Fox News contributor Dan Bongino blasted The New York Times Monday after the newspaper walked back an explosive report about a resurfaced allegation of sexual assault by Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
"The New York Times is a disgrace. This is not a newspaper anymore, OK? Let's put that to bed. This is not the paper of record anymore, this is the paper of hot garbage," said Bongino on "Fox & Friends."
The Times piece by Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, adapted from their forthcoming book, alleged there was corroboration of an incident in which Kavanaugh, as a college student at Yale, exposed himself to a female classmate at a party. News of the supposed "bombshell" prompted calls from numerous 2020 Democratic candidates to impeach Kavanaugh.
In a major revision late Sunday, a Times editor's note added a significant detail — that several friends of the alleged victim said she did not recall the purported sexual assault in question at all. The Times also stated for the first time that the alleged victim had refused to be interviewed and has made no comment about the episode.
The only firsthand statement concerning the supposed attack in the original piece, which was published on Saturday, came from a Clinton-connected lawyer who claimed to have witnessed it.
DEM SENATOR CITES KAVANAUGH'S ALLEGED PRO-LIFE LEANINGS AS REASON TO DENY HIM A FAIR HEARING
The Times' revision says: "Editors' Note: An earlier version of this article, which was adapted from a forthcoming book, did not include one element of the book's account regarding an assertion by a Yale classmate that friends of Brett Kavanaugh pushed his penis into the hand of a female student at a drunken dorm party. The book reports that the female student declined to be interviewed and friends say that she does not recall the incident. That information has been added to the article."
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Bongino emphasized that there is "no new accusation" against Kavanaugh and lamented what has happened to Kavanaugh since his nomination to the high court.
"What's happening to this guy is a disgrace in this country. It is an embarrassment. This guy has to go to his church and look at fellow members of his church and his family while these reports are being written about him in the paper?" said Bongino, mocking the Times for not including the crucial information.
"Either The New York Times is full of colossal morons with the IQ of a rabbit or The New York Times is deliberately trying to smear a good man because they are trying to send a message ahead of some Supreme Court case. There is no option C."
Fox News' Gregg Re contributed to this report.
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