Sen. Tom Cotton has referred to as on Attorney General Merrick Garland to open a national-security investigation of 4 main media corporations whose freelance photographers had been current on the Hamas assault on Israel.
Mr. Cotton, Arkansas Republican, mentioned the six Gaza-based photographers working that day for The Associated Press and Reuters “almost certainly knew about the attack in advance,” elevating questions on whether or not the information organizations violated U.S. regulation.
“The DOJ needs to immediately open an investigation into whether @AP, @CNN, @nytimes, and @Reuters committed federal crimes by having journalists embedded with Hamas,” Mr. Cotton posted on X on Friday.
One of the freelancers, Yousef Masoud, works for The New York Times, and one other, Hassan Eslaiah, has labored for CNN. The cable information community reduce ties with Mr. Eslaiah following the Wednesday report by the pro-Israel media watchdog Honest Reporting.
The information organizations have denied any prior data of the early-morning assault that noticed Hamas terrorists invading from the Gaza Strip kill greater than 1,200 Israeli civilians, prompting Israel to declare conflict.
“I write regarding reports that so-called ‘journalists’ employed by the Associated Press, CNN, New York Times, and Reuters accompanied Hamas terrorists into Israel during the October 7 terror attack,” Mr. Cotton mentioned within the letter launched Friday. “These individuals almost certainly knew about the attack in advance, and even participated by accompanying Hamas terrorists during the attack and filming the heinous acts.”
He cited a extensively circulated {photograph} of Mr. Eslaiah being kissed by Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, who has been described as a mastermind of the assault.
“Providing material support or assistance, including funding, to a terrorist organization such as Hamas is a federal crime,” Mr. Cotton mentioned. “The Department of Justice must immediately open a national security investigation into these four media outlets to determine whether they or their leadership committed federal crimes by supporting Hamas terrorists.”
Mr. Cotton additionally wrote a letter Thursday to New York Times writer A.G. Sulzberger asking, “How many employees of your organization were embedded with Hamas,” prompting a fiery response from the newspaper’s lawyer.
“As I am sure you agree, the spread of disinformation and incendiary rhetoric threatens the health of our democracy,” mentioned David McGraw, Times senior vice chairman and deputy basic counsel. “Sadly, your letter to The New York Times of November 9 exacerbates those very problems.”
He accused the Republican senator of “parroting disinformation” and that Honest Reporting has not produced proof that the photographers had been embedded with Hamas.
“No employees of The Times were embedded with Hamas, or had advance knowledge of the attack, or played any role in the savage massacre of that day,” Mr. McGraw mentioned within the letter posted on-line.
He added that “Falsehoods circulated on the internet are not ‘reports,’” prompting Mr. Cotton to retort that The New York Times “just described its own ‘newsroom.’”
“Falsehoods circulated on the internet are not ‘reports.’”
The @NYTimes simply described its personal “newsroom.” https://t.co/BYSaLHIwzv
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) November 10, 2023
Israel referred to as Thursday on the 4 media corporations to conduct a “thorough investigation into this matter.”
“These journalists were accomplices in crimes against humanity; their actions were contrary to professional ethics,” a press release from the workplace of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned.
The State Department has acknowledged Hamas as a overseas terrorist group since 1997. Federal regulation prohibits knowingly offering “material support or resources” to designated terrorist teams.
