National Review: Text messages contradict New York Times, support Bari Weiss claim that Times senior editor wanted Chuck Schumer's opinion on Tim Scott op-ed

A second source has reportedly come forward to support former New York Times opinion editor Bari Weiss' jaw-dropping claim that an editor at the Times once insisted that Democratic Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) be consulted before the paper published an op-ed by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.).

The New York Times has repeatedly denied the allegation. But National Review writer Nate Hochman reported Monday that a source "with direct knowledge of the matter" provided text messages from a senior New York Times editor that backed up Weiss' account and even shared the email address of Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman.

Last Wednesday, Weiss interviewed Scott for an episode of her podcast, "Honesty with Bari Weiss," during which she told the South Carolina lawmaker that New York Times editors in 2020 had debated whether or not to run an op-ed from Scott on police reform in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

Weiss, who cited "constant bullying" from colleagues as a reason for her departure from the Times in July 2020, alleged that a senior opinion editor had instructed a junior colleague to consult with Schumer before publishing Scott's op-ed.

"I was at the New York Times, and you or your staff sent in an op-ed about the bill and why it fell apart," Weiss recounted. "And this is the part I’m not sure if you know — there was a discussion about the piece and whether or not we should run it, and one colleague, a more senior colleague, said to a more junior colleague who was pushing for the piece, ‘Do you think the Republicans really care about minority rights?’"

"Wow," Scott said.

"And the more junior colleague said, ‘I think Tim Scott cares about minority rights.’ And then — and here’s the pretty shocking part — the more senior colleague said, ‘Let’s check with Senator Schumer before we run it,'" Weiss continued.

"And the colleague, the younger one, refused. Because he said — because that colleague said it wasn’t an ethical thing to do," she said.

The New York Times has vehemently denied this in public comments to multiple media outlets. "New York Times Opinion never seeks outside approval or consultation whether to publish guest opinion essays," a spokesman for the Times told TheBlaze on Friday.

New York Times Communications repeated the denial in a tweet responding to Scott, who accused the paper of silencing him.

However, National Review reportedly obtained text messages that contradict the Times' statements and support Weiss' account. National Review's source "shared the contents of messages that contradict the Times’ statements and reaffirm Weiss’s account. They are consistent with Weiss’s recollection that a senior editor at the Times opinion page questioned whether Republicans cared about minority rights and directed a staff member to send the Scott op-ed to Schumer’s office, though the junior editor apparently did not do so," Hochman wrote Monday.

The New York Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment.