North Carolina GOP Official Threatens ProPublica Reporter Over Investigative Story
A top North Carolina Republican official invoked the Trump administration’s power to intimidate ProPublica into silence. It is part of a disturbing trend among Republicans.
In a display of the right’s growing disdain for the press, a North Carolina Republican official tried to bury a negative story by threatening a reporter. It is yet another example of the authoritarian spirit overtaking the Republican Party.
Threats and Defensiveness
The reporter, ProPublica’s Doug Bock Clark, was writing a piece about North Carolina Chief Justice Paul Newby. Clark had made repeated attempts to reach out to the Chief Justice and was even escorted out of a judicial conference where he attempted to ask the Chief Justice questions about his increasingly partisan influence on North Carolina’s highest court.
Despite repeated attempts to ask for comment, Republicans refused to answer questions for the piece, but Clark was still able to interview “…over 70 people who know him professionally or personally, including former North Carolina justices and judges, lawmakers, longtime friends and family members.”
However, when Clark attempted to reach out to Chief Justice Newby’s daughter, who is currently listed as the party’s finance director, the communications director for the North Carolina Republicans, Matt Mercer threatened Clark in an email, writing, “I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration and I’m sure they would be interested in this matter… I would strongly suggest dropping this story.” It is worth noting that Mercer’s Muck Rack account currently lists him as the Editor in Chief of the North State Journal, the “…only statewide newspaper in North Carolina,” per the outlet’s about page. A journalist and political advocate threatening a fellow journalist with the power of the presidency is certainly a choice.
Attacking and Denigrating the Free Press
While the administration has yet to indicate that it would support such a move against ProPublica, the idea of a major official in a state party threatening the press like this is beyond the pale, but it is part of a larger pattern among Republicans.
In one incident, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insulted Huffington Post reporter Shirish Dáte after he asked who recommended Budapest for a meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin. Budapest was previously the site of an agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Russia, now known as the Budapest Memorandum. In response to this seemingly straightforward question, Leavitt responded with “your mom did.”
In addition, Dáte also received hostile texts from White House communications director Steven Cheung, who was attempting to dissuade Dáte from reaching out to Stephen Miller directly. In those messages, Cheung said Dáte was being “a little fucking bitch.” Dáte subsequently posted a screenshot of the text exchange, which is available to read below.
It isn’t merely explicative-laden texts or mockery that the press has faced. The administration has repeatedly targeted reporters and media organizations it dislikes. President Trump has threatened to revoke the broadcast license of outlets he dislikes, celebrated the temporary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel, permitted Hegseth to replace the Press Corps with outlets favorable to him, and has referred to the press as the “enemy of the people.” The administration’s hostility to the press has become so well-documented that PBS NewsHour asked whether Trump was following the playbook of Hungary’s dictator, Viktor Orbán.
These are dangerous times, and Mercer’s decision to try to weaponize such dangerous decisions reflects not only an authoritarian streak on his part but on the Republican Party as a whole. It threatens the very free nature of our society. As Thomas Jefferson once explained:
“The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”- Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 16 January 1787.
If we are to have a free and fair society, we must have a free press unbridled by the power of a hostile administration. So far, the GOP seems to be heading in the opposite direction.
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References
“About | The North State Journal.” 2017. The North State Journal. https://nsjonline.com/about/ (October 30, 2025).
Bauder, David. 2025. “After Others Departed, Pentagon Announces ‘new’ Press Corps Filled with Conservative News Outlets.” The Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-media-rules-new-press-corps-b14b8cef6ba63cdac17c8ffac375e615 (October 31, 2025).
“Budapest Memorandum | National Security Archive.” https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/32106-1-budapest-memorandum (October 31, 2025).
Burris, Sarah. 2025. “GOP Aide Threatened to Sic Trump on Journalist If Story Wasn’t Killed: Report - Raw Story.” RawStory. https://www.rawstory.com/trump-media-2674251104/ (October 30, 2025).
Clark, Doug Bock. 2025. “‘Biblical Justice, Equal Justice, for All’: How North Carolina’s Chief Justice Transformed His State and America.” ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/paul-newby-north-carolina-supreme-court (October 30, 2025).
Danielle Battaglia [@dani__battaglia]. 2025. “Also Notable from the Article. #ncpol.” Twitter. https://x.com/dani__battaglia/status/1983902062388900190 (October 30, 2025).
“DOUG BOCK CLARK - Home.” Dougbockclark.com. https://www.dougbockclark.com/ (October 31, 2025).
“Doug Bock Clark on X: ‘“I’m Sure You’re Aware of Our Connections with the Trump Administration and I’m Sure They Would Be Interested in This Matter,” the NC GOP Comms Director Wrote. “I Would Strongly Suggest Dropping This Story.” He Bolded and Underlined “Strongly,” in Case We Missed His Point.’ / X.” https://x.com/DougBockClark/status/1983882945447522781 (October 30, 2025).
“‘Enemies of the People’: Trump Remark Echoes History’s Worst Tyrants.” 2017. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39015559 (October 31, 2025).
Jefferson, Thomas. 1787. “Founders Online: Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 16 January 1787.” http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-11-02-0047 (October 31, 2025).
Kang, Cecila. 2025. “Trump Has Threatened Broadcast Licenses. Here’s How They Work. - The New York Times.” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/us/politics/trump-broadcast-licenses-fcc.html (October 31, 2025).
Mastrangelo, Dominick. 2025. “Donald Trump Praises ABC for Suspending Jimmy Kimmel over Charlie Remarks.” The Hill. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5509204-trump-celebrates-kimmel-suspension/ (October 31, 2025).
Matt Mercer [@mattmercer]. 2025. “Feed ProPublica to the USAID Wood Chipper.” Twitter. https://x.com/mattmercer/status/1983917084007436311 (October 30, 2025).
“Muck Rack | For Journalists and Public Relations.” Muck Rack. https://muckrack.com/matt-mercer/bio (October 30, 2025).
“Sarah Newby at North Carolina Republican Party.” North Carolina Republican Party. https://www.nc.gop/sarah_newby (October 30, 2025).
Spike, Justice, and Nicholas Ricardi. 2025. “Trump’s Moves against Media Outlets Mirror Authoritarian Approaches to Silencing Dissent.” PBS News. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trumps-moves-against-media-outlets-mirror-authoritarian-approaches-to-silencing-dissent (October 30, 2025).
S.V. Dáte [@svdate]. 2025. “Here Is the Exchange, in Context: Https://T.Co/T4DqJULWP1.” Twitter. https://x.com/svdate/status/1983648322352263192 (October 30, 2025).
Wemple, Erik. 2025. “When This Reporter Comes Calling, the White House Insults Go Flying.” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/business/media/shirish-date-white-house-journalist-huffpost.html (October 30, 2025).