This sounds like the kind of thing @Johnheretohelp has been talking about. You can be sure there will be more to this story. The past five years have destroyed what little faith I had in anything having to do with Washington DC. Why would NYT print that “leaked” story? And who leaked it? Leaking stories like that is how the game in DC is played. For example, it is widely believed Dianne Feinstein leaked the Fusion GPS transcript to warn other bad actors of what was coming and to synchronize their stories. Chuck Schumer’s six ways from Sunday is another example of how DC operates behind the scenes.