Posted on 02/17/2005 3:59:09 PM PST by cyncooper
Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was so concerned about Talon News reporter James Guckert's potential ties to the Republican Party that he stopped calling on him at press briefings for about a week in 2003, Fleischer told E&P today.
"I found out that he worked for a GOP site, and I didn't think it was my place to call on him because he worked for something that was related to the party," Fleischer said in a phone interview. "He had the editor call me and made the case that they were not related to the Republican Party. He said they used the GOP name for marketing purposes only."
He said he resumed calling on Guckert, who used the alias Jeff Gannon, after Bobby Eberle, owner of both GOPUSA and Talon News, "assured me that they were not part of the Republican Party." Eberle is a Texas Republican activist and served as a delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention.
Fleischer has not previously commented on the Gannon/Guckert affair.
"I don't think that party organizations should have people in that room acting as reporters," Fleischer said, explaining his initial concerns. "They are advocates, not reporters, and a line should be drawn." But, after speaking with Eberle and looking at Talon News, he was convinced that GOPUSA.com and Talon News were not official party sites.
"It looked like a conservative news organization," Fleischer said. "If I thought that they were part of the party, I would not have [resumed] calling on them."
Fleischer served as Bush press secretary from January 2001 to July 2003. Guckert, who has become a center of controversy after it was learned he had used an alias at the White House and had ties to several male escort sites, resigned his Talon News post last week.
Fleischer said he did not know much about Guckert and could not recall exactly when he started covering press briefings. He said he played no part in approving Guckert's requests for daily press credentials (which were handled by his office) and could offer no further comment on that.
But he said he did not know at the time that Guckert had been using a false name and did not know if Scott McClellan, now press secretary but then Fleischer's aide, had known then either. "It came as a surprise to me, because I always knew him as Jeff Gannon," he said. Fleischer said he did not know of any other White House reporters using aliases.
He said he did not know the method the White House Press Office used to keep records of those, like Guckert, who received daily press passes. White House Press Office officials did not respond to several requests today for such information.
Fleischer said he knew that he would get a conservative question from Guckert whenever he called on him. "He was one of the few identifiable conservatives in the room," Fleischer said. "[With] some reporters, you know you will get a question from right field, and [with] some you know you will get a question from left field. I made a deliberate practice to call on everyone in the room. It was a way to make sure large organizations got their questions in, but also to be fair to organizations who do not get their questions in right away."
Fleischer stressed that he did not go to Guckert more often than others or in the hopes of getting a "softball" or partisan question. "Sometimes, you can get tripped up from right field," he said with a laugh.
When asked about the credentialing process for reporters, Fleischer said he purposely did not get involved in deciding who should get passes and believes no one in his former job should. He recalled that there was a rule about credentialed reporters being part of news organizations that "published regularly" but was uncertain how it applied to Web sites. "I don't know that we even had a policy vis-a-vis bloggers and blogs," he told E&P. "I never kept up on any of that.
"Until this issue came up, it was such a low-level thing that it would be below the radar of the press secretary," Fleischer noted. He also believes that the issue will eventually blow over. "I have a feeling that this is going to be one of those issues where people wring their hands, say 'woe is me,' and decide that it is best the way it is," he predicted. "I would advise the White House not to get into [efforts to change the system]."
Fleischer also stressed that, beyond security concerns, reporters from any regular news organization should be allowed to a have White House access unless they can be shown to be a threat. "It is a slippery slope for any press secretary in any administration to pick and choose who gets a credential based on ideology," he said, adding, "so long as they are a legitimate reporter."
Even Guckert's ties to several sex Web sites and allegations that he worked as a male prostitute should not necessarily keep him or any other reporter out, Fleischer said. "The last thing our nation needs is for anyone in the White House to concern themselves with the private lives of reporters," he said. "What right does the White House have to decide who gets to be a reporter based on private lives?"
If allegations that Guckert ran Web ads offering his services as a male escort prove true, however, this would represent more than a “private life” issue. Asked what he thought about the recent revelations about Guckert's past, Fleischer said only, "It is all a bit odd."
