I don't know whether he's a pedophile, and don't think there's sufficient evidence to come to a conclusion on it, and that's the kind of serious allegation I usually reserve for when I know it for a certainty to be true.
However, I do know that he behaved in a manner that contravened journalistic ethics in a grave way, specifically by paying a source for a story, that he did so repeatedly, that he subsequently lied about it, and that he blamed those lies on a seizure, his go-to excuse for nearly anything he does.
I also know that the source he paid was a child pornographer, who used $1,100 or more provided by Eichenwald to reopen a child pornography site and produce more child pornography that would not have been produced had he not done so. Eichenwald justifies this by saying that it ultimately saved more people than it harmed. That is ends justifies the means thinking and frankly, his behavior was grossly irresponsible even if we take it in the light most favorable to Eichenwald, and quite probably illegal. The law does not countenance vigilantism. Even if it ended up well, and I question Eichenwald's estimations of his own importance in the busts that followed his stories, as he has a penchant for self-aggrandizing exaggeration, this is the domain of law enforcement. Private citizens engaging in vigilantism actually put legitimate law enforcement operations in jeopardy.
Any private citizen other than a privileged, elite journalist who did what Eichenwald did would have faced criminal charges. Indeed, even Eichenwald retained numerous lawyers after his behavior came to light. He also realized what would come out in court was so damning that he had his team of lawyers plead with the judge to seal the proceedings. She didn't. That's why we know what we do about these events.
This is all a matter of public record and exhaustive documentation establishes it conclusively.
Kurt does not want to go there.
He's so amazingly self-unaware.
