The New York Times scandal - 2003
HAS THE NY
TIMES' REPORTER BECOME
A PATSY FOR RUSSIAN MOB?
True story behind O'Brien story: Documents
New
York. January 29, 2000 (MT~NewsWire) In August of
1999, Tim O’Brien the then NY Times' leading
business reporter broke the story about the money
laundering investigation at the Bank of New York
launching unprecedented media exposure of Russian
financial machinations in the US. However, five
months later O’Brien published an
incredible retraction suggesting that the New York
Times and other press may have been drawing
information from a source which O’Brien claimed
was "tainted", to wit, Emanuel
Zeltser, Director of American Russian Law
Institute. Since that article appeared, the Times
had to face persistent questions whether this
improbable reporting had been sanctioned from
Moscow by those who seek to hush investigations
into Russian mob's money laundering through the
Bank of New York.
In
April of 2000, when it became clear that the Times
could not longer afford the "O'Brien
embarrassment" Tim O'Brien
"resigned" from the NY Times.
"What
started as a scoop for Times reporter Tim O'Brien
became an obsession... O'Brien ... had clearly
become obsessed with Zeltser" wrote the
New York Magazine. "It is rarely a good idea
in a news story for the subject and the reporter
to be the same person" agrees Richard
Tofel, the spokesman for the Wall Street Journal.
"The real dirt in the Bank of New York story
isn't only its subject - the Russian mafia - but
the strive between a reporter and his source"
commented Brill's Content. "Is Timothy
O'Brien of the New York Times an aggressive
reporter -- or simply aggressive?" bluntly
asks the New
York Post, "Emanuel Zeltser, a lawyer and
board member of the American Russian Law
Institute, charges O'Brien went "out of
control" last August when he learned Zeltser,
one of his best sources, was talking to the Wall
Street Journal and other papers."
"By
publishing this article he committed professional
suicide", sums up Maria Berdnikova, prominent
Russian- American newscaster. O'Brien
however went beyond using the Times' pages to
"settle the score" with his former front
page source. Witnesses, lawyers and even
journalists, who exposed Russian mob proliferation
into American banking system reported that O'Brien
attempted to harass and intimidate all those who
took the stance against Russian and American money
launderers. At whose behest?
FROM:
MARIA BERDNIKOVA
TO:
TIM OBRIEN
SUBJECT:
Your e-mails
and tel. calls of 12/14 and 12/15
DATE:
12/16/99 3:26:30 AM Eastern Standard Time
Tim, I
have received a bunch of your e-mails and phone
calls. If you want to interview me we can do that
simultaneously with your interview (remember, I
asked you first in September?) If you decline,
please provide comments regarding the recent
allegations (a) that you've been retained by the
Vinogradov-Mogilevich faction to spook off
witnesses in the Inkombank/bony investigations;
(b) that you use the "reporting" for the
Times to avenge your former employer, the WSJ and
to retaliate against a woman who rejected your
sexual advances. If you accept my suggestion for
the double interview, please e-mail me ASAP, so I
can schedule our camera crew. If not, I am sure
that I'll have plenty of opportunities for the
comments if and when your article runs. As regards
your question why I permit my colleague and/or my
friend to use my e-mail -- because I am a cordial
and collegial person - you may look up these words
in Webster dictionary. Finally, it's a bit of a
stretch to say that the letters you referenced in
your e-mail suggest the "irregularities in
[your] coverage of Mr. Zeltser", rather than
irregularities in your behavior. Regards.
Maria
RELATED
STORIES
Source Turns on Times Reporter
(New York Post, Jan.17, 2000) Is Timothy
O'Brien of the New York Times an aggressive
reporter -- or simply aggressive? ... Emanuel
Zeltser, a lawyer and board member of the
American Russian Law Institute, charges O'Brien
went "out of control" last August when
he learned Zeltser, one of his best sources, was
talking to the Wall Street Journal and other
papers.
Russian
Nouveau Riche Applaud O'Brien
Tim O’Brien’s article in the New York
Times ("Doubts Raised About Source in Bank
of New York Inquiry") is receiving rave
reviews by Russia’s financial elite.
"We’ve always said that Americans
fabricated the whole story" proclaimed a
commentator of the Most-Media...
Russian
Launderers "Spin" Back - The
Times Reporter Teams Up with Kagalovsky's
Gumshoes
New York Times Reporter, Timothy O'Brien
Joins Campaign Against Witnesses Testifying
Against Russian Mob-Controlled Banks.
Is
Times Reporter Making Fool of Himself?
In his bizarre January 17, 2000 article Timothy
L. O'Brien wrote that Emanuel Zeltser, once the
Times primary source for the BoNY-Russian
laundering stories, discontinued granting
interviews to the idiosyncratic reporter...
Times'
Reporter Targets Lawyers, Witnesses
Alarming reports from Moscow and New York show
that Russian financial racketeers are back
to their usual stratagem of thwarting criminal
and civil proceedings by halting media exposure
of their money laundering activity in Russia the
US.
The
O'Brien Questionnaire. Is Tim O'Brien of the
NY Times conducting a legitimate
journalistic inquiry? You'll be the judge.
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"It
is rarely a good idea in a news story for
the subject and the reporter to be the same
person." Richard Tofel (The
Wall Street Journal)
