Posted on 02/10/2005 5:55:51 AM PST by Pikamax
c
By Joe Strupp and Greg Mitchell
Published: February 10, 2005 updated 10:00 PM ET
NEW YORK Jeff Gannon, the controversial White House correspondent for the obscure Web site Talon News who resigned from his job Tuesday, confirmed late Wednesday, in a phone interview with National Public Radio, that he has been using a false name. A few hours later, Howard Kurtz, writing in The Washington Post, confirmed earlier tips, arising from liberal blogs, that the reporter's real name is indeed James D. Guckert.
Despite the ruse, "Gannon" still managed to gain access to many White House briefings and was one of the few reporters allowed to ask President Bush a (very friendly) question at a press conference two weeks ago.
NPR reported Wednesday that when Gannon was turned down for Capitol Hill credentials--a move first reported by E&P last week--he had used the name James Guckert. He admitted to NPR that Gannon was not his real name, and left it at that.
This "begs further investigation," James Pinkerton, a media critic for Fox News, told the online magazine Salon. He recalled that in the six years he worked for Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, the White House was "strict about who got in. It's inconceivable to me that the White House, especially after 9/11, gives credentials to people without doing a background check....If [Gannon] was walking around the White House with a pass that had a different name on it than his real name, that's pretty remarkable."
Dan Milbank, the former White House correspondent for The Washington Post, said the "scandal" of the whole episode was that it was blogs, and not the White House, that ultimately exposed Gannon's ruse. Milbank, on Keith Olbermann's MSNBC program, said he'd seen Gannon at the White House as recently as Monday.
Gannon, amazingly, also has ties to the Valerie Plame/CIA scandal.
Adding another twist, NPR's David Folkenflik, in his report Wednesday night, referred to revelations arising from liberal blogs earlier in the day, connecting Gannon to sexual Web sites such as HotMilitaryStud.com, among others.
"These sites are registered to an address in Delaware that's the same as one held by a James Guckert," Folkenflik said. "And that's the name that Gannon used to apply for press credentials on Capitol Hill....As for those Web sites, Gannon said he created them for clients of a software company he used to work for. And Gannon said his Christian faith has enabled him to receive forgiveness for the sins of his past."
The New York Daily News' story on Thursday carried the headline, "Bush press pal quits over gay prostie link." Washington reporter Helen Kennedy wrote: "A conservative ringer who was given a press pass to the White House and lobbed softball questions at President Bush quit yesterday after left-leaning Internet bloggers discovered possible ties to gay prostitution."
On Tuesday, in a message on his Web site (www.jeffgannon.com), Gannon announced: "Because of the attention being paid to me I find it is no longer possible to effectively be a reporter for Talon News. In consideration of the welfare of me and my family I have decided to return to private life. Thank you to all those who supported me."
E&P has not been able to reach Gannon since.
Gannon's alleged real name, Guckert, had been proposed earlier Wedneday by investigators at DailyKos, Eschaton and other blogs. They also showed that Talon News is run by a Texas GOP activist.
Also Wednesday, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to President Bush asking him to "address the matter" in light of "mounting evidence that your Administration has, on several occasions, paid members of the media to advocate in favor of Administration policies."
Gannon first gained attention several weeks ago when he asked a question at a presidential press conference that some in the press corps considered so friendly it might have been planted. Later E&P revealed that Gannon had been turned down last year for a congressional press pass because he could not prove his employer was a valid news organization. That denial barred him from receiving a White House "hard pass," allowing regular access to White House press events.
But Gannon had been obtaining daily White House press passes, a situation that had irked some veteran White House reporters who also questioned his credentials or considered him to be too partisan in his questioning.
On Olbermann's program Wednesday night, however, Milbank said he had seen Gannon with a pass and photo I.D. that certainly looked like it was of the permanent variety.
On Thursday, the Boston Globe reports that Gannon told them he had gotten no special consideration at the White House. He had applied for a background check and daily passes under the name on his driver's license, not his "professional name," he said.
Earlier in the day, on CNN, the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz said that White House spokesman Scott McClellan had told him that "President Bush didn't know who Jeff Gannon was when he called on him at that news conference."
