The Court has come under attack for years now. But this is despicable.
And now this incriminating report was just slammed on a Supreme Court Justice’s desk.
A New York Times journalist has extended an unexpected apology to an author whose life was upended during the heated confirmation battle of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
David Enrich, an investigative reporter for the Times, reached out to author and journalist Mark Judge, acknowledging his role in the controversial reporting that implicated Judge in allegations surrounding Kavanaugh in 2018.
“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my role in the Kavanaugh coverage, and I would be happy to talk to you about it at some point,” Enrich wrote in an email to Judge, as revealed in an article Judge authored for Chronicles Magazine.
“For now, I will just say that I have learned some lessons and would probably do certain things differently next time.”
Judge described the correspondence as shocking. “I got the most unexpected response I ever could’ve imagined, which was the New York Times reporter who tried to ruin my life, sounded contrite,” he told Fox News Digital.
The controversy stems from the New York Times’ reporting during the Kavanaugh confirmation process, in which Judge was named in connection to unsubstantiated claims of drugging and gang-r*ping girls during high school.
Judge maintains that the paper relied on “totally bogus” opposition research provided by disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti and others, accusing Enrich and his colleague Kate Kelly of pursuing a smear campaign against him.
Judge, a high school friend of Kavanaugh, was thrust into the spotlight when Christine Blasey Ford alleged that he was present in the room where Kavanaugh supposedly assaulted her in the early 1980s. Ford’s claims, which lacked corroboration from other witnesses, sparked a media frenzy. Judge denied Ford’s allegations and stated he never saw Kavanaugh behave in the way she described.
The Times coverage included personal details about Judge’s teenage years, labeling him “a fixture of the school’s party scene” and highlighting a high school yearbook photo of Judge and Kavanaugh with the caption “Renate alumni.”
The paper also dug into Judge’s satirical underground high school newspaper, “The Unknown Hoya,” which contained what the Times described as “s*xist humor.”
Judge, who chronicled his ordeal in his book The Devil’s Triangle, has been vocal about the toll the reporting took on his mental health. He told Fox News Digital that the coverage caused immense harm to his family and shattered lifelong friendships. At one point, he said, the distress led him to contemplate suicide.
When Judge informed Enrich of the pain caused by the reporting, he was surprised to receive a sympathetic response. “I can’t imagine what it was like for you to go through that,” Enrich reportedly replied.
Judge expressed cautious optimism about Enrich’s admission.
“For years, my friends at Georgetown and I have been saying, ‘If only there was somebody with a conscience at the New York Times or Washington Post, if only one of them would come forward and admit what they did here.’ I think we’ve just gotten it. I don’t want people to badmouth him; I want to encourage him,” Judge said.
However, the New York Times stood by its reporting, pushing back against Judge’s characterization. “Mr. Judge’s claims about our reporters’ practices are not accurate. The Times’s reporting on Justice Kavanaugh’s nomination and confirmation process was thorough, independent, and fair, and we stand behind it,” a spokesperson for the paper said in a statement.
Judge also revealed that his life was further disrupted by what he described as an extortion attempt. During an appearance with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, he recounted receiving a threatening voicemail from an unknown California number. “‘You like f’ing with people, Mark? I like f’ing with people too. You better change your story,’” Judge recalled the caller saying.
Judge passed the voicemail to his attorney, who in turn shared it with the FBI. Yet, according to Judge, the matter was never resolved. Despite the ordeal, Judge continues to call for accountability, not only for the allegations but for the media practices that contributed to what he calls the “destruction” of his life.
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