Durbin, Reid, Lautenberg, Kennedy & Kerry Ask White House to Launch Formal Inquiry Into Gannon/Guckert Affair
DURBIN, REID, LAUTENBERG, KENNEDY & KERRY ASK WHITE HOUSE TO LAUNCH FORMAL INQUIRY INTO GANNON/GUCKERT AFFAIR
Friday, February 25, 2005
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and four other senators today urged President Bush to order a full inquiry into how James D. Guckert, a.k.a. "Jeff Gannon" - a non-journalist using an assumed name - was able to obtain White House press credentials and gain full access to the White House for an extended period of time. Durbin made his request in a letter to the White House and was joined by Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA).
In the letter Durbin and the others wrote: "Given the unprecedented level of security in Washington since 9/11, it is troubling that a non-journalist using a false name and working for a sham news organization could have gained regular access to the White House for such an extended period of time . . . we respectfully request that you order an immediate and thorough investigation into the Gannon/Guckert matter."
James D. Guckert, conservative operative who wrote under the name Jeff Gannon, attracted attention by asking President Bush a loaded question at a news conference in January and was forced to resign a few weeks ago amid questions about his identity and background. The White House press cleared "Gannon" to attend briefings in the West Wing and ask questions at Presidential news conferences.
Guckert frequently attended White House press briefings over the last two years and asked pointedly conservative questions. Called on by Bush at a Jan. 26 news conference, Guckert said Senate Democratic leaders were painting a bleak picture of the economy and he asked Bush how the president would work "with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality."
Durbin said he was very concerned that the Gannon/Guckert incident is part of a broader pattern by the Bush White House of attempting to manipulate the media. "Lobbing softball questions at White House press conferences is hardly a new phenomenon, but having them repeatedly thrown by a non-journalist with a sleazy background working under an assumed name - that may be a new low," said Durbin. "In the past several months, far too many troubling reports have come to light -- paying conservative-leaning journalists Armstrong Williams and Maggie Gallagher large sums of money to promote the Bush Administration's education and marriage initiatives; using taxpayer dollars to produce video news releases promoting the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, and now this fake journalist in the White House press room itself. This pattern of activity just goes too far and it needs to stop."
http://durbin.senate.gov/releases.cfm