New York Times v Trump

Journalism in the US is very different from journalism in the UK. Ok, British journalists get scoops, of course they do, but reporters in the UK always have to beware of libel and secrecy laws and privacy rules and codes of practice etc. In Washington, the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal get the most amazing leaks. I'm not saying they're handed out like unsolicited gifts, the reporters have contacts and secret sources like all good journalists. But the Leaker Brigade in DC, those handing out the sensitive, confidential, sometimes top secret stuff to newspapers,seems to be getting bigger by the day. The New York Times really has got its teeth into the Trump Junior story and the latest leaked email is devastating. It looks like Trump's son was offered the prospect of some serious dirt on Hillary Clinton by a female Russian lawyer supposedly acting for the Kremlin, and he replied he'd love it. Well, if that is true and the email is genuine, then Mr Junior Trump has got some serious explaining to do. And, perhaps even more dramatic, did he tell his Daddy about the Russian lawyer approach, and did his Daddy reply: "Hey, son, go for it, sounds like a dream offer to get that b..ch!" The Trump son's lawyer is saying it's all hogwash and that it amounted to nothing and was all pretty harmless, although there WAS a meeting with this exotic lawyer (that's my adjective, based on the expectation that if the Kremlin is going to send a lawyer on a secret mission, it's bound to be a good-looking lady. That's not sexist, it's straightforward spy tradecraft. But apparently, so says Junior, nothing was revealed at the meeting to indicate the Russian had a handbag full of Hillary dirty linen. Well, no doubt, there will be more revelations once the New York Times gets hold of additional emails, texts, transcripts of telephone conversations etc etc. We Brits in the reporting world are so envious of our American colleagues. We'd have had injunctions, writs and heaven knows what thrown at us by now if we had started to publish confidential emails. Junior Trump seems quite a swaggery sort of bloke, but he better watch out. His Daddy is going to be on the warpath.