The New York Times Friday report that Republican Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and his wife Jeanette have been cited 17 times for traffic violations was written after the citations were pulled by liberal opposition research firm American Bridge, according to Miami-Dade County court records.
Records show that each of the citations mentioned by the New York Times were pulled in person by American Bridge operatives on May 26, 2015.
Take for example the time Rubio was pulled over in 1997. "Mr. Rubio’s troubles behind the wheel predate his days in politics," wrote the New York Times. "In 1997, when he was cited for careless driving by a Florida Highway Patrol officer, he was fined and took voluntary driving classes."
A look at the docket for that infraction on Miami-Dade County's website shows that American Bridge was in Miami to pull records on that case at 11:42 a.m. on May 26:
Neither of the reporters, Alan Rappeport and Steve Eder, appeared on the docket records for any of the traffic citations for Rubio and his wife. An additional researcher credited in the New York Times, Kitty Bennett, also does not appear on any of the court records.
The reporters, however, were praised by others in the newsroom for their "nice scoop."
Rubio and wife got 17 license violations and faced suspensions - nice @arappeport @steveeder scoop http://t.co/En7WxhingO via @NYTPolitics
— Gerry Mullany (@gerrymullany) June 5, 2015
None of the reporters involved responded to Washington Free Beacon requests for comment by press time.
In a recent Times story that actually cited Democratic sources by name, Jeremy Peters reported that "A Hillary Clinton Match-Up With Marco Rubio Is a Scary Thought for Democrats."
So scary, indeed, that Democrats appear to be feeding opposition research to the Times.
Here is the full list of traffic violations recorded by Miami-Dade County for Rubio's wife, Jeanette Dousdebes:
The citations were all pulled by American Bridge:
Here is the full list of traffic violations for Rubio:
All of these citations were also pulled by American Bridge:
