Wanna Know Why No One Trusts You, Media? Ali Watkins, That’s Why

We’re thrilled to announce that Ali Watkins of Politico is joining the Washington Bureau as a national security reporter.

Ali, who covers intelligence and national security for Politico, has had a series of important scoops. She broke news that Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser, met with a Russian spy in 2013. She also had exclusive new details on China’s harassment of American spies. Last month, she was the first to reveal the name of the Russian woman, Olga Vinogradova, who met with the former Trump adviser George Papadopoulos during the 2016 campaign.

That’s from an announcement the New York Times made when they hired Ali Watkins, the now-disgraced 20-something national security reporter who was sleeping with her nearly 60-year-old source for several years while he fed her classified information related to his work as an aide on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

At least one of the accolades and reasons for hiring young Ms. Watkins mentioned above — the one related to Carter Page — is now part of a criminal case against that aide, 57-year-old James A. Wolfe, who is being charged with lying to investigators on more than one occasion about his contacts with Watkins and other reporters. Streiff covered details of the story earlier today.

There’s no way to know what’s in the heart of a not-even-close-to-30-year-old, ambitious young reporter and her nearly 60-year-old lover, but so far there’s been no evidence the two were committed to a loving relationship. Just a lot of denying about what kind of classified pillow talk was bandied about. I suppose they could have been in love.

But producer/director Robbie Starbuck has a great twitter thread about the story — particularly the part about how, at a mere 20 years of age, Ms. Watkins was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for her work with other McClatchy reporters covering the CIA torture report.

As a result of the investigation into leaks aiming to hurt the @realDonaldTrump administration, today the DOJ arrested Senate Intelligence Committee staffer James A. Wolfe for lying about his contacts with @nytimes reporter Ali Watkins. Ali was sleeping with her source for years. pic.twitter.com/vFONGlhxp0

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 8, 2018

Once the @nytimes and former employers @politico @buzzfeed knew Ali Watkins was sleeping with a Senate Intelligence Committee staffer she should have been pulled off of any story that could be remotely related to the Committee.

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 8, 2018

This is just the latest embarrassment for major media organizations like @nytimes and @cnn as social media continues to expose the bias, lies, desperation, machinations and unethical practices within the ranks of their organizations.

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 8, 2018

Think of the implications if major media organizations tacitly approve of reporters sleeping with security and intelligence sources. Wolfe was the Head of Security for this Committee. There’s no way around what a mess this is for @nytimes and the Committee. Disturbing to ponder.

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 8, 2018

The revelation that Ali was in a relationship with the Head of Security for the SIC makes you wonder about the ethics employed when she became a Pulitzer finalist for @McClatchyDC at 20 yrs. old for reporting on the Intelligence Committee’s torture report. https://t.co/oCYe06oVAV

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 8, 2018

MAJOR issue going forward: The man indicted, James Wolfe, was responsible for “receiving, maintaining + managing all classified information provided to the SSCI by the Executive Branch of the United States.” What he knows is critical to National Security.

What else has he done? pic.twitter.com/EcepfU0rbG

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 8, 2018

James Wolfe worked on the Senate Intelligence Torture report that made Ali Watkins a Pulitzer finalist but who led the committee review? Daniel Jones. What’s he doing today? He’s working with Fusion GPS on their Trump/Russia attack. Was he a source too? https://t.co/n8TCGxzWn3

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 8, 2018

James Wolfe worked on the Senate Intelligence Torture report that made Ali Watkins a Pulitzer finalist but who led the committee review? Daniel Jones. What’s he doing today? He’s working with Fusion GPS on their Trump/Russia attack. Was he a source too? https://t.co/n8TCGxzWn3

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 8, 2018

Oh look what a coincidence, Daniel Jones seems to have been big fan of Ali Watkins work for years! https://t.co/NXUfxg635a

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 8, 2018

You may be asking yourself what became of Wolfe and Ali Watkins relationship after they were questioned by the FBI? They stopped sleeping together and broke up when she switched beats and publications. Super ethical journalism. pic.twitter.com/H8XRC7y19j

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 8, 2018

That last tweet is a killer.

Watkins insists she disclosed the relationship to her employers, including the New York Times. They apparently didn’t care.

And that, mainstream media, is why no one trusts you.

A caveat: perhaps it’s unfair to wonder how on earth Ms. Watkins was considered a finalist for the most prestigious award in journalism before she was even really much of an adult. But she — and those who sung her praises and pushed her up the chain and gave her classified intel for a little roll in the hay — have given everyone plenty of reason to wonder.

Young women not willing to make such compromises have to fight not only the all-too-true maxim that it’s a man’s world (because it is), they also have to fight the Ali Watkins’ of the world, too. The latter — and you can trust me on this — is the harder foe to defeat.

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