My speculations in no particular order:

1. Getting bad news out of the way for 2018 and in particular for 2020
2. Grudge between NY Times executive or editor and HW
3. HW not centrist enough or not leftist enough in Dem circles, so must be removed
4. Per unsourced comment in another blog, a power struggle within the HW company
5. Feminist purity: how can NYT rail against strengthened rights for the accused in colleges without cleaning house
6. Intellectual honesty: this is a story regardless who it is about