Lautenberg Requests All Doc From White House Relating to James D. Guckert, A.K.A. Jeff Gannon

Lautenberg ^ | 2/10/05

[areafiftyone]

WASHINGTON, DC -- In light of yet another scandal involving the Bush administration's manipulation of the media, United States Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) today requested from White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan all the documents relating to the press credentials of James. D. Guckert, a.k.a. "Jeff Gannon"; the "journalist" now famous for being the White House correspondent for his softball questioning of President Bush and various Administration spokespeople.

"I am writing to request that you immediately release documents to my office relating to the White House press credentials of James D. Guckert, a.k.a. "Jeff Gannon." Specifically, I am seeking documentation related to the question of which name Mr. Guckert/Gannon used when applying for credentials, and which name was on the official White House press credentials he received," wrote Lautenberg.

"As you may know, Mr. Guckert/Gannon was denied a Congressional press pass because he could not show that he wrote for a valid news organization. Given the fact that he was denied Congressional credentials, I seek your explanation of how Mr. Guckert/Gannon passed muster for White House press credentials," Lautenberg wrote.

Senator Lautenberg has been the Senate leader in exposing the Bush administration's propaganda efforts.

February 10, 2005

Scott McClellan Press Secretary The White House Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. McClellan,

I am writing to request that you immediately release documents to my office relating to the White House press credentials of James D. Guckert, a.k.a. "Jeff Gannon." Specifically, I am seeking documentation related to the question of which name Mr. Guckert/Gannon used when applying for credentials, and which name was on the official White House press credentials he received. Additionally, I am seeking documents indicating whether Mr. Guckert/Gannon received a "hard pass" or daily passes from your office. Despite your assertions to the contrary, at least one White House reporter has revealed that Mr. Guckert/Gannon appeared to have "hard pass" credentials.

As you may know, Mr. Guckert/Gannon was denied a Congressional press pass because he could not show that he wrote for a valid news organization. Given the fact that he was denied Congressional credentials, I seek your explanation of how Mr. Guckert/Gannon passed muster for White House press credentials.

I have led the effort in the Senate to investigate a number of instances of troubling propaganda efforts by the Administration. The Government Accountability Office has agreed to my requests to investigate various attempts at media manipulation: fake television news stories touting both the new Medicare law and the "No Child Left Behind" education program; a study rating individual journalists on their "favorability" to Republican education policies; and the payment to journalist Armstrong Williams.

Since the Armstrong Williams controversy became public, Administration payments to two other journalists, Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus, have come to light. Given the backdrop of these scandals, coupled with Mr. Guckert/Gannon's role in recent White House press briefings and press conferences, it is understandable that the circumstances of Mr. Guckert/Gannon's credentialing have raised suspicion.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely, Frank R. Lautenberg

[areafiftyone]

It's already started. The DUers have been trying to bring down Free Republic for a long time. They are googling Gannon's name like crazy - found out he was a court reporter in the state of Delaware and found a phone number for him. These people are sick people!

[nutmeg]

Gannon is supposed to be on Wolf Blitzer (CNN) today at 5:00pm ET.

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

[highlandbreeze]

Yeah, I saw that last night when I read his name was supposedly linked in there somewhere.

I know I shouldn't be, but I just can't believe what is going on.

[mystery-ak]

I agree....this is more than asking soft ball questions in the press room.....

[Indy Pendance]

oops. sorry about the duplicate post.

[retrokitten]

I suppose we need to find out who exactly is behind this and who exactly is behind David Brock

I totally agree with you. This is going to get far, far uglier.

[Mo1]

This is payback for what was done to Dan Rather...I knew it would happen. As this plays out ....watch FR get brought into this mess...Kill three birds with one smear.

You bet it's coming and I think we all know who is behind it

[cyborg]

LOL!

[Mo1]

LOL!!

[cyncooper]

Just to be clear...Gannon attended many WH press briefings given by Scott McClellan and occasionally was called on. Those are what Olbermann was showing.

Gannon has asked exactly one question at a Presidential press conference and that was on January 26,2005, and now here we are. (and I'm sure Olbermann showed that one question, too).

[WHBates]

"Okay, fine. How can we stop this? Can we?"

The question might be why "WE" would want to stop it. We might find out all kind of stuff that we don't know about how the system works. It could be educational. LOL

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL!

[Constitution Day]

LOL!

I went to see the President speak today in Raleigh, NC.

There was a protestor's sign that said "Who Is Jeff Gannon?"
I took a photo and will post it later.

[highlandbreeze]

=0)

[Indy Pendance]

It wasn't so much the question, it was inflitrating the "Elite Bush Bashing White House Press Corps". They are livid. We need more bloggers in that group. Can FR get a press pass? Now that would be sweet!

[cyncooper]

I didn't see the Gannon story in Wolf's intro where they list the stories that will be covered. I'll keep it on, though.

[Strategerist]

It's already started. The DUers have been trying to bring down Free Republic for a long time. They are googling Gannon's name like crazy - found out he was a court reporter in the state of Delaware and found a phone number for him. These people are sick people!

Gosh, NOBODY on FR has EVER done anything similar. (To be fair, the Mods tend to remove the home phone numbers pretty quickly.)

[glock rocks]

[dirtboy]

This is stupid posturing by the Dems. Lautenberg knows that there There are some folks out there who truly, truly believe that this and the payments to Williams and others are enought to bring down the Bush Administration. They are also breathlessly running down every conspiracy theory over the elections, just knowing that the smoking gun is out there.

However, they seem to forget that the GOP controls Congress - and unless Bush is caught in a hot tub with Osama, it's gonna be pretty hard to get him impeached, let alone removed. And the Dems set the standard with Clinton for obstructing impeachment.

[Labyrinthos]

Lousenberg needs to change his diaper, pour himself a glass of nice warm milk, and read the Constitution and the SCOTUS decisions concerning the separation of powers doctrine, which pretty much prohibits Congress was from exercising control over the day to day operations of the White House (except with repect to budget issues). If the White House wants to give a press pass to a reporter from the Onion or Scrappleface, then it has every right to do so, just as it has the right to revoke all press passes for everyone. Lousenberg can complain all he wants, but that's about all he can do under the Constitution.