Gannon, J

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon</a>

<table><tbody><tr><td align="center">This article is part of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch" title="SourceWatch">SourceWatch</a> coverage of Jeff Gannon (James Dale Guckert)</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Main article:</td></tr><tr><td>

<ul>

<li>Jeff Gannon</li>

</ul>

</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Sub-articles:</td></tr><tr><td>

<ul>

<li>External Links:</li>

</ul>

<dl>

<dd>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon/External_Links" title="Jeff Gannon/External Links">Articles & Commentary</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon/External_Links:Video%26_TV" title="Jeff Gannon/External Links: Video & TV">Video & TV</a></li>

</ul>

</dd>

</dl>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Gannongate" title="Gannongate">Gannongate</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=GOPUSA" title="GOPUSA">GOPUSA</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon:_Investigation" title="Jeff Gannon: Investigation">Investigation</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Talon_News" title="Talon News">Talon News</a></li>

</ul>

<dl>

<dd>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rathergate:_Jeff_Gannon_and_Talon_News" title="Rathergate: Jeff Gannon and Talon News">Rathergate: Jeff Gannon and Talon News</a></li></ul></dd></dl></td></tr></tbody></table>

"Jeff Gannon" is the pseudonym used by James Dale Guckert, unmasked in February 2005 by John Aravosis's <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=AMERICAblog" title="AMERICAblog">AMERICAblog</a>.org Blogspot and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Media_Matters_for_America" title="Media Matters for America">Media Matters for America</a>, a liberal watchdog group based in Washington, DC, to be a fake <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=White_House_%22correspondent%22" title="White House " correspondent="correspondent" class="mw-redirect">White House "correspondent"</a> working for the pseudo news organization <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Talon_News" title="Talon News">Talon News</a>, which is closely tied to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=GOPUSA" title="GOPUSA">GOPUSA</a>, a <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Right-wing" title="Right-wing">right-wing</a> site owned by a Texas-based Republican activist.

Gannon had access to the White House and was admitted to the White House press briefing room on day press passes for almost two years. He was recognized for editorializing before asking "softball" questions of the White House press staff and, even on occasion, of President <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_W._Bush" title="George W. Bush" class="mw-redirect">George W. Bush</a>, to break up lines of aggressive questioning by legitimate reporters, thereby assisting the staff in controlling press conferences.

<h2>Contents</h2>

[<a href="javascript:toggleToc()" class="internal" id="togglelink">hide</a>]</div>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#Summary">1 Summary</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#Current_status">2 Current status</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#Gannon_blog">2.1 Gannon blog</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#Criticism">2.2 Criticism</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#Connections">3 Connections</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#Rove-Gannon">3.1 Rove-Gannon</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#Liddy-Gannon">3.2 Liddy-Gannon</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#Credentials">3.3 Credentials</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#Background">4 Background</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#Contact">5 Contact</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#SourceWatch_resources">6 SourceWatch resources</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#External_links">7 External links</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#References">7.1 References</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#Photos">7.2 Photos</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#Radio_.26_audio">7.3 Radio & audio</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#Parody_.26_humor">7.4 Parody & humor</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#On-going_files">7.5 On-going files</a></li></ul></li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2>Summary</h2>

Investigation has followed at a feverish pace by blogspots Media Matters for America, Daily Kos, The Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, Media Citizen, Editor & Publisher, and other bloggers, as well as interviews with Gannon on <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=CNN" title="CNN" class="mw-redirect">CNN</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=MSNBC" title="MSNBC">MSNBC</a> and through other media outlets, which discovered that, among other things, "Jeff Gannon"

<ul>

<li>has no <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Media" title="Media">media</a> experience other than a two-day training course at <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Leadership_Institute" title="Leadership Institute" class="mw-redirect">The Leadership Institute's</a> <a href="http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/02TRAINING/001BJS/001BJS.cfm" class="external text" title="http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/02TRAINING/001BJS/001BJS.cfm" rel="nofollow">Broadcast School of Journalism</a></li>

<li>was denied media credentials April 7, 2004, by the "Standing Committee of Correspondents, the press body that oversees the distribution of credentials on Capitol Hill"</li>

<li>was not working for a recognized media outlet</li>

<li>had access to the White House press briefing room before Talon News was operational</li>

<li>operates an online male escort service <a href="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/man-called-jeff.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/man-called-jeff.html" rel="nofollow">[1]</a></li>

<li>had a career as a $200-an-hour escort <a href="http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGBTXP7TI5E.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGBTXP7TI5E.html" rel="nofollow">[2]</a>. A particularly indiscreet aspect was that he used the same pseudonym for both his "escort" work and his "journalist" work!</li>

<li>posed nude in photos discovered on numerous gay web sites, including MaleCorps.com, WorkingBoys.net and MeetLocalMen.com <a href="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/man-called-jeff.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/man-called-jeff.html" rel="nofollow">[3]</a><a href="http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGBTXP7TI5E.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGBTXP7TI5E.html" rel="nofollow">[4]</a></li>

<li>owns several male gay porn websites, including military-themed escort domain names <a href="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/man-called-jeff.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/man-called-jeff.html" rel="nofollow">[5]</a></li>

<li>had access to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Valerie_Plame" title="Valerie Plame">Valerie Plame</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=CIA" title="CIA" class="mw-redirect">CIA</a> memo</li>

