“Well, guess what — the Army may not be willing to reveal its docs to TNR, the target of its investigation, but it has just acknowledged that someone internally has willingly leaked them to Matt Drudge,” reports Talking Points Memo. “This again calls into question the Army’s handling of this affair in a big way. It’s bad enough that the Army hasn’t been willing to show any transparency with regard to its probe into this. It’s worse still that someone — apparently an Army official — is leaking some of the probe docs to Drudge, likely as part of an effort to get back at TNR.”

Related: Drudge / TNR Scandal Brewing

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“The Drudge Report has gone guns-out on The New Republic on how the magazine handled the controversy over a series of articles it ran by the anonymous ‘Baghdad Diarist,’” reports Maggie Shnayerson. “Documents posted on Drudge this afternoon (and then whisked off again just like that!) indicate TNR ‘failed to publicly account for publishing slanderous falsehoods about the U.S. military in a time of war.’ The docs may or may not be damning evidence….”

The URL for the Drudge story still works as of right now, but why - oh why? - did Matt Drudge remove the supposedly damning docs? Something’s fishy! And, we’ve been told, lawyery, too!

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Update, 2:35 p.m.: “Actually, I posted a clarification re: TNR,” Doree e-mails in an update to Big Head DC. So! The New Republic smells something fishy about your relentless harping about the pub, too? Do you have a grudge for some reason, Doree?

Original post, 12:35 p.m.: “How is the nearly ad-free New Republic surviving?” Doree Shafrir, a media writer for Gawker, asked earlier this week. She then went on to say that they have fewer new ads than ever (apparently, but still more than Wonkette has ever pulled in on its own).

Well, for starters, Doree, how is Gawker Media surviving? Your boss Nick Denton is always mum on that topic, so why should DC’s TNR answer to your NYC-based queries?

Secondly, you missed the fact that the mag has just hired Sarah Kuhn and Holly Maine, both formerly top ad directors at National Journal. Apparently, they have faith, so you should, too.

At least as much faith as you have in Denton, that is.

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On the one hand, we have the publication that hired Stephen Glass. On the other hand, we have the U.S. government. You decide: 

Army investigators have concluded that the private whose dispatches for the New Republic accused his fellow soldiers of petty cruelties in Iraq was not telling the truth.

The finding, disclosed yesterday, came days after the Washington-based magazine announced that it had corroborated the claims of the private, Scott Thomas Beauchamp, except for one significant error.

“An investigation has been completed and the allegations made by Pvt. Beauchamp were found to be false,” an Army statement said. “His platoon and company were interviewed and no one could substantiate the claims.”

But New Republic Editor Franklin Foer is standing his ground. “We’ve talked to military personnel directly involved in the events that Scott Thomas Beauchamp described, and they corroborated his account,” Foer said. The magazine granted anonymity to the other soldiers it cited.

A military official, who asked not to be identified because the probe is confidential, said no charges were filed against Beauchamp. Instead, the official said, the matter is being handled administratively, with Beauchamp punished by having his cellphone and laptop confiscated for an undetermined period.

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As we’ve been noting since yesterday, The Weekly Standard set off a furor when it chose to use Matt Sanchez, a former gay porn performer, to attempt to discredit some reporting from The New Republic regarding the Iraq war.

Michael Goldfarb, the WS reporter in question, tells Big Head DC today that he had no problem using Sanchez as a source: “[W]hat he reported is 100 percent true,” he told us via e-mail.

“I don’t factor sexual orientation into editorial decisions,” Goldfarb added. ”My only complaint — I’d prefer working with a female porn star.”

Earlier: Do Gays, Straights, Republicans & Democrats Take Porn Star Matt Sanchez Seriously?

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