David Martosko

David Martosko is a television and digital journalist who won an Emmy Award, shared an Edward R. Murrow Award, and was named a Society of Professional Journalists award finalist. He founded the Washington bureau of DailyMail.com, the US version of MailOnline. Both are websites of the British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mail. Martosko led the bureau as U.S. political editor from 2013 to 2020, and remained as chief political correspondent for DailyMailTV until the program ceased syndication in 2022. He was executive editor at The Daily Caller from 2011 to 2013.

David Martosko
Born	David Matthew Martosko (1970-05-25) May 25, 1970 (age 52) Parma, Ohio, U.S.
Education	Dartmouth College (BA) Johns Hopkins University (MM)

Martosko has been an on-air contributor at CBC News and the Sun News Network in Canada. He has served on political panels and as a guest on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and PBS. Martosko was a radio producer from 1998 to 2000 at WMAL, the ABC radio affiliate in Washington, D.C.^[1]

From 2001 to 2011, he worked at the Center for Consumer Freedom, a nonprofit organization founded by Richard Berman whose public persuasion campaigns advocate for industry interests on consumer issues, and at the public relations firm of Berman and Company, which manages the Center.^[2]

Early life

Martosko was born in Parma, Ohio and attended St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland. He studied at Dartmouth College, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1991.^[3] He later earned a master's degree in orchestral conducting from the Johns Hopkins University's conservatory of music, the Peabody Institute.

Martosko told AdWeek in 2013 that his first journalism job was "summer photo editor and an occasional arts critic" at '’The Dartmouth’’, a college newspaper.^[4] In 2016 he told WMAL radio in Washington, D.C. that he had produced talk radio shows for the station from 1998 to 2000.^[5] Martosko's first job was delivering singing telegrams in Cleveland, according to his online resume,^[1] which also says he ran a church music program and was a ballet class pianist during the 1990s.

Career

Consideration to serve as White House Press Secretary

On December 13, 2016, Martosko attended meetings at Trump Tower^[6] in New York City, leading to speculation that he might become then-President-Elect Donald Trump's White House Press Secretary. Martosko later confirmed that he had been under consideration, saying he was "honored to be asked for a meeting."^[2] Trump spoke with Martosko about the position again in June 2017. Martosko said later in his Twitter profile^[7] that Trump had offered him the Press Secretary job. CNN reported that the topic arose during a meeting in the Oval Office where Martosko asked the president to participate in a book project.^[8] He withdrew days later, saying in a public statement that "I have chosen not to take the discussions further".^[9]

Trump impeachment question

Martosko asked Donald Trump a question on the South Lawn of the White House on Oct. 3, 2019^[10] about his July 25, 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskyy. Video and audio of the question and answer were featured in multiple hearings during Trump's first impeachment in 2020.

"Mr. President, what exactly did you hope Zelensky would do about the Bidens after your phone call? Exactly," Martosko asked.

"If they were honest about it, they’d start a major investigation into the Bidens. It’s a very simple answer," Trump replied, adding that "likewise China should start an investigation into the Bidens." Trump's acknowledgment confirmed that he tried to use his presidential power to influence a foreign government to investigate Joe Biden,who was then Trump's chief Democratic rival for the presidency.

Daily Mail

Martosko joined DailyMail.com in 2013.^[11] Until 2020 he was DailyMail.com's chief U.S. political correspondent and a member of the White House press corps. He covered the 2016 presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and conducted the first^{[citation needed]} political interview with Trump at his New York City office in Trump Tower.

On June 15, 2015, Martosko was the designated print "pool" reporter tasked with following Hillary Clinton around New Hampshire for the day, filing reports for the benefit of other news outlets. Clinton's team refused to let him board the press van.^[12] Campaign press secretary Nick Merrill denied that the campaign had excluded Martosko in reaction to his critical reporting, and said Clinton's team would "do our best to find equilibrium and best accommodate interest from as many news outlets as possible, given the space limitations of our events."^[13] All 14 news organizations participating in the pool signed a statement defending Martosko by saying "any attempt by the campaign to dictate who is in the pool is unacceptable."^[14][15]

According to Politico, "During the 2016 campaign, [Martosko] was perhaps the most prolific reporter" who covered Trump.^[2] He interviewed the future president repeatedly during the campaign.

