'National Review' Urges Revoking 'NYT' White House Credentials

By: Joe Strupp The same day that President Bush criticized The New York Times for disclosing a secret bank records monitoring program, editors of the National Review - the influential conservative magazine - are urging the White House to revoke the Times' press credentials.

In an unusual move that has one publication seeking to block the press credentials of another, National Review wrote online today that the publication of the bank records story by the Times and other newspapers is the "latest body blow to the war effort."

"Every passing week, it becomes more apparent that disgruntled leftists in the intelligence community and antiwar crusaders in the mainstream media, annealed in their disdain for the Bush administration, are undermining our ability to win the War on Terror," the editorial began. Although it noted that both The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times had disclosed the same information in stories that were first posted online late Thursday, the editorial aimed squarely at The New York Times.

"President Bush, who said on Monday morning that the exposure 'does great harm to the United States of America,' must demand that the New York Times pay a price for its costly, arrogant defiance," the editorial continued. "The administration should withdraw the newspaper's White House press credentials because this privilege has been so egregiously abused, and an aggressive investigation should be undertaken to identify and prosecute, at a minimum, the government officials who have leaked national-defense information."

Times officials did not immediately return requests from E&P seeking comment. On Sunday, a letter from Executive Editor Bill Keller, defending the article, was posted on the newspaper's Web site.

"The Bush administration pleaded with the newspapers not to publish what they had learned. But these requests, rooted in the national-security interests of the United States, were rebuffed," the National Review editorial noted.

"The New York Times is a recidivist offender in what has become a relentless effort to undermine the intelligence-gathering without which a war against embedded terrorists cannot be won," the editorial added.

In the end, it repeated its call to strip the paper of press access, declaring, "The president should match this morning's tough talk with concrete action. Publications such as the Times, which act irresponsibly when given access to secrets on which national security depends, should have their access to government reduced. Their press credentials should be withdrawn. Reporting is surely a right, but press credentials are a privilege. This kind of conduct ought not be rewarded with privileged access."