Special to WorldTribune.com

An unusual war of words has broken out between the New York Times and a leading Republican presidential contender from Texas.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s new book ‘A Time for Truth’ sold more copies than all but two of the 20 books on the New York Times best-seller list. The Times subsequently dropped Cruz’s book from its list.

In an effort to deflect the resulting widespread publicity pointing to the apparent partisan blacklisting of a best-selling book, the Times claimed that Cruz and his publisher had conducted“strategic bulk sales.”

In response, HarperCollins issued a statement: “HarperCollins Publishers has investigated the sales pattern for Ted Cruz’s book ‘A Time for Truth’ and has found no evidence of bulk orders or sales through any retailer or organization.”

The Cruz campaign weighed in, publicly demanding that the Times either release its “evidence” or issue a formal apology for impugning the integrity of Cruz and HarperCollins editor Adam Bellow.

New York Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy issued a statement that the newspaper is “standing by” its position and offered a “no comment” when pressed for a response.

“The New York Times holds itself out as the ‘newspaper of record,’” said Cruz campaign spokesman Rick Tyler.

“If it lied deliberately — if the Times tried to slander the character of Sen. Cruz and his publisher, knowing the charge to be false — then that goes directly to the journalistic integrity of the institution. How many other lies has the Times told? Are they only directed at Republicans? Under what circumstances does the Times believe it is appropriate for journalists to deliberately deceive the public?”

The Times has not responded.

“Any journalist concerned about their institutional integrity should be embarrassed, and should demand corrective action,” Tyler said.

  Eileen Murphy, HarperCollins, l Adam Bellow, New York Times, Rick Tyler, risks credibility based on perceived objectivity, Sen. Ted Cruz, The N.Y. Times messes with a Texan