Beginning during his tenure, and continuing after he left his position at DailyMail.com, Martosko appeared daily as Chief Political Correspondent on DailyMailTV, a syndicated daytime TV program. He won an Emmy Award in 2019 as a correspondent when his reporting was included in DailyMailTV's winning entry in the "Outstanding Entertainment News Program" category.^[16]

Martosko was a finalist^[17] for a Society of Professional Journalists award in 2020 for his Daily Mail series "Land of a Million Orphans".

Daily Caller

Martosko was hired as executive editor at The Daily Caller in 2011.^[18] He shared an Edward R. Murrow Award for writing in 2012 with war reporter Alex Quade for a video feature about U.S. soldiers who entered Afghanistan on horseback following the 9/11 terror attacks.^[19][20]

Discredited EPA story

Shortly after his arrival in 2011, the Caller published a story claiming that the EPA was going to spend $21 billion per year to hire 230,000 staff to regulate greenhouse gas emissions; at the time, the EPA had 17,000 staff and a total budget of $8.7 billion.^{[21][22][23][24]} The EPA had written in a court filing that it was crafting rules to help it avoid a scenario where unprecedented staffing expenses would be necessary: "Hiring the 230,000 full-time employees necessary to produce the 1.4 billion work hours required to address the actual increase in permitting functions would result in an increase in the Title V administration costs of $21 billion per year,” the agency told a federal court.

The story, with its mistaken interpretation of the court filing, went viral in right-wing media,^[21] and Republican politicians repeated the story.^[23] Other news outlets noted that the story was false, but Martosko said the Caller stood by the story.^[21] Adweek reported that the decision of Martosko to stand by the story caused dismay among some Caller staff, who believed the decision undermined the credibility of the news outlet.^[18]

Discredited Bob Menendez story

In 2013, The Daily Caller published stories, one of which was co-bylined by Martosko,^[11][25] about two women claiming that New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez had paid them for sex in the Dominican Republic while he was a guest of a major campaign donor, a Florida ophthalmologist named Salomon Melgen. ABC News, which had also interviewed women making similar claims, The New York Times, and the New York Post declined to publish the allegations, viewing them as unsubstantiated and lacking credibility.^[26][27][28] Menendez's office described the allegations as "manufactured" by a right-wing blog as a politically motivated smear.^[29]

According to Dominican law enforcement, a lawyer alleged that two women had been paid to lie about Menendez by an individual claiming to work for The Daily Caller. The Daily Caller denied this allegation, stating: "At no point did any money change hands between The Daily Caller and any sources or individuals connected with this investigation".^[30]

Vinicio Castillo Semán, the attorney, brought an affidavit to a press conference, denying the story. In it, a woman named Nexis de los Santos Santana claimed she had been paid to falsely implicate Menendez and had never met him.^[26][31] The woman did not attend the press conference, and the government ID number on the affidavit is 10 digits long,^[32] one short of the 11 that appear on Dominican national identity cards.^[33] The Miami Herald reported^[34] that Castillo is Salomon Melgen's cousin. Melgen was later convicted of stealing $73 million from Medicare, and received a 17-year prison sentence.^[35] President Donald Trump commuted his sentence on his last day in office.^[36] Martosko declined to explain how The Daily Caller got its story in the first place.^[37][38]

Describing what it saw as The Daily Caller's "scoop" unraveling, the Poynter Institute wrote: "The Daily Caller stands by its reports, though apparently doesn't feel the need to prove its allegations right."^[39]

Personal life

Martosko serves on the board of directors of the Triple Nine Society, a social organization for people whose scores on standardized IQ tests are in the top 1/10 of 1 percent worldwide.^[40] The organization says it is "20 times as selective" as Mensa, the famous high-IQ society. Martosko's biography on its website said in 2022 that he was working on a book about "living with a neuroatypical brain." He and his wife have two children and live in Burke, Virginia.

