ProPublica published a terrific report last week on Paul Newby, the Republican chief justice of North Carolina’s Supreme Court, whom the outlet referred to derisively as “God’s Chief Justice.” The well-written and well-researched report painted a devastating portrait of a jurist who “turned his perch atop North Carolina’s Supreme Court into an instrument of political power.”
Newby has played a leading role, ProPublica reported, in “transforming the state’s top court from a relatively harmonious judicial backwater to a front-line partisan battleground since his election in 2004.” Although the state Supreme Court traditionally strove for impartiality, Newby has spent years trying to “erode barriers to politicization.”
But as notable as the reporting was, and as important as the underlying revelations are, there was a tangential element to the article that took its visibility to a new level.
The outlet, naturally, made multiple efforts to reach out to Newby for comment, and when he refused, ProPublica contacted others. From the piece:
When ProPublica emailed questions to Newby’s daughter, the North Carolina Republican Party’s communications director, Matt Mercer, responded, writing that ProPublica was waging a ‘jihad’ against ‘NC Republicans,’ which would ‘not be met with dignifying any comments whatsoever.’
“I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration and I’m sure they would be interested in this matter,” Mercer said in his email. “I would strongly suggest dropping this story.” (The bold text appeared in the original.)
The reference to Team Trump “connections” stood out. For all intents and purposes, the communications director for the state GOP sent an email to a news outlet in which he seemed to argue:
- You’re journalists.
- The White House is willing to go after journalists.
- We’re close with the White House.
- Do the math.
Party operatives interact with reporters every day, in areas nationwide. Communications like these, however, are not normal.
Asked about the email, Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College, told The Washington Post, “The statement that was made by the North Carolina GOP spokesperson is not the kind of statement that should be made in a democracy. The fact that the press is being implicitly threatened with punishment by the executive branch is dangerous, and it’s dangerous even if the Trump administration doesn’t follow through.”
That last point is especially important, because it speaks to the culture of fear too many Republicans seem to be hoping to create. The goal appears to be a chilling effect, in which media professionals have to wonder whether their reporting — or even their line of inquiry — might upset the wrong Republicans who have White House friends on speed dial.
Dave Heller, the deputy director of the Media Law Resource Center, told the Post that Mercer’s comments were “a sad reflection of a toxic antagonism towards the press” and were “made worse by the suggestion that the Trump administration — if not the president himself — can be summoned to chill reporters from doing their work.”
