The thing is a lot of people genuinely believe that journalists and writers simply make things up. People have no clue about confidentiality and protecting sources. They feel that unless it’s a statement by somebody, then it might just be completely imaginary.
That’s not how these things work. Fabrications and lies get exposed, and then that individuals career is over as a journalist. There’s no coming back from that. I’ll be surprised if anyone comes out and straight up says “that isn’t true” about any part of this article.
Everything mentioned in this story is likely true, although we also likely lack the full context in which it all exists. That can be said for most all news stories considering we aren’t the people actually there experiencing these things.
Simply put, he’s not making this stuff up. It’s legit. This is a serious test for both McDermott’s leadership and for this team.