Gannon's original refusal to deny he used a fake name sparked investigations by a number of blogs, that probed his true identity. In addition, those sites posted allegations that Web sites such as hotmilitarystud.com, militaryescorts.com, and militaryescortsm4m.com, were registered to the same owner as Gannon's personal Web site.
"The bloggers," Kurtz writes today, "also have linked to a since-withdrawn America Online photo of a man who appears to be Gannon, posing in his underwear, with a screen name bearing the initials 'JDG.'"
In her letter to President Bush, Rep. Slaughter charged that "it appears that 'Mr. Gannon's' presence in the White House press corps was merely as a tool of propaganda for your Administration."
Dan Froomkin, the Washington Post columnist, said Wednesday in an online chat, "the heat should be on" Scott McClellan: "Why did he call on Gannon? Did they ever pre-arrange anything? Did they have contact with his parent organization?"
Another intriguing issue is his involvement, along with better known Robert Novak, Judith Miller and others, in the Valerie Plame/CIA episode. His name turned up on a list of reporters targeted for questioning by the federal prosecutor in the case. Froomkin of the The Washington Post wrote last spring that "the reason Gannon is on the list is most likely an attempt to find out who gave him a secret memo that he mentioned in an interview he had with Plame's husband, former ambassador and administration critic Joseph Wilson."
The Talon News site today scrubbed its archives of many "Gannon" articles and removed his biography. It said it was already looking for a replacement for its star reporter.
In an e-mail to E&P last Friday, not published until now, Gannon wrote: "Much has been made about whether I use a professional name or not, but I am reluctant to provide information one way or another because of the threats that have been made against my person, property and family in both internet postings ... as well as in e-mails that I have forwarded to law enforcement. I'm sure you understand."
Olbermann on his TV show Wednesday referred to Gannon as "HBO's Ali G, without the satire."
I searched for the photos for comparison purposes. They do appear to be the same person.
http://americablog.blogspot.com/aol.jpg
http://americablog.blogspot.com/gannonmult.jpg
"Moreover, in the interest of full disclosure, shouldn't someone ask Howard Dean if Kos is still shilling for him now that Dean is a candidate for DNC Chair? Kos, claims to have folded his consulting outfit, but let's just say his credibility is shot.... The hiring of Markos Moulitsas Zúniga shows Dean has neither to judgment or temperament to fill those positions responsibly."
Why does Gannon need a "professional name"?
I have no idea.
We worked late into the night on this one:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1340055/posts
You're right! Does anyone have a list of White House correspondents? Let's see what we can find out about these "pseudo" journalists.
Whoops......can you see that, if not, I'll Freepmail it to you.
Yup!! Got it...thanks!
bump/ping!
Hey! Nice pic of Jeff Garcia!
He used to be QB for my beloved Calgary Stampeders before he went to the NFL. He was second string to Doug Flutie for a couple of years and then took over the reins when Flutie went to Toronto. I don't know how he's playing today, but when he started here he tended to be impatient and that led to happy feet, but our QB coach at the time, Danny Barrett, cured him of it and he became really good.
Cheers
Jim
You are gonna get me fired.
But the way this happened was very slimy. David Brock and all that.
Actually, you don't have to give the real name, just tell us someone who is using a fake last name.
BTW, does anybody have access to this disgusting question that he actually asked?
Here is the question:
Q Thank you. Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the U.S. economy. Harry Reid was talking about soup lines, and Hillary Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet, in the same breath, they say that Social Security is rock-solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you said you're going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?
~snip~
That said, I worked inside the USAF and know that agencies of the fed. government use their budgets to advance their own existence or programs all the time. The only difference with Williams was that he was supposed to be an "independent" observer.
As for Gannon, the story needs to be, "Why are more Gannon-type questions not ever heard in a press conference? Why should it take a 'ringer' to ask such sensible questions?"
He would tell you it was a wise step, getting a professional name, given the threats he claims to have been receiving.
Well, I would probably phony my name up, too, if I had posed in my skivvies for a gay porn website.
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.
