Maryland Governor Criticizes Local Newspaper’s Coverage of His Record

Maryland Governor Wes Moore Launches Preemptive Strike Against Baltimore Sun’s Upcoming Investigation

Democratic Maryland Governor Wes Moore has initiated a media offensive against the Baltimore Sun ahead of an anticipated investigative series examining his record and past claims. In an interview with MSNBC host Jen Psaki, Moore characterized the once-respected newspaper as having transformed from “our paper of record” into “the paper of the right wing.”

The governor, widely considered a potential Democratic presidential contender for 2028, has faced increasing scrutiny over statements about his personal background, education, military service, and family history. The forthcoming investigation by the Baltimore Sun, in collaboration with Spotlight on Maryland, reportedly focuses on whether Moore exaggerated his military and athletic achievements.

According to Spotlight on Maryland managing editor Candy Woodall, Moore’s team privately warned her in January that they would damage the Sun’s reputation by distributing “files to every media reporter” nationwide if the publication continued investigating his military records.

This week, that threat appears to have materialized. Semafor published documents provided by Moore’s office detailing months of communications with Sun reporters dating back to November. These documents reveal the newspaper’s belief that Moore’s team has obstructed their inquiries, while simultaneously showing Moore’s camp’s assertion that the paper has been weaponized by its new owner, David Smith—a Republican donor and executive chairman of Sinclair television network.

Further escalating tensions, Moore’s senior press secretary Ammar Moussa posted on social media platform X that the Sun and Spotlight on Maryland are engaging in “faux-journalism” and don’t deserve recognition as legitimate news outlets. This rhetoric mirrors the governor’s previous responses to Washington Free Beacon reporting that questioned his claims about being a “foremost expert” on radical Islam and his assertion that the Ku Klux Klan forced his great-grandfather to flee the country in the 1920s.

The emails published by Semafor indicate the joint investigation has been examining Moore’s 2005 military service in Afghanistan. Specifically, the investigation appears to question whether achievements credited to Moore in his Army Officer Evaluation Report were embellished as part of a coordinated effort “to help manufacture Moore into a candidate for future political office,” potentially violating Army Regulations and federal ethics rules.

Notably, the evaluation report was approved by then-Lt. Col. Michael Fenzel, described as a close personal friend who later served as a groomsman in Moore’s wedding after supervising him in Afghanistan.

These revelations could significantly impact Moore’s presidential ambitions, explaining his aggressive stance against the Sun before the investigation’s publication. “The United States Army doesn’t question my integrity. The soldiers I served with don’t question my integrity,” Moore told Psaki. “But we are seeing how the right wing and these right-wing billionaires like David Smith is then using his wealth to be able to manipulate local media… And they’re doing it to curry favor with Donald Trump.”

The published communications also reveal that Moore’s office provided Sun reporters with a heavily redacted version of his DD214 discharge paperwork, which reportedly created “unnecessary questions” about his military departure. This document appears connected to the reporters’ attempts to verify the legitimacy of Moore’s Bronze Star award, which he received in late 2024.

The timing of this Bronze Star has raised eyebrows in the context of earlier controversies. The New York Times previously reported that Moore had falsely claimed to have received the award in his 2006 White House fellowship application. Fenzel, Moore’s former supervisor, resubmitted the Bronze Star award application in 2024 during the final months of the Biden administration, stating at Moore’s private award ceremony: “I’m so happy to be in a position to right a wrong.”

As this media battle intensifies, Maryland residents and political observers nationwide await the publication of the Sun’s investigation and its potential implications for Moore’s political future.