Selectively publishing primary source documents definitely _can_ be a distortion of truth. To take the most salient example: It seems reasonable that the internal sausage-making most political parties is similar - there are power dynamics, personal (and possibly institutional) preferences, etc. If WL were to receive leaks internal communication from two opposing parties, and only publish one while allowing the opposing side to maintain it's facade, that would clearly be a distortion of truth, right?

I'm not insinuating that WL was actually presented with that decision in 2016, but it seems clear their acknowledged selectivity in publication is capable of distorting the true state of affairs.