The New York Times had first shot in 2014 at the video of Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber mocking the “stupidity of the American voter,” but took a pass.
Though the Times eventually followed up on reports of the MIT economist’s now-infamous remarks on the passage of the Affordable Care Act, it did so only after they had generated a national scandal.
Times’ reporter Robert Pear was the “first real journalist” that tipster Rich Weinstein contacted with the newly unearthed footage, he told the Washington Examiner.
Weinstein met Pear at a conference in Washington, D.C., when he was trying to find a reporter who he could tip off to a separate Obamacare issue involving contracts between the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and CGI Federal, the company that was brought on to build healthcare.gov.
“Nobody would listen to me,” Weinstein said, explaining that his earlier attempts to connect with media had been mostly unsuccessful. “So I was trying to contact journalists directly because I had this stuff.”
Having met Pear on Oct. 30 at a Cato Institute conference, titled “Pruitt, Halbig, King & Indiana: Is Obamacare Once Again Headed to the Supreme Court,” he followed up on the contact.
“I sent [Pear] an email telling him he should look at these videos I found,” he said, noting that he discovered the footage of Gruber’s now-infamous “stupidity” remarks on Nov. 2.
Weinstein showed the Examiner an email to Pear dated Nov. 9 including a link to the Gruber video and reading, “Thought you’d be interested in this.”
Pear, who had just two days earlier reported on separate Gruber comments regarding state health care exchanges, responded to the email, asking, “would you happen to the know the time and place of the panel discussion?”
Weinstein provided details of the 2013 health care event and the Times reporter answered with a simple, “thank you.”
That was the end of their communication, Weinstein said. Pear never followed up on their conversation and he never wrote about the tip.
Fortunately for the public record, conservative activist group American Commitment found the footage that Weinstein had circulated on social media and uploaded it to YouTube Nov. 7. The Daily Signal found it there and published it Nov. 9 with an article titled “Caught on Camera: Obamacare Architect Admits Deceiving Americans to Pass Law.”
The New York Times didn’t report on Gruber’s “lack of transparency” remarks until Nov. 12.
By then, it was already a major news event.
When the Times eventually caught up with the story, it did so in an Upshot post titled “The Jonathan Gruber Controversy and Washington’s Dirty Little Secret.” The Times’ Neil Irwin wrote that the MIT economist had merely exposed, “something sordid yet completely commonplace about how Congress makes policy of all types.”
The paper would go on to cover the news in pieces downplaying the significance of the video.
On Nov. 14, for example, an Upshot article titled “The Policy at the Heart of the Jonathan Gruber Controversy,” explained that the health economist was merely trying to explain how Congress works.
A separate article published Nov. 14 characterized Gruber simply as a “supporter” of Obamacare. The Times also put out a blog post explaining which cocktail would best pair with news of Gruber’s controversial remarks.
On Nov. 17, the Times editorialized on “The Impolitic Jonathan Gruber,” downplaying the economist’s role in shaping Obamacare, dinging Republicans for “crowing” over his remarks and flatly stating that there was no “lack of transparency” in the health care law’s passage.
The story of Gruber’s remarks on the Affordable Care Act would go on to embarrass the Obama administration and its allies, forcing several Democratic lawmakers to deny even knowing of the once-lauded economist. Republican lawmakers even held congressional hearings in response to the newly unearthed Gruber’s comments.
These embarrassments would continue well after the first video surfaced thanks in part to Weinstein’s continued work uncovering unflattering videos of Gruber’s cringe-worthy public statements. The “mild-mannered” Philadelphia-based investment advisor is now regarded as something of an expert on all things Gruber.
For the Times, flawed news judgment resulted in the newspaper missing out on a major scoop, said the president of the group that uploaded Weinstein’s find to YouTube.
“[The Times] could’ve owned what ended up being a national news story for almost a month. They missed out on a huge story,” Kerpen said. “If Robert Pear actually watched the video and decided, ‘This isn’t newsworthy,’ I think it would be a pretty clear indication that ideology trumped business interests.”
Neither Pear nor multiple Times spokespersons responded to the Examiner’s requests for comment.
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This post has been updated with additional comment from Weinstein.
