January 23, 2007 -- 9:59 AM EST // //
QUESTIONS FOR JOHN SOLOMON DURING TODAY'S CHAT WITH READERS.
Today at 11 A.M., Washington Post reporter John Solomon is taking questions from readers.
Here at TPM, as you know, we really enjoy having our way with old Solomon, mainly because of his history of hunting for Dems when the scent of wrongdoing is at best slight or at worst non-existent.
As you also know, the other day Solomon wrote a long front-page piece that seemed to suggest that there was something untoward about John Edwards' house sale last month, though it wasn't clear from the piece exactly what it was. There are plenty of outstanding questions about the article.
We thought a readers' chat might be a good place for readers to pose these questions to Solomon directly. So here are a few thoughts for queries that might be directed his way:
1) Many readers have complained that it isn't clear from your piece on Edwards whether he and his wife did anything untoward in selling their house. So can you clarify things by telling us in one sentence exactly what it is, if anything, that Edwards and his wife did wrong?2) Given that not one, but two staffers at your paper -- reporter Jonathan Weisman and ombud Deborah Howell -- have criticized the piece, what is your reaction to the substance of their criticism? Do you think these in-house critics have a point, or do you think your colleagues are simply wrong about your effort?
3) In your piece on Edwards, you cited two unions who are at legal loggerheads with the buyer of Edwards' home. Your piece suggested that there was something untoward about Edwards' sale to someone battling these unions because he's courting their support for his Presidential bid. Yet an official for one of those unions didn't pass any judgment on Edwards' action. And you apparently didn't even contact the other union for comment. Isn't that an unforgivable omission for an investigative journalist at a top news org?
4) It's now known that officials at the union you didn't contact didn't see anything wrong with what Edwards did. Why haven't you done a follow-up story emphasizing this fact? And does this new info cause you to rethink the validity or news value of your piece in any way?
Anyway, those are a few suggestions for questions. Have at it, if you feel so inclined. The chat is here.
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Update: More good stuff from AmericaBlog.
Update II: Here's my wrap-up on Solomon's responses to readers.