The New York Times updates Nicholas Kristof’s columns with donor disclosures

The New York Times is reviewing the work of liberal writer Nicholas Kristof to determine if “clarifications” are necessary after failing to disclose that the subjects of his work have previously donated to his political campaign.

Kristof, who briefly left the Times in 2021 to run for Oregon governor as a Democrat, returned to the paper in 2022 after being deemed ineligible because of the state’s three-year tenure requirement. At the time, the Times insisted that Kristof would “stop writing about sponsors or disclosing relationships with students” going forward.

Semafor reported on Monday that Kristof “wrote well” about Bill Gates, who donated heavily to his failed campaign, often without noting that Gates and his ex-wife reportedly spent more than $100,000. Semafor also reported that Kristof cited McKinsey Global Managing Partner Bob Sternfels and the late Harvard professor Joseph Nye without disclosing their previous contributions to his campaign, as well as other “undisclosed.”

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The Times, which has strict rules about its reporters taking part in politics, announced the investigation when Semafor inquired about the possible conflict.

“Previous political contributions made by individuals Nick Kristof mentioned in his columns should have been made more clear to readers. Times Opinion editors are reviewing these articles for additional readers’ clarifications,” a Times spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

At the time, Kristof was outspoken when it came to issues surrounding the late Jeffrey Epstein’s sex life, even directly asking former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak about his relationship with the convicted rapist at last year’s New York Times DealBook conference. Kristof criticized President Donald Trump’s alleged relationship with Epstein and even spoke to “survivors of sex trafficking and those who work with them” in February.

But Gates, who has repeatedly appeared in more than a million documents released by the federal government as part of the criminal case against Epstein, told congressional investigators that Epstein wanted to exploit her marital infidelity to get at him. Kristof has written extensively about Epstein but has not discussed Gates’ ties to him.

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Former New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof left the liberal newspaper after 37 years to run for governor of Oregon but was disqualified, but has been rehired. (Elizabeth Shafiroff/Reuters)

Gates and Epstein were shown dating and having an affair between 2011 and 2014, including at Epstein’s New York townhouse, according to the files. Gates said he never saw Epstein commit a crime and was “never interested” in pursuing a relationship with him despite the sex offender’s attempts to do so.

Kristof pushed various Gates Foundation initiatives, including Gates’ prediction that gene editing could cure AIDS and even quoted Gates as referring to the book as a “must read.” None of those pieces included the disclaimer Gates gave to his campaign and Kristof’s “What Trafficked Girls Think of Jeffrey Epstein and His Pals” made no mention of Gates.

The Times and Gates did not immediately respond when asked for comment.

It’s not the first time that Kristof has caused the Times a headache. Last month, Kristof wrote a scathing opinion piece that sparked outrage over alleged serial sexual abuse by Israelis against Palestinian prisoners.

Kristof said a Gaza reporter said he was “ridden” by a dog before adding, “Some Palestinian prisoners and human rights monitors have also cited reports of police dogs being trained to rape prisoners.”

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The article backfired on students and the Israeli government, which threatened to sue The Times. Some commentators questioned the article, noting that several of the figures Kristof interviewed had ties to anti-Israel activism.

Demonstrators stand inside NYPD barricades during a May protest holding signs that read “Shame on The New York Times for publishing anti-Zionist propaganda” and “The New York Times: All blood libels are worth printing.” The Times defended the piece, saying it was “supported by independent studies,” and dismissed the idea that the article would be retracted.

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Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf, Adam Pack and Bonny Chu contributed to this report.