It’s no secret at this point that the “alleged battery” (the words of the Jupiter Police Dept.) of Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields by Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowki has caused a rift within the Breitbart organization. As Twitchy reported, Breitbart PR consultant Kurt Bardella resigned earlier today, tweeting that it had come to the point where he could no longer “give 100 percent” to the people he was representing.
More dirty laundry has surfaced since, and it’s not pretty. Tweets show Breitbart editor Joel Pollack demanding his reporters to stop acknowledging the grabbing incident.
Breitbart Editor Ordered Staffers To Stop Defending Michelle Fieldshttps://t.co/vopPs9tqJK pic.twitter.com/scVOlazUwy
— Katherine Miller (@katherinemiller) March 12, 2016
@katherinemiller No. He ordered them to stop speculating in public.
— M G (@MadaGasp) March 12, 2016
Breitbart reporters were slow to report on the incident, with Fields herself maintaining media silence at first while Daily Caller editor/boyfriend Jamie Weinstein immediately accused Trump of surrounding himself with thugs. Other media outlets picked up on the story, which eventually went national, with Fields appearing on “Good Morning America.”
In the meantime, readers are rethinking the relationship of the Breitbart site and its late founder, often pictured with his #WAR hashtag.
.@brandondarby: "Silence is abandoning our team member."@joelpollak: "In war we wait for orders…" pic.twitter.com/dyy3fCWcEe
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) March 12, 2016
One careful plan, coming up?
@katherinemiller I want to see this whole thread. They are all guilty of peddling the lie.
— Chris Loesch (@ChrisLoesch) March 12, 2016
https://twitter.com/NY_2_Carolina/status/708765167396343808
@katherinemiller Pollak put up a post yesterday that initially threw is own reporter under the bus, then had to frequently update all day.
— Pete & Lisa Got Caught Tampering With Flynn's 302! (@drawandstrike) March 12, 2016
@katherinemiller I find it funny that when Pollak wanted to attack his own reporter's truthfulness, he rushed out a post he had to update.
— Pete & Lisa Got Caught Tampering With Flynn's 302! (@drawandstrike) March 12, 2016
@katherinemiller But when colleagues want to defend her as more evidence comes to light, all of a sudden it's time to go silent, coordinate
— Pete & Lisa Got Caught Tampering With Flynn's 302! (@drawandstrike) March 12, 2016
@katherinemiller @mattdpearce aka if you talk/tweet about it the rest of us will lose access to the Trump campaign.
— Kyle (@Kentroyals5) March 12, 2016
@katherinemiller "coordinate our responses"?!? That sounds rather dishonest and defensive.
— TrumpDefenseDiedOnFionaHill (@DrKC4) March 12, 2016
@katherinemiller Defending colleagues is not conducive to the wishes of dear leader.
— Jim Jamitis (@anthropocon) March 12, 2016
@katherinemiller Classic Coverup. Pure Media shameless bias. Poor Andrew is rolling over… So sad. #NeverTrump
— (((RIPFreedom))) (@OuttaBaghdad4Nw) March 12, 2016
@katherinemiller @Patterico I coulda sworn journalists "coordinate" their statements only with truth. Musta missed a day of Journo school
— Plastic Straw Cartel Chief (@rcjparry) March 12, 2016
@katherinemiller @irin Note the ? Reactions in the screenshot of #management channel. Lots of yes-people there.
— P.J. Hinton (@HttpStatus402) March 12, 2016
@katherinemiller Wait a minute. Looks like @joelpollak is only advocating circumspection. Why does that make your mascara run?
— Marie von Astra (@marievonastra) March 12, 2016
A fair point: Fields has filed criminal charges, and who knows what sort of countersuit might be in the works.
https://twitter.com/Thoreau_H_D/status/708766727203643392
Join the conversation as a VIP Member