My Formal Response to Politico
Here's what I just told the media conglomerate trying to censor me
I wanted Telos subscribers to be the first to know of a new development in the ongoing fight with Politico, which demanded that I delete an article critical of media coverage of Donald Trump.
To recap, on Monday, I launched Telos, a one-person news operation devoted to covering the crisis in Washington stemming from the Trump administration’s weaponization of the government.
In the first article, I discussed how Trump’s targeting of the law firm Paul Weiss caused lawyers there to erase accomplishments from their biographies and memory-hole celebrated aspects of the firm’s history. I also critiqued—respectfully—how some media organizations, including Politico, are covering the Trump administration.
Later that night, Politico’s Chief Legal Officer sent me an email accusing me of “disparaging” the foreign-owned media conglomerate, implicitly threatening me with legal action, and demanding that I delete the entire 1800-word article from the internet.
The good news is that despite this threat, things are going well at Telos. I posted this on Substack earlier today:
🌞 Good morning, everyone! I just wanted to give you all a few housekeeping updates:
🎙️ We have a new podcast channel here: telos.news/podcast
📼 We have a new YouTube channel here: youtube.com/@telosnews
They will serve as feeds for my Substack Live conversations. We will be launching a flagship podcast later this year.
🇺🇸 We now have subscribers in every state…
🌎 … and 45 countries
💪 We are #5 on Substack’s “Rising” chart for U.S. Politics, which tracks the fastest-growing publications.
🥇 We are number #1 on Substack’s “New Bestsellers” chart!
🕵️♂️ The big investigative piece I previewed earlier this week is now scheduled to drop on Tuesday. It’s over 9,000 words and is going through final revisions. This article will be for paid subscribers only — and I assure you it’s worth it!
The bad news is that Politico’s legal harassment still hangs over Telos.
Axel Springer paid over a billion dollars for Politico. Telos is a tiny operation — though we are getting a dog next month! — with few resources. Axel/Politico could sue Telos into oblivion if they wanted.
But the reason I have the confidence to stand up to them and make sure they don’t shut us down before we even get off the ground is because of the overwhelming response from readers this week who told me that 1) they loved the Telos mission statement and 2) they were appalled by Politico’s attempt to censor me.
But I can’t make this project work without your support. If you like what we are trying to build here at Telos, please join the Telos News Community and become a paid subscriber. THANK YOU!
I gave Politico a deadline of 4 PM today to respond to my letter, so stay tuned.
Here’s what I sent them:
Very well said. That you offered solutions was an amiable way to toss the ball in their court. Please keep us updated.
Kudos for standing firm. I've enjoyed your writing since you were at The New Yorker. I run a tiny independent news site in Central Florida and have experienced this on a smaller scale than you are now when a city tried to ban me from covering its commission meetings. But bullies are the same no matter the size. They only respond to strength. When you demonstrate you won't be pushed around, they usually cave. Guess that WHCA dinner will be awkward. ;)
I'm looking forward to more great reporting from Telos.