The New York Times inadvertently exposed one of their sources in their latest hit piece on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and several facts point to him being a Democratic state senator.
On Monday night, The NYT published an article claiming that Kavanaugh and his friends bragged about sexual conquests with a female friend in their high school yearbooks. The phrases “Renate Alumnius” and “Renate Alumni” were allegedly references to Renate Schroeder, a student at a nearby girls’ Catholic school.
The NYT cited two sources for the claim that the boys were “boasting about their conquests”; one was Sean Hagan, a former Georgetown Prep student, and the other was anonymous.
According to a report by The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway, the anonymous source was Richard S. Madaleno Jr., a Georgetown Prep classmate of Kavanaugh and a current Democratic Maryland state senator.
Hemingway noted that an original version of the NYT report named a “Mr. Madaleno” and then quickly deleted the reference. The authors did not explain why Madaleno’s name was removed and his first name was never mentioned.
Richard Madaleno, an anti-Trump Democrat, recently lost the Democratic primary for the Maryland governor’s race. Madaleno gained national attention for kissing his husband in a campaign ad and insisting the kiss was an act of resistance against the president.
“What’s the number one way I piss off Donald Trump and the Republicans?” Madaleno asked in the ad before going in for the kiss.
Madaleno is still named in a reprint of the NYT piece in the Seattle Times, but that article does not contain his first name either.
Schroeder, whose married name is Dolphin, told The NYT that the newly uncovered yearbook references are “horrible, hurtful and simply untrue.”
Four of the men that were listed in reference to the “Renate Almunius” phrases said in a statement that their yearbooks “were intended to allude to innocent dates or dance partners and were generally known within the community of people involved for over 35 years.” They added that they “never bragged about” sexual contact with their friend.