Times suspends star White House reporter after sexual harassment claims

The New York Times suspended one of its top White House reporters, Glenn Thrush, after allegations of years of sexual harassment and groping came to light on Monday.

Four women described “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,” according to a Monday story in Vox, whose author also claims that Thrush had made unwanted advances on her.

The married Thrush, 50, is known for breaking deeply reported stories on the Trump White House, and was even parodied by Bobby Moynihan on “Saturday Night Live.” He is even working on a highly anticipated book about President Trump with colleague Maggie Haberman.

The women he worked with, however, claim he would “lure” them into boozy situations under the guise of work events, and then try to kiss or grope them, according to the article.

The article’s author, Laura McGann, said Thrush had gone out for drinks after work at a bar near the newsroom of Politico, where they all worked at the time, and then told the other female reporter to leave.

After that, McGann says, Thrush boxed her into a booth and tried to kiss her, and that she refused his advances and got out.

The next day, Thrush told male colleagues that she had come on to him, and he rebuffed her — causing her to be looked at differently among her colleagues, McGann said.

“I apologize to any woman who felt uncomfortable in my presence, and for any situation where I behaved inappropriately. Any behavior that makes a woman feel disrespected or uncomfortable is unacceptable,” Thrush said in a statement.

He also pushed back on McGann’s story, saying that the encounter was “consensual, brief, and ended by me.”

“I did not disparage her to colleagues at Politico as she claims,” he added.

Thrush was also accused of groping and trying to kiss a former young Politico reporter in June during a long walk after drinks at a bar, and then walking off to leave her crying and waiting for an Uber alone, according to the story.

“Nice meeting you!” Thrush wrote to her the next day in an email published by Vox. “(And apologies?)”

Thrush claims he stopped drinking in June. Thrush “said he planned to enter a substance abuse program and … the newspaper supported his decision,” according to a Monday report in 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,” Eileen Murphy, a Times spokeswoman, said in a statement to Vox.

“We intend to fully investigate and while we do, Glenn will be suspended. We support his decision to enter a substance abuse program. In the meantime, we will not be commenting further.”