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Hey, good morning, playbookers, and Rogumonovalin. It's Friday.

In today's show, the New York Times Project Veritas Quagmire.

It's your Politico Playbook Daily Briefing.

At a Thursday lunch from the New York Times-Washington Bureau,

upset reporters pressed executive editor Dean McKké about a recent sting operation, targeting national security

reporter Matthew Rosenberg, according to two people present. Project Veritas, a group

that has singled out journalists and Democrats in undercover operations, posted a pair of videos

this week, showing Rosenberg

divulging details about sensitive newsroom dynamics and disparaging its colleagues.

Rosenberg suggested that the media was overhyping the siege on the Capitol on January 6,

scoffing at colleagues who were there that day who said they were traumatized and blasted

what he called left-leaning Younger Times reporters

wrapped up in a, quote, woke culture influencing coverage.

According to more than a half dozen reporters who were granted anonymity to speak candidly,

the videos immediately caused tensions to flare among Times' death.

During the Thursday lunch, multiple reporters said they were upset about Rosenberg dissing their

own coverage and bad-mouthing

his coworkers. Back A, the staffers at the Times told us, responded by criticizing Rosenberg

for being careless and stupid. But he said that Project Veritas is trying to, quote,

make our heads explode and divide the Times and that they should not play into the group's hands.

The Times' comm staff declined to comment, and Rosenberg did not respond to requests for comment. But as Jeremy Barr from the Washington Post tweeted last night, Bekei has blasted Project Veritas before. In 2017, he chided the group for ensnaring a junior-level employee. While Bekei said at the time, the reporter said, quote, really stupid stuff, he pinned most of the blame on Project Veritas.

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