Surprised by "The Washington Post" article, "Mercury News" executive editor Jerome Ceppos wrote to the "Post" defending the series. The "Post" ultimately refused to print his letter. Ceppos also asked reporter Pete Carey to write a critique of the series for publication in "The Mercury News", and had the controversial website artwork changed. Carey's critique appeared in mid-October and went through several of the Post criticisms of the series, including the importance of Blandón's drug ring in spreading crack, questions about Blandón's testimony in court, and how specific series allegations about CIA involvement had been, giving Webb's responses.