In the aftermath of President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, an anonymous individual named 'Robert' reached out to journalists at major US newsrooms with purportedly significant information related to the election.
Starting on July 22, Politico, The New York Times, and The Washington Post received emails from 'Robert' containing private documents from within Donald Trump's campaign operation. Politico disclosed that the emails, originating from an AOL address, included internal communications from a senior Trump campaign official and a research dossier on Ohio Sen. JD Vance, a potential running mate for Trump. The dossier highlighted Vance's perceived vulnerabilities and also featured sections on Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, another candidate for the GOP ticket.
Both The New York Times and The Washington Post confirmed that they too were sent a similar collection of documents, such as a 271-page report on Vance dated Feb. 23, labeled 'privileged & confidential,' and reportedly based on publicly available information.
Despite the sensitive nature of the campaign files, the three news outlets decided against publishing any reports on the information they had received. 'Robert' hinted at possessing additional documents, ranging from legal and court papers to internal campaign discussions, but the newsrooms refrained from further coverage.
Brad Dayspring, a spokesperson for Politico, explained that the editorial decision was based on the newsworthiness of the circumstances surrounding the documents' origins rather than the content within them.
