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Before The Baltimore Sun published a word of its reported investigation into Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s record, the Democrat state leader and his team were already blasting the paper’s new ownership as “right-wing” and cozy with President Donald Trump.
The Baltimore Sun, which was purchased by Sinclair executive chairman David D. Smith in 2024, is reportedly examining Moore’s military record, scholastic sports tenure and other parts of his background, Semafor reported earlier this week, citing the Sun has brought on investigative reporters from sister outlets under the Sinclair umbrella.
“It’s actually a very sad day because the Baltimore Sun used to be our paper of record. It’s now become the paper of the right wing,” Moore told former Biden spokeswoman Jen Psaki in a recent interview, after Psaki noted the Sun was purchased in 2024 by Smith.
Moore, who has downplayed talks of a 2028 presidential bid, has previously faced scrutiny for listing a Bronze Star on a Bush-era White House fellowship application before he received the award, as well as questions about the depth of his Baltimore roots during his 2022 race against then-Gov. Larry Hogan. Moore ultimately received the Bronze Star in 2024.
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“[Y]ou’ve had a MAGA billionaire who is now currying favor for [President Donald Trump] and utilizing what used to be a prized paper for our region and now turning it to something that is not much more than right-wing drivel,” Moore said.
The governor added that Army members he served with don’t question his integrity in the same way and that Smith is the “canary in the coalmine” for wealthy conservatives trying to use their resources to please Trump, including using the media.
The interview elicited a lengthy rebuttal from the managing editor of the Smith-linked outlet investigating Moore: Spotlight on Maryland. The outlet is a collaboration between the Sinclair-owned FOX affiliate in Baltimore, ABC affiliate in Washington and the Sun.
“Democrats sure are putting in a lot of work to discredit a series before it’s even started running. That alone should raise a question: why?,” Spotlight on Maryland managing editor Candy Woodall tweeted, captioning Moore’s interview.
Woodall claimed Moore’s office threatened to disseminate files to “every media reporter” to try to discredit her investigation.
“We saw the same playbook in 2022 when a FOX-45 reporter asked why Moore allowed claims that he had received a Bronze Star that he didn’t have at the time. His team accused the reporter and media outlet of bias and a smear campaign,” she wrote.
“Two years later, after the New York Times wrote about the Bronze Star Moore hadn’t received, the narrative changed, and the governor said it was ‘an honest mistake’. In an August 2024 statement on his military record, Moore acknowledged he knew before leaving Afghanistan that he had not received the award.”
In that statement, Moore said his deputy brigade commander encouraged him to apply for a White House fellowship and simultaneously recommended him for a Bronze Star and told him to include that on his application.
He added that in his officer evaluation, his superiors ranked him in the top 1% of Operation Enduring Freedom officers and called him “the best lieutenant I’ve encountered…” before later noting he “sincerely wish[ed he] had gone back to correct the note on my application.”
Woodall pushed back again in her tweet, saying that her journalists’ loyalties aren’t to officials but to Marylanders and that her team sent “hundreds” of questions to Moore and his staff to scant responses.
She claimed a Moore official admitted Spotlight doesn’t deserve to be treated like a news outlet and “nothing that comes out of Sinclair should be taken seriously.”
“If you want to know more, keep reading The Baltimore Sun, a 200-year-old newspaper that has survived many governors,” she quipped.
When asked for a response, Moore press secretary Ammar Moussa told Fox News Digital that “in light of revelations that Sinclair owner and Trump-donor David Smith is personally involved in Spotlight on Maryland’s reporting, what is the extent of Sinclair owner and Donald Trump ally David Smith’s influence in the FOX-45 and Baltimore Sun newsrooms?”
He also said Spotlight reporter Gary Collins is “not a journalist,” directing Fox News Digital to an X response to Collins, criticizing him as a former Maryland Republican Party official “working at the direction of your Trump-supporting boss.”
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“I will continue to report facts, just like my colleagues do,” Collins said.
Collins had also published a March 26 report on a roundtable Moore participated in near a Washington County warehouse rumored to be destined as an ICE facility.
Collins’ piece noted Moore’s complaint about the feds’ “lack of transparency” and contrasted it with what he said was a similar dynamic in Annapolis.
“[Moore’s] administration has yet to release full documentation tied to his military record, academic history, and prior credentials — records Spotlight On Maryland has requested for months,” Collins wrote, going on to scribe that Sun co-owner and Moore friend Armstrong Williams penned a column calling on the governor to “tell the truth and release the facts.”
Moussa also took aim at Woodall, asking her if Smith was behind her lengthy tweet.
“Did your Trump-supporting boss write this? Or does he only monitor your emails?” Moussa said.
Smith previously ruffled feathers on the left when Sinclair pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from its lineup following the controversial comic’s reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder. Sinclair is reportedly the largest owner of affiliates of ABC – the network that employs Kimmel.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Sinclair and Smith for additional comment on Friday.
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