Former New York Times opinion editor James Bennet cried on the witness stand in federal court while apologizing to Sarah Palin over a 2017 story that falsely suggested her political action committee was connected to the 2011 Arizona mass shooting that killed six people and severely injured then-Rep. Gabby Giffords.
Bennet on Thursday took the blame for the editorial, which Palin said defamed her. “I blew it, you know,” he told the courtroom, per The New York Times. “I made a mistake.”
The journalist said he was “really upset and I still am, obviously,” by the error.
“I did, and I do, apologize to Gov. Palin for this mistake,” Bennet added, while a lawyer handed him tissues, according to The New York Post.
The 2017 editorial, titled “America’s Lethal Politics,” is at the center of Palin’s defamation lawsuit. Her PAC, the story initially claimed, “circulated a map of targeted electoral districts that put Ms. Giffords and 19 other Democrats under stylized cross hairs.” That was false, and no evidence has been shown that the mentally ill shooter was incited to violence by the PAC. Giffords suffered a brain injury as a result of the attempted assassination.
The Times’ editorial was written after the 2017 shooting at a congressional baseball practice that left Rep. Steve Scalise wounded. A day after it was published, the Times issued a correction and acknowledged there was no link between the PAC and the 2011 shooting, clarifying that the map depicted electoral districts, not individual lawmakers.
The correction did not mention Palin by name and she sued the paper for defamation, saying it had falsely accused her of inciting violence. Bennet and the Times have said it was an honest mistake that resulted from a fast-approaching deadline.
Federal judge Jed Rakoff tossed out Palin’s lawsuit in 2022, but the case was reinstated by an appeals court last year after finding the judge made mistakes during the first trial. Judge Rakoff, who is also overseeing the new trial, called Bennet’s apology “heartfelt” and “moving” on Thursday.
