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."
And where, precisely is this alleged?
I refer to the suspicion that he was a plant. That he received a plum spot in the White House Press Corps, as a quid pro quo for friendly questions. IF that turns out to be true, that is wrongdoing on both sides. If it is not true, then there is no problem.
Pray for W and Our Freedom Winning Troops
Oh. I get it.
And precisely when are you going to start calling for the resignation/ouster of Katie Couric/ Ted Koppell/Dan Rather/ Petah Jennings/ Baba Wawa/ Charles Grodin/ Bonnie Erbe/ Eleanor Clift, etc. etc. ???
Think this through.
Yes you have! And I have never been prouder of you.
Regards,
TS
It's a sin to work for a software company??
Wow .. was that ever taken out of context
Unlike all of them!/ SARCASM
I hope the rest of them understand THEY OPENED THE DOOR to have their PERSONAL LIVES questioned and exposed! Two can play this game! They better have spotless closets.
Oh please tell me you haven't fallen for that BS the Dkos is pushing?
I don't know what you think was debunked on that thread, but it's over 600 responses, so I'm not going to search it to find out.
His name is Gerald Rivera.
No it isn't. His name is Geraldo Rivera. And early in his career he went by the name Jerry Rivers.
In that thread, it was said he was born Gerald Rivera. He used to be on Bill Boggs in NY in the 70's and he was using Geraldo Rivera then. I remember him as being a good reporter at that time. I've never heard him use Jerry Rivers.
In case anyone forgets, this is part of the Democrat's vow to take down conservatives in the media. They vowed to get Rush for over a decade and thought they won when the drug charges became public. They also declared they were going to take Sean Hannity down but can't fabricate dirt like usual as the mud seems to come back on the fake source. This is the best they can do.
And what about 'Stone' Phillips?
You know the libs are grabbing at straws. They are so desperate, aren't they?
It doesn't matter what's in the closet past or present with most of the left. They aren't the ones claiming the moral high ground. It's mostly conservatives who claim the moral high ground. Who preach about it, teach about it, and want to legislate much of it. The moral high ground is one of the things that separates us from the left.
The guy was designing gay web sites for a customer. And it stings him when this information gets out. That's the news. That's the deal. It isn't about the name change, although many would suspect that the name change is at least in part an attempt to coverup a sorted past. Maybe it isn't, but it doesn't matter. He's resigned because he doesn't want his past dragged up.
I would just tell him "welcome to the world of hardball politics. Our side plays it too. He's just another casuality."
Did Stone Phillips one time design gay websites for a client? :) The guys past is what this story is about. Embarassing him. He threw a softball pitch to the president that slammed the left at the same time. And they hit him back. What's the line about glass houses?
I would say we knew the friendly question would be asked. Our guys are good politicians too. They're on our side, and we're on their side.... but it might be a little naive to think that only democrats would plant a question with a reporter.
I really want to believe that Bush himself was not involved. Obviously someone in his administration gave this guy his passes. The dems are going nuts over this and loving the gay porn website angle.
Just had to get that name in there somehow. :) It's always bugged me.
Just who would name their kid 'Stone'?
".....and this is our new baby, Stone..."
Pure speculation here, but if his employer had his social security number, they knew who he was. Further, in the most minimal of security arrangements, the first thing the Feds do is to ask for your SSN. If he falsified this, there is a different problem. If he didn't, then they knew who he was.
Thanks for the info, it does seem the "porn link" was blown out of proportion! We're still left with why he resigned so suddenly with Talon news though because now we know:
1. Of course he was vetted thoroughly by the SS, to get his daily WH press pass. There's no way he wasn't. And so what about a pen name? How is that a big deal?
2. The websites he was involved with were apparently not even developed, so I GUESS it's possible that he may have been somewhat embarassed by them, but I don't see why since that was probably even before he got saved. Even if after, it appears he was only involved with them in an indirect manner. (although, given what he said about confessing his sins to God, in answering that question (about the sites), I think he probably worked on them before he became a Christian).
3. Apparently he's gotten some phone calls threatening his family (I read that somewhere, not sure if it's true, but lets say it is). If that's the case, I don't see why that would stop a determined reporter such as he, since he could write about such experiences, further castigating the left with such tales. IOW, I can't imagine a man as apparently tough as he folding under such pressure.
The more he remains silent on the issue, the more it's just mysterious as heck. Of course he doesn't HAVE to explain any of his actions to anyone, but after enjoying his articles myself, along with many others I'm sure, we'd all kinda like to know. I think it's a fair question to at least ask.
WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: WHAT IS A REPORTER?
Thu Feb 10 2005 20:49:03 ET
White House spokesman Scott McClellan On Thursday challenged liberal media activists, who are currently feigning outrage over events surrounding "Jeff Gannon," to examine the definition of reporter in the new century.
"In this day and age, when you have a changing media, it's not an easy issue to decide or try to pick and choose who is a journalist. It gets into the issue of advocacy journalism," McClellan said.
"Where do you draw the line? There are a number of people who cross that line in the briefing room.
"There are a number of people in that room that express their points of view, and there are people in that room that represent traditional media, they represent talk radio, they're columnists, and they represent online news organizations."
Developing...
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.