During former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York last month, an editorial order came down from the top at the digital news site The Messenger: Take the stories about the indictment off the homepage.

“I can’t think of another way to get this across but in a group slack. Jimmy does not want any Trump trial coverage on the HP, period. I’m repeatedly getting calls on it. Please make sure we don’t slip one in,” Deputy Editor Michelle Gotthelf wrote in a Slack message with a handful of editors in November, referring to the site’s founder and publisher Jimmy Finkelstein.

Another editor at the digital news organization asked if the directive meant removing articles about Trump from the website’s “most popular” section, which Gotthelf said they should remove.

“Yes, not in most popular. Keep it all in the politics section,” she wrote.

The editorial directive sparked immediate backlash among some editors in the newsroom, who noted that the publication had prominently featured major stories about Hunter Biden’s legal issues. It also prompted speculation from the group about the reason for Finkelstein’s repeated calls to remove the stories.

“i understand the message, and will adhere, but i want to be perfectly clear that this is unethical and the antithesis of a supposed ‘unbiased’ news site,” Deputy Homepage Editor Dave Smith said. “did jimmy say why he doesn’t want trump trial coverage on the hp? Is it the reason i think we’re all assuming — that he doesn’t want bad press for trump?” editor Lisa Letostak wrote.

Gotthelf didn’t answer the question, but encouraged Letostak to contact Finkelstein if she had issues with the directive. In an email to a group of editors shared with Semafor, Finkelstein said that editors had misunderstood his instructions around placement for Trump stories, saying that there needed to be more balance on the homepage. He also added that he didn’t want breathless Trump trial coverage every day.

“You absolutely don’t know what you are talking about. All I said is you can’t lead every day with 21 day, 22 day etc. You can put it up top but can’t always lead. It looks completely one sided. Despite the fact that I said that it continued so I merely said firmly you need balance, that’s what we are about,” he wrote.

A spokesperson for The Messenger reiterated that the internal drama was merely confusion: “The Slack messages in question are clearly being misinterpreted. The editor clearly clarified later that the headline didn’t reflect the story and needed to be changed, and the story remained on the site. The Messenger has covered the Trump trial sagas more than any other U.S. publication.”