When asked if knowing that Gannon was a fake name would have changed his treatment of Guckert, Fleischer said, "I don’t know how I would react to that." Should changes in the credentialing process be made? He said, "the White House Correspondents Association should either seek a change or leave it alone and recognize that there is room for a little weirdness on both sides."
He also said Guckert was "just as legitimate as some of the fringe organizations in the room."
Thanks for posting this.
ping.
You are welcome.
Fleischer articulated what I and many other freeprs have been saying about the context of the WH role in this.
I am glad he spoke out and put it in the proper perspective.
Sort of reminds me of the reported picture of W dancing naked on top of a bar. I tried and tried to find it, but no luck. LOL!
Darn, I missed it...
Steve Outings, is (I think) the editor... Worth a look.
Thanks for the headsup...
Dammmmm,
Page wont open.. will keep trying.
Yup -all there appears to be is allegation, inuendo AND the demodummicrats spreading it...
I've seen the pictures. Woofie knows the site, I've erased it from my mind. Some nasty little HRC minion runs it.
What I find interesting is that the MSM seems to be making a case that it's OK to look into the private lives of journalists.
If allegations that Guckert ran Web ads offering his services as a male escort prove true, however, this would represent more than a “private life” issue. Asked what he thought about the recent revelations about Guckert's past, Fleischer said only, "It is all a bit odd."
Well, THAT makes NO sense. Either private life is off limits, or it isn't!
BTW I met with my cardiologist this week... he seemed to think I still have a heart and that all is well ...
Isn't that the truth!
deport, does it not seem odd to you that someone with this sort of proclivity would be a onservative reporter? I know there are gay Republicans, but it seems to me they are the low-key, non-exhibitionist types. However, I am not familiar with all of this stuff and will bow to those who have expertise.
I agree with Ari...the whole thing seems odd.
deport, does it not seem odd to you that someone with this sort of proclivity would be a onservative reporter?
I keep thinking of another word, but odd will suffice
I think most are re-thinking going down that road:
Members of the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) met yesterday with President Bush's spokesman, Scott McClellan, to discuss the White House credentialing system for reporters, but neither side pressed for stricter guidelines and each is wary of setting new limits on access.
The 20-minute meeting came a week after James D. Guckert, aka Jeff Gannon, a former reporter for the conservative Talon News, resigned amid charges that he was not a legitimate reporter for a bona fide news organization.
The WHCA, which deals with the administration on coverage-related issues, did not use the meeting to press for new guidelines to decide which reporters can get into the White House for daily briefings, reports Joseph Curl of The Washington Times.
"Nobody asked anybody else to do anything, and nobody said they intend to do anything," said WHCA President Ron Hutcheson, who added that no official action was likely at a Feb. 28 WHCA board meeting. "Our general position is to let people in, not to keep people out."
Under nonmandatory guidelines from the Clinton administration, which are sometimes bent by the White House and by news organizations, reporters seeking a permanent White House "hard pass" must:
•Work for a news organization with a Washington bureau.
•Be certified by the organization's executives as a regular correspondent.
•Demonstrate a need to be at the White House on a daily basis.
•Live in the Washington area.
•Be a member of the congressional press gallery.
Mr. McClellan said he reiterated the administration stance in yesterday's meeting that the White House should not be deciding which reporters get in.
"I certainly don't think it's the press secretary's role to get into picking and choosing," he said in a telephone interview.
~snip~
Note, the above refers in particular to issuing hard passes, but the spirit of keeping the bar lower, not higher, was clearly agreed to by all. Another article about this meeting said the day passes such as Gannon had entailed less scrutiny.
Ari Fleischer really expressed exactly my thoughts on the matter. It is odd, this story, but then he put how it relates to the WH right in the context it belongs.
What you do in your bedroom qualifies as private. But you can't advertise yourself as a prostitute on a website and have any expectations of privacy.
The fact is, a reporter who has attended WH briefings and asked President Bush questions may have worked as a prostitute. That's a story whether the reporter is male or female, gay or straight, conservative or liberal. If a CNN reporter turned up working as a prostitute Freepers would be *all* over it.
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