Fed leak probe discovers WSJ’s Hilsenrath kicks ass

A Federal Reserve Board probe into leaks about 2012 deliberations were unintentional and “careless,” writes Craig Torres of Bloomberg News.

Torres writes, “The probe was ordered by then-Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke in 2012 after the Wall Street Journal and Medley Global Advisors LLC described deliberations leading up to policy decisions at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in September that year and in December.

“The Fed’s own summary of the probe of the leak released Monday said that a Wall Street Journal reporter spoke with, in some cases ‘multiple times,’ every reserve bank president, most members of the Board of Governors and ‘a number of staff members.’ While the review didn’t disclose the name of the reporter, the Sept. 28, 2012, story was written under the byline of Jon Hilsenrath.

“‘These disclosures appeared to be unintentional or careless and none of the disclosures involved details of the FOMC policy proposals or actions,’ the summary said.

“The Fed’s summary said ‘nearly all’ of the information in the Medley report appeared previously in the newspaper.”

Read more here. The story quotes Journal editor Gerard Baker as saying that the Fed’s review “underscores the full depth and breadth of Jon Hilsenrath’s rigorous and accurate reporting.”