In the age of the Internet and vast, easily accessible databases, it has become relatively easy for news stories to suddenly emerge as “gotcha” moments regardless of their provenance. This is especially true in the throes of a fiercely competitive presidential election campaign. To be sure, first impressions, even if not ultimately accurate, are often the ones that linger, but that is the nature of modern communication and an important facet of our lives today.
One such story surfaced this week involving the claim by a former defense department employee, David Meyer, that Joseph Schmitz, one of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s senior foreign policy advisers, had boasted about having caused the firing of Jewish employees while he served as inspector general of the Pentagon. Mr. Schmitz is also alleged to have questioned commonly held facts about the Holocaust.
The claim against Mr. Schmitz was contained in a formal charge against the Department of Defense for unlawful discharge. It should be noted that Mr. Schmitz was not alleged to have been directly involved in Mr. Meyer’s discharge.
For his part, Mr. Schmitz denies the story and e-mailed a statement saying he was “quite proud of the Jewish heritage of my wife of 38 years,” later clarifying that his wife’s maternal grandmother was Jewish.
If true, the story is a serious matter. The point, though, is that while countless people are undoubtedly familiar with the story, no one knows if the charges have merit. Time will tell.
Another such story involves the discovery of a new trove of approximately 15,000 e-mails evidencing a close relationship between officials of the Clinton Foundation and officials at the State Department under former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee. Some of them would seem to indicate that a number of individuals, including from foreign countries, regularly went through the Clinton Foundation to secure appointments with State Department decision-makers and in the process made large contributions to the foundation.
Again, this story has dominated the news for days and is doubtlessly known to a wide audience. Yet, for all its potentially serious import, it has still to be fully explored.
Prudence dictates we should seek more information before making snap judgments about what we think we know.