File this under “it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

The New York Times has suspended “star” reporter Glenn Thrush:

The New York Times said on Monday that it was suspending Glenn Thrush, one of its most prominent reporters, after he was accused of sexually inappropriate behavior.

The move came after the website Vox published a report containing allegations that Mr. Thrush, who joined The Times to cover the Trump administration in January, had acted inappropriately toward women. Mr. Thrush was a reporter at Politico before coming to The Times.

“The behavior attributed to Glenn in this Vox story is very concerning and not in keeping with the standards and values of The New York Times,” The Times said in a statement on Monday. “We intend to fully investigate and while we do, Glenn will be suspended.”

What was in that story they reference (irony alert, perhaps the NYT is the only place on the planet where anyone believes anything coming from Vox)?

Three young women I interviewed, including the young woman who met Thrush in June, described to me a range of similar experiences, from unwanted groping and kissing to wet kisses out of nowhere to hazy sexual encounters that played out under the influence of alcohol. Each woman described feeling differently about these experiences: scared, violated, ashamed, weirded out. I was — and am — angry.

Details of their stories suggest a pattern. All of the women were in their 20s at the time. They were relatively early in their careers compared to Thrush, who was the kind of seasoned journalist who would be good to know. At an event with alcohol, he made advances. Afterward, they (as I did) thought it best to stay on good terms with Thrush, whatever their feelings.

…

In interviews with about 40 people in and around media who know Thrush, I got a picture of a reporter whose title doesn’t capture his power and stature. People who’ve worked with him say he can get a writer’s name in front of the right editor, if he wants. Newsroom leaders care what he thinks. Some reporters said Thrush had used his connections to help them land jobs or develop new sources.

…

Her recollection of the details is fuzzy, but one way or another, he ended up in her place.

“I had alcohol blur,” she says. But Thrush was far from being the grown-up who prevented things from going too far; instead, she says, she was the one to raise objections. “I remember stopping him at one point and saying, ‘Wait, you’re married.’” After that, she says, he left almost immediately. “I remember that by the time he left, I didn’t have much clothes on.”

The woman says she was struggling at Politico at the time, and she wondered if gossip might have made her situation worse. “I don’t know if he told other male reporters or editors. Did that shade their opinion of me? There’s no way to know.”

As Lotharios go, Thrush, as might be expected of any “male” working for Politico, was remarkably unskilled and gauche. His idea of ‘game’ is sticking his tongue in an unwitting ear or trying to hold hands. But still, in an environment where he plays the role of a male “queen bee,” it had to be unsettling working around him knowing that there was no defense of recourse beyond walking away from a primo journalism gig or filing a lawsuit…a thought that seems to have not occurred to anyone.

Of all the people in the media world this could have happened to, Thrush has to be in the top five of my Dream Team. When Thrush was at Politico during the Obama administration he was nothing more than a stenographer for the administration. During the campaign, he wrote whatever the Clinton campaign told him to. If you recall, he was the guy who was revealed by Wikileaks to be sending his copy to John Podesta for approval. (As a side note, he co-reports a lot now and in his Politico days with Maggie Haberman, the woman who the Clinton campaign said could be relied upon to “tee up” stories for them.) Adding to the schadenfreude of the whole thing, he constantly ripped Mitt Romney over the “war on women” nonsense and he was one of the loudest voices when the Billy-Bush-Donald-Trump/Access Hollywood tapes were made public.

And it isn’t just me who considers him to be something of a dirtbag. If you follow the coverage you will sense the glee among a lot of his contemporaries.

Editorial director of @Voxdotcom says Glenn Thrush has repeatedly and inappropriately kissed young female colleagues, including her five years ago 👇 https://t.co/XE4jojDgyQ

— Gillian Brockell is social distancing (@gbrockell) November 20, 2017

Amazing piece by @lkmcgann — Glenn Thrush’s inappropriate behavior around young women.

He would often give cover by spreading damaging gossip around the office. https://t.co/NdsQ5XYgiq pic.twitter.com/Wbw6csfvri

— Kay Steiger (@kaysteiger) November 20, 2017

https://twitter.com/bourreelam/status/932638347297787906

Men using gossip… That right there tells you the nation is in the crapper.

https://twitter.com/s_m_i/status/932634600110559233

Seeing a pattern here on the feminist left? Powerful men who are known predators are not exposed, rather the knowledge is passed around because all of these women know that sucking up to the predator for career enhancement is required.

Thrush's behavior is wrong, no question. But letting a woman who claims to have dealt w/ his unwanted advances report a story like this is an incredible conflict of interest. Would be like letting a cop whose daughter was assaulted interrogate the suspect https://t.co/T4HTJNqjH2

— Gabby Orr (@GabbyOrr_) November 20, 2017

This is the best defense that has emerged so far.

Full statement from Glenn Thrush on the allegations that got him suspended pic.twitter.com/NvduNQP5fa

— Tom Kludt (@TomKludt) November 20, 2017

https://twitter.com/RobProvince/status/932635817780154368

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/932647075052912640

Bye, Glenn pic.twitter.com/kavX7oQxnU

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) November 20, 2017

How many examples of systematic sexism, abuse, sex-for-advancement pressure and discrimination have been excused because 'Bill Clinton'? https://t.co/4o1mbFUoXP

— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) April 2, 2017

The best part is where Glenn Thrush acknowledges the wisdom of the Pence Doctrine. https://t.co/YBVjSWlGFQ

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) November 20, 2017