, but also because Aaron Alexis didn't even try to buy one. Miller asserts that the New York Times "should issue a correction immediately." She also decries the establishment media's "obsession" with tying the AR-15 to the Navy Yard shooting (bolds are mine throughout this post):

Boston Bombing: NYT Reports, National Journal Speculates On 'Right-Wing, Antigovernment Extremist Groups'
By Matt Vespa | April 18, 2013 | 8:30 AM EDT

Do I dare say it? Did The New York Times actually write a responsible article concerning the investigation of the Boston Terror Attack? The April 17 piece by Katharine Q. Seeyle, Scott Shane, and Michael S. Schmidt had no mentions of right-wing extremists –and the meretricious links to Patriots/Tax Day.  Additionally, the word “extremist” is only associated with a brief bit about “terrorist cookbooks,” which are available online.  By contrast, when you look at National Journal’s highly speculative story on Boston, the culprits are either al-Qaeda or right-wing domestic terror groups.  This development comes after initial reports that the trail has tragically grown cold.

Sadly, before the bodies were even cold the media were suggesting that conservatives or “right-wing extremists” could be behind the bombing.  Terabytes of digital data are still being combed through by investigators, and there's no proof solidly linking the so-called “right wing” of America -- those type of hate groups, by the way, are roundly repudiated by true conservatives -- was responsible for this senseless attack.  But that doesn't seem to matter to James Kitfield of the National Journal, who wrote yesterday morning: