New York Times Accuses Tom Cotton of ‘Parroting Disinformation’ on Journalist Links to Hamas

The New York Times accused Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) of “parroting disinformation” after the senator sent a letter to the outlet demanding information on whether the publication employed Palestinian photographers forewarned by Hamas of the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.

“As I am sure you agree, the spread of disinformation and incendiary rhetoric threatens the health of our democracy,” David McCraw, deputy general counsel for the Times, responded in a public letter to Cotton on Friday morning. “Sadly, your letter to The New York Times of November 9 exacerbates those very problems.”

“You say in your letter that you are relying on ‘reports’ that New York Times employees were involved with the deadly Hamas attack of October 7. In fact, you are merely parroting disinformation harvested from the Internet based on a website that has conceded it had no evidence for its claims,” McCraw continued, citing an Associated Press article which questioned the veracity of the allegation that freelancers working with U.S. outlets had advanced warning of the attack.

On Thursday, a pro-Israel watchdog group, HonestReporting, published an explosive report accusing freelance photographers in the Gaza Strip employed by the Times, CNN, Reuters, and the AP of violating journalistic ethics and questioning whether some had a direction relationship with the Palestinian terror group. The allegations went viral and led to incriminating revelations showing Hassan Eslaiah, a CNN and AP stringer, in one instance, taking a gushing selfie with Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar. Other information disseminated by HonestReporting showed Eslaiah live-streaming the Hamas onslaught within Israel without wearing any press markings to distinguish him from combatants.

The report, which drew the condemnations of senior Israeli politicians including Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyau, led Senator Cotton to send a letter to A. G. Sulzberger, owner of the Times, requesting “immediate answers” to questions such as how many employees “were embedded with Hamas” during October 7, when the outlet became aware of the relationship, and how many remain in touch with the terrorist group.

“According to reports, members of your staff were embedded with Hamas, knew about the attack, and not only went along with it but accompanied members of Hamas as they carried out the attack. If your employees, as part of their work, participated in terrorist activities or if your organization or employees provided material support (including any funding) to Hamas, the leadership of your organization may also face criminal penalties under federal law,” Cotton wrote on Thursday.

After receiving McCraw’s note, Cotton dismissed the statement and blasted the Times on Friday afternoon. “Falsehoods circulated on the internet are not ‘reports,'” the senator wrote on X, poking at the Times response. “The @NYTimes just described its own ‘newsroom.'”

“What you don’t say is that your freelance photographers—pictured riding with the Hamas terrorists on 10/7—had no advance knowledge. Is that also your claim?” Cotton added.

The HonestReporting article which Cotton cited did not include any direct evidence that freelancers for U.S. outlets knew of the Hamas attack in advance but did insinuate that they would have been unable to cover the early stages of the attack without such warning.

“Is it conceivable to assume that ‘journalists’ just happened to appear early in the morning at the border without prior coordination with the terrorists? Or were they part of the plan?” HonestReporting wrote in the widely cited article. “Even if they didn’t know the exact details of what was going to happen, once it unfolded did they not realize they were breaching a border? And if so, did they notify the news agencies? Some sort of communication was undoubtedly necessary — before, after or during the attack —  in order to get the photos published.”

While the AP originally praised Eslaiah’s work in the wake of October 7, following HonestReporting’s publication, the wire service announced that it had severed ties with the photographer. An AP spokesperson also said that the first photo they received of the attacks were taken over an hour after the onslaught began, which would have allowed enough time for the photographer who captured it to arrive on scene, even if he did not have advance warning.

CNN said that Eslaiah was not working on its behalf on October 7 but severed ties with the photographer as well after the release of the damning photo in which he’s being kissed by a Hamas leader.

Three other journalists were specifically named in the report, and the Times, Reuters, and AP have all challenged its core assertion, leading HonestReporting to release an official statement in response.

“HonestReporting stands behind the legitimate questions we asked media outlets in our recent expose. We wish to clarify that we do not believe that journalists should be treated as terrorists unless they commit acts of violence. We unequivocally condemn calls for violence or death threats aimed at bona fide media workers,” the organization wrote Friday morning.

On Thursday, the AP wrote an article accusing HonestReporting of making the damning assertion with “no evidence” based on an interview Hoffman did with the Jerusalem Post. “They were legitimate questions to be asked,” Hoffman told the Israeli outlet. “We raised questions, and it led the media outlets to clarify the truth,” he added. “Great, that’s what we do.”