On October 22, 2026, the White House counsel threatened Politico if it did not retract a corrected story about staff-level gossip concerning the chief of staff and the president. Politico had already corrected a mistake in the piece. The correction is now the contested point: Politico amended the story to say Wiles only encouraged Zachariah and had no role in arranging the Hannity interview. The retraction demand stands against a piece that has already been revised, and it is not settled whether the correction satisfies the counsel or what follows if it does not.