Ray was an off the books FBI gun for hire, code word level stuff. He was being managed by an unelected official in a Deep State unit that Trump hadn't managed to purge. Ties to various Clinton operators, as I'm sure you already know.
Ray was inserted into the field of operations on 1/6 as the final cherry on top of the DNC's scheme to steal the election from Trump. Ray gets the 1/6 peaceful protesters to look crazy on MSM, he gets them to make it look like it's actually Trump and his Patriots who are trying to steal the election. Except, Ray gets too involved, he leaves too many crumbs behind, he shows up on too many video clips.
The FBI starts arresting every peaceful protester that was there, their first amendment rights are trampled on, except Ray. They know they can't arrest Ray, he'll talk and blow the scheme. It would be the biggest scandal since Watergate. So the FBI and operators within the Deep State try and play it cool, "no comment" here, "no comment" there, they hope it will blow over.
Except, people are starting to connect all these dots, even without Ray confessing. So the FBI enlisted their buddies at the NYT to run a cover piece for Ray, make him look like the real victim in all of this. They try to change the narrative from Ray the Agent to Ray the Victim.
Of course real Patriots are now all the more suspicious. As you noted, Ray is supposedly a MAGA, why would the NYT be helping him? It's all about deception and appearances. It may seem like they're help Ray, but in reality, they're helping their partners at the FBI and ultimately the Clintons.