References

1. Martosko, David (September 15, 2022). "Profile". LinkedIn. from the original on September 15, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
2. Burnley, Malcolm (February 16, 2017). "The Mystery of David Martosko". Politico.
3. "David Martosko '91 | Department of Music". music.dartmouth.edu. May 27, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
4. Rothstein, Betsy (August 1, 2013). "The FishbowlDC Interview With Daily Mail's David Martosko". AdWeek. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
5. "LISTEN: Daily Mail's DAVID MARTOSKO Talked About The Raucous Trump Press Conference". News Talk 105.9 WMAL. June 1, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
6. "Daily Mail U.S. political editor interviewed for Trump position". POLITICO. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
7. . September 15, 2022. Archived from the original on September 15, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
8. Byers, Dylan. "White House-media relations at breaking point as Spicer searches for replacement". CNNMoney. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
9. Greenwood, Max (June 20, 2017). "Daily Mail editor pulls out of talks for White House job". TheHill. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
10. Press Gaggle: Donald Trump Speaks to the Press Before Marine One Departure - October 3, 2019, retrieved September 15, 2022
11. Staff, Star-Ledger (March 19, 2013). "Prostitution scandal surrounding Sen. Menendez was a lie, officials say". nj.com. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
12. "Why the Clinton campaign blocked a Daily Mail reporter from getting on its van". Vox. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
13. "Clinton campaign denies access to pool reporter". POLITICO. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
14. "Hillary Clinton faces trade questions in New Hampshire". MSNBC.com. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
15. "Clinton Campaign Denies Access To Daily Mail Pool Reporter In Latest Dispute With Press". HuffPost. June 15, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
16. . May 20, 2020. Archived from the original on May 20, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
17. Fickling, Amy (June 9, 2020). "Dateline Awards for work published, broadcast in 2019 announced online in historic first for SPJ DC Chapter". Washington, D.C., Pro SPJ Chapter. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
18. "Two Daily Caller Reporters Fired, Managing Editor Quits, Employees Nervous". www.adweek.com. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
19. Linskey, Annie (June 15, 2015). "Clinton campaign bans national pool reporter from N.H. events - The Boston Globe". The Boston Globe. from the original on June 20, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
20. "RTDNA Announces 2012 National Edward R. Murrow Award Winners". www.rtdna.org. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
21. Berman, Dan. "EPA $21B rumors 'comically wrong'". POLITICO. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
22. "The Daily Caller reveals the larger truths". The Washington Post. 2019.
23. "Allen West says EPA wants to hire 230,000 workers at a cost of $21 billion". @politifact. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
24. Graves, Lucia (September 28, 2011). "EPA Pushes Back Against Report Alleging Agency Cut Corners On Climate Finding". HuffPost. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
25. "Daily Mail Author Stands By Saudi Claim". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
26. Schwartz, Rhonda (March 5, 2013). "Woman Says She Was Paid to Lie About Claim of Sex with Senator Menendez". ABC News. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
27. Lipton, Eric (February 16, 2013). "Inquiry on Democratic Senator Started with a Partisan Push". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
28. Bump, Philip (March 8, 2013). . The Atlantic. Archived from the original on June 30, 2009. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
29. Weiner, Rachel (January 30, 2013). "Menendez: Prostitution allegations 'manufactured' by 'right-wing blog'". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
30. Leonnig, Carol D.; Lazo, Luz (March 22, 2013). "Dominican official links Daily Caller to alleged lies about Menendez". The Washington Post.
31. Leonnig, Carol D.; Londoño, Ernesto (March 4, 2013). "Escort says Menendez prostitution claims were made up". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
32. de los Santos Santana, Nexis (September 15, 2022). . Internet Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on September 15, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
33. Picado, WIlly Gerardo (August 5, 2022). "How to deposit money to a bank account in the Dominican Republic". Blog | Western Union. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
34. Herald, Miami. "Alleged prostitute: I was fooled, never had sex with Sen. Bob Menendez | Naked Politics". miamiherald.typepad.com. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
35. Winston, Hannah. "Trump commutes sentence of Dr. Salomon Melgen, eye doctor found guilty of Medicare fraud". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
36. "Disgraced South Florida eye doctor receives presidential pardon". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
37. staff, Seattle Times (February 16, 2013). "Partisan players helped fuel Menendez media frenzy". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
38. Lipton, Eric (February 16, 2013). "Partisan Push Led to Troubling Revelations About Senator Menendez". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
39. Sonderman, Jeff (March 6, 2013). . Poynter Institute. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
40. Triple Nine Society (July 9, 2019). "The Executive Committee". Triple Nine Society. Retrieved September 15, 2022.