Thread by @KimStrassel

1) Former GOP Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner tells me the @nytimes willfully manipulated his words in its recent hit-job piece on @SenRonJohnson
wsj.com/articles/yello… via @WSJopinion

2) The piece asserted that Mr. Johnson’s “drumbeat of distortions, false theories and lies reminds some Wisconsin Republicans” of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. It then quoted Sensenbrenner saying McCarthy's name.

3) But Sensenbrenner never said Johnson was like McCarthy. He’d made a general point about Wisconsin’s love of mavericks (he also talked about Dem Sen. Bill Proxmire--tho Times filed to mention that), and noted its voters appreciate that Johnson “thinks outside the box.”

4) Former Wisconsin GOP Rep. Reid Ribble tells me the Times also called him but didn’t quote him, presumably because he didn’t give the paper what it was looking for: “They clearly went into this with an agenda, they were seeking specific quotes to get to a conclusion.”

5) Those two anecdotes tell you all you need to know about the quality and honesty of the rest of the piece. @reidepstein @tripgabriel