>no one interfered with their ability to publish any story

How do you know it? What sort of interference would you expect these days anyway? The secret order signed by Angela Merkel herself ordering to stop the story or face lifetime in prison?

FOIA records on FBI and CIA show again and again that western governments are not ashamed to use misinformation, defamation, subversion and provocations. In fact, they have become extremely skillful at these hard-to-prove-yet-so-effective-against-civilian tactics.