Politico corrected a story about White House chief of staff Susie Wiles Wednesday while pushing back against the Trump administration’s threats of legal action, accusing the White House of attempting to intimidate the news outlet over its reporting.
The correction came after White House counsel Will Scharf sent Politico a letter Monday demanding that it retract or correct three articles about Wiles, publicly apologize to President Donald Trump and Wiles, and remove the disputed reporting from its archives. Scharf gave the outlet 48 hours to comply or face consequences, including a review of its relationship with the White House and potential legal remedies.
In an Oct. 21 response shared Thursday by CNN’s Brian Stelter, attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr., representing Politico, rejected the administration’s allegations that the outlet deliberately published false information while acknowledging that additional reporting warranted a correction to one of the three articles.
“Politico categorically rejects the false accusations in your letter that it ‘chose to publish fanciful fiction’ and ‘purposeful falsehoods designed to mislead the public,’” Boutrous wrote.
The corrected Oct. 16 story originally reported that Wiles helped arrange an appearance by then-White House press secretary Katie Zacharia on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program ahead of Zacharia’s firing. Politico subsequently clarified that Wiles offered “positive reinforcement” for the interview but did not directly participate in booking it.
Fox News and the White House had disputed the original account.
The other two disputed articles included an Oct. 15 Politico Playbook report that Trump was considering replacing Wiles and an Oct. 16 follow-up describing turmoil within the White House following that report. The administration denied both accounts.
Boutrous said Politico reexamined all three articles and conducted additional reporting before determining that only the story concerning Zacharia’s Fox News appearance warranted a correction.
“Promptly and transparently making corrections, as Politico has done here, is a hallmark of journalistic ethics and integrity,” he wrote.
Politico declined to comment for this story. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The confrontation comes amid an ongoing legal battle over the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict White House access for Politico, CNN and MS NOW.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from revoking the outlets’ White House press credentials, finding they were likely to succeed on their First Amendment and due process claims. The administration appealed the ruling the following day.
Boutrous cited that litigation in his response, arguing that the White House’s latest demands further demonstrated its retaliatory motives.
“Any error that you could identify in Politico’s reporting about the President or his administration would not excuse the White House’s unconstitutional retaliation and discrimination against Politico for the content of its news coverage,” he wrote.
Boutrous said Politico would defend its journalism and continue reporting on the administration despite what he characterized as White House attempts to intimidate its journalists.
