But we do also take into consideration a writer’s motives as part of the vetting process. At a time when the country should be focused on the Kavanaugh hearings, the outcome of which will affect us for the next 30 years or more, you totally distracted everyone with a guessing game. It certainly was not our intention to start a guessing game or draw the nation’s attention away from the Kavanaugh hearings. It was always our expectation that even if the Op-Ed created a splash, that the Kavanaugh hearings would remain a focus of media attention. And indeed, though the Op-Ed was the big news on Wednesday and Thursday, the hearings remained front-page news in The Times throughout the week.

Source: New York Times September 08, 2018 19:18 UTC