A Forbes report alleging Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross “grifted” more than $120 million from former business partners has been widely slammed for relying heavily on anonymous sources and being laced with “petty” accusations, raising questions of whether the magazine’s Chinese owners were ultimately bashing Ross for his tough pro-American stance in trade talks with Beijing.
“What struck me as suspicious was the extensive use of anonymous sources,” Michael Pillsbury, a Hudson Institute senior fellow who worked in the Reagan and George H.W Bush administrations, told Newsmax. “The majority of Forbes allegations against Wilbur Ross appear to be from anonymous sources.”