On Tuesday, Joe Scarborough took The New York Times to task for downplaying revelations that former Obama administration National Security Adviser Susan Rice reportedly requested the unmasking of Trump campaign officials — and he may have a point.

In an April 3 piece titled, Trump Tries to Deflect Russia Scrutiny, Citing ‘Crooked Scheme’ by Obama, the paper of record only included the Rice news within the broader story of Trump deriding former president Obama, writing:

The president’s broadside against his predecessor coincided with a string of reports in conservative news media outlets that Susan E. Rice, Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, requested the identities of Americans who were cited in intelligence reports about surveillance of foreign officials, and who were connected with Mr. Trump’s campaign or transition.

And while it’s true, that the story first bubbled up in conservative corners of the Internet, it only took off after being published by Eli Lake in Bloomberg View. As a publication, that’s as middle-of-the-road as it gets.

While a review of Lake’s articles for Bloomberg shows a consistent conservative bent, he’s no Republican handmaiden and in the past has taken Trump to task for his support of Wikileaks and Russian kowtowing. Before Bloomberg, Lake had a respected career as a senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and a contributing editor at The New Republic.

Using “conservative” as a pejorative to disparage Lake’s real reporting does a disservice to anyone looking for genuine answers on this issue. Worse, it adds fuel to the fire of Republican claims that the mainstream media is in the tank against Trump. Instead of dismissing the “conservative media” that broke the news, The New York Times should ask why they didn’t get to the story first.

[image via screengrab]

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.