Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Bob Woodward says he was threatened by White House
CNN.com ^ | Feb. 17, 2013

Posted on 02/27/2013 8:59:28 PM PST by Rennes Templar

(CNN) - Veteran journalist Bob Woodward said Wednesday he was threatened by a senior Obama administration official following his reporting on the White House's handling of the forced federal spending cuts set to take effect on Friday.

"They're not happy at all," he said on CNN's "The Situation Room," adding that an e-mail from a senior administration official - who he would not name - communicated a message which caused him great concern.

"It was said very clearly, you will regret doing this," he said.

Woodward penned a 2012 book reporting that the idea for the spending cuts, known as the sequester, originated with the White House. It's a claim President Barack Obama originally denied, but the White House has since acknowledged.

But it was language that he used in an op-ed published over the weekend in The Washington Post that drew what he said was the Obama administration response.

"[W]hen the president asks that a substitute for the sequester include not just spending cuts but also new revenue, he is moving the goal posts," Woodward wrote. "His call for a balanced approach is reasonable, and he makes a strong case that those in the top income brackets could and should pay more. But that was not the deal he made."

Headlined "Obama's sequester deal-changer," it was widely cited by Republicans seeking to avert the across-the-board cuts without a tax increase.

"The fundamental question here the president has to decide - does he wanna be president of a political party or does he want to be president of the United States?" House Speaker John Boehner asked at a Tuesday news conference. "It is time for leadership."

(Excerpt) Read more at politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bobwoodward; genesperling; partisanmediashills; sequester
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-39 next last
Well, what have we here?
1 posted on 02/27/2013 8:59:49 PM PST by Rennes Templar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Rennes Templar

Dear Bob:

Names.

Or, it never happened.


2 posted on 02/27/2013 9:02:33 PM PST by Old Sarge (We are officially over the precipice, we just havent struck the ground yet...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Old Sarge

If Bob Woodward said it, I think I believe it.


3 posted on 02/27/2013 9:05:40 PM PST by Jeff Winston
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Jeff Winston

Did Nixon’s plumbers ever threaten him?/s;)


4 posted on 02/27/2013 9:09:15 PM PST by Frank_2001
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Jeff Winston

Again, Bruce Willis in Diehard: “Welcome to the party pal!”


5 posted on 02/27/2013 9:09:55 PM PST by Bshaw (A nefarious deceit is upon us all!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Rennes Templar

After four years...some journalists have come to grasp that it’s become a comic opera of sorts. Woodward tends to publish a book every eighteen months...so you’d best prepare for a dismal story on the White House by the end of this year.


6 posted on 02/27/2013 9:09:57 PM PST by pepsionice
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Old Sarge

Gene Sperling.


7 posted on 02/27/2013 9:13:56 PM PST by reagandemocrat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Rennes Templar

98th thread on the topic today.


8 posted on 02/27/2013 9:19:33 PM PST by steve86 (Acerbic by Nature, not Nurture™)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Old Sarge

Woodward did not lie about Nixon. Why would he be lying now? He is just protecting his rear end by outing the threat. If his car crashes, it won’t be ruled an accident quickly, without an investigation now.


9 posted on 02/27/2013 9:22:16 PM PST by entropy12 (The republic is doomed when people figure out they can get free stuff by voting democrats)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: pepsionice

“After four years...some journalists have come to grasp that it’s become a comic opera of sorts.”

And the monster so turns on its creators. Too late?


10 posted on 02/27/2013 9:25:02 PM PST by GOPFlack
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Rennes Templar

The president kicks out the media while taking questions this week. Woodward gets threatened? Did it happen or is he trying to get better ratings? The media may just be getting spanked by the idiot they forced upon us for the past 6 years. Do I see karma?? I can only hope. Don’t forget, dictators make their own rules.


11 posted on 02/27/2013 9:25:28 PM PST by Nitehawk0325 (All praise King Obama and bend over backwards for him.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rennes Templar

The president kicks out the media while taking questions this week. Woodward gets threatened? Did it happen or is he trying to get better ratings? The media may just be getting spanked by the idiot they forced upon us for the past 6 years. Do I see karma?? I can only hope. Don’t forget, dictators make their own rules.


12 posted on 02/27/2013 9:25:52 PM PST by Nitehawk0325 (All praise King Obama and bend over backwards for him.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rennes Templar
Soooo.

Now we'll find out if there are any journalists left in the media.

Do they side with one of their "own", or do they continue to carry water for Obama, who will throw them under the bus or destroy them on a whim if they fall out of his favor.

13 posted on 02/27/2013 9:27:13 PM PST by Washi (PUSH BACK! Encourage your legislators to introduce pro-second amendment legislation.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rennes Templar

> Well, what have we here?

A distraction from (fill in the blank).


14 posted on 02/27/2013 9:29:25 PM PST by Jyotishi (Seeking the truth, a fact at a time.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rennes Templar

Watch for power blackouts as sequestration looms closer

Obama and his union whores will pull the plug


15 posted on 02/27/2013 9:31:38 PM PST by devolve ( ------------ ---It is not where Obama was born that is the problem - it is where he*s living now -)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jeff Winston

“If Bob Woodward said it, I think I believe it.”

________________________________________________________

Me too. A liberal complaining about Obama? That certainly gives him credibility.

I admire a journalist with integrity.


16 posted on 02/27/2013 9:33:18 PM PST by proud American in Canada (Please pray for America. She needs God's help more than ever now.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Rennes Templar

The MSM worm has turned, or will? It would be nice to see them, um, doingtheirdamjobs (SEE: Congress), but I’m going to hold off for a while before subscribing to the Washington Post or NYT—or cupping one hand behind my back.


17 posted on 02/27/2013 9:38:10 PM PST by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: All armed conservatives.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pepsionice
some journalists have come to grasp that it’s become a comic opera of sorts.

Or that they've created a totalitarian monster. Some may be channeling the thoughts of pro-Castro Cuban intellectuals as they were being herded to "the wall" by Che Guevara's thugs. I think Woodward's matured and is showing some guts.

18 posted on 02/27/2013 9:48:15 PM PST by Bernard Marx
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: tumblindice

I wonder how the WH will spin this one.

They will probably make him an offer he cannot refuse.


19 posted on 02/27/2013 9:49:11 PM PST by Sophia777
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Rennes Templar

Was he ever threatened by either the Nixon or Ford White Houses?


20 posted on 02/27/2013 10:05:17 PM PST by PALIN SMITH (In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-39 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson