What TWA 800 Had in Common with Hunter B’s Laptop

On July 17, 1996, TWA Flight 800 left JFK airport in New York City heading east to Paris. Twelve minutes after its 8:19 departure the doomed 747 blew up off the south coast of Long Island, killing all 230 souls aboard.

On August 23, 1996, the New York Times reported on its front page, above the fold right, “Prime Evidence Found That Device Exploded in Cabin of Flight 800.” According to the Times, only the FBI’s uncertainty about whether the device was a bomb or a missile kept it from declaring TWA 800’s destruction a crime.

On that same day, above the fold left, was the headline, “Clinton Signs Bill Cutting Welfare; States in New Role.”

The Clintons had an election to win. One of those storylines would have to go. A month later, the administration started floating the possibility of a mechanical failure, and the bomb and missile story lines, despite the “prime evidence,” were allowed to die.