<li>raises questions about posing a security risk as he somehow bypassed both <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Secret_Service" title="Secret Service">Secret Service</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=FBI" title="FBI" class="mw-redirect">FBI</a> screening to access the White House press room</li>

<li>raises questions as to how he gained access to the White House press room when legitimate journalists cannot</li>

<li>is suspected of being a "plant" for Republican operative <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Karl_Rove" title="Karl Rove">Karl Rove</a></li>

<li>is suspected of assisting the GOP to "attack" Democratic Senator <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tom_Daschle" title="Tom Daschle">Tom Daschle</a></li>

<li>knew about <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Shock_and_awe" title="Shock and awe">shock and awe</a> attack on <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Iraq" title="Iraq">Iraq</a> four hours before it happened <a href="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/breaking-news-gannon-reportedly-knew.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/breaking-news-gannon-reportedly-knew.html" rel="nofollow">[6]</a></li>

<li>bragged to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Free_Republic" title="Free Republic">Free Republic</a> that he fed information to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sean_Hannity" title="Sean Hannity">Sean Hannity</a> on September 10, 2004, "about <a href="http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/features/10973/" class="external text" title="http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/features/10973/" rel="nofollow">Mary Mapes</a> which would discredit <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/02/25/eveningnews/main502026.shtml" class="external text" title="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/02/25/eveningnews/main502026.shtml" rel="nofollow">Dan Rather</a>'s <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/20/politics/main644546.shtml" class="external text" title="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/20/politics/main644546.shtml" rel="nofollow">sources</a> on the National Guard story" <a href="http://www.talkaboutgovernment.com/group/alt.politics.liberalism/messages/972269.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.talkaboutgovernment.com/group/alt.politics.liberalism/messages/972269.html" rel="nofollow">[7]</a></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>"Jeff Gannon"'s <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20050204024846/http://www.gopusa.com/bios/jeffgannon.shtml" class="external text" title="http://web.archive.org/web/20050204024846/http://www.gopusa.com/bios/jeffgannon.shtml" rel="nofollow">GOPUSA bio</a> via the WaybackMachine, which is gone from both the Talon News and GOPUSA web sites.</li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Gannon" class="external text" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Gannon" rel="nofollow">"Jeff Gannon"</a> in the Wikipedia.</li>

<li><a href="http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Jeff_Gannon" class="external text" title="http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Jeff_Gannon" rel="nofollow">"Jeff Gannon"</a> in the dKosopedia.</li>

</ul>

For those to need to catch up, perhaps, see World O'Crap's version of <a href="http://blogs.salon.com/0002874/" class="external text" title="http://blogs.salon.com/0002874/" rel="nofollow">"'Jeff Gannon / James Guckert' for Dummies,"</a> with links to other versions (February 23, 2005).

<h2>Current status</h2>

In June 2008, Editor & Publisher reported that Gannon / Guckert is an active member of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Press_Club" title="National Press Club">National Press Club</a>. "Since 2006, Gannon ... has been a member in good standing and currently serves on two press club committees, according to the esteemed journalistic organization. He also blogs on the Press Club Web site, as well as on his own online page." <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#cite_note-PressClub-0" title="">[1]</a>

"Press Club rules require that a new member be sponsored by at least two current members in good standing. Gannon said <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rick_Dunham&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Rick Dunham (page does not exist)">Rick Dunham</a>, then with BusinessWeek and now a Houston Chronicle reporter, was one of his sponsors. He said he could not remember the other." Dunham said that he sponsored Gannon / Guckert because he wanted the Press Club "to expand our membership into blogging and multimedia." <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#cite_note-PressClub-0" title="">[1]</a>

According to a May 2007 Washington Post column, Gannon / Guckert is now the spokesman for the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=International_Bible_Reading_Association" title="International Bible Reading Association">International Bible Reading Association</a>. "Let us pray for the power to understand how Gannon made his way from HotMilitaryStud.com to the International Bible Reading Association," Post columnist <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dana_Milbank&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Dana Milbank (page does not exist)">Dana Milbank</a> wrote drily. <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/03/AR2007050302170.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/03/AR2007050302170.html" rel="nofollow">[8]</a>

<h3>Gannon blog</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.jeffgannon.com/" class="external text" title="http://www.jeffgannon.com/" rel="nofollow">Gannonblog</a> is back .. again! Accessed March 3, 2005.</li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>Hoffmania! announced February 25, 2005, that <a href="http://www.hoffmania.com/blog/2005/02/this_just_in.html" class="external text" title="http://www.hoffmania.com/blog/2005/02/this_just_in.html" rel="nofollow">"Guckert Halts Weblog Operation,"</a> "Citing 'nasty criticism of my new blog' and 'the resultent [sic] harm done to my freinds [sic] and family,' Jim 'Jeff Gannon' Guckert has ceased operating his new weblog after just a day of operation and has vowed to return to the web at a later date.</li>

</ul>

<dl>

<dd>"The shutdown follows a pattern of behavior where the former White House reporter and still male prostitute withdraws from a web presence after just one day of bearing the brunt of opposition critics.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>"This time, the decision came after repeated harsh words were bandied around the liberal blogosphere regarding the quality of Guckert's new venture."</dd>

</dl>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/gannon-launches-blog.html" class="external text" title="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/gannon-launches-blog.html" rel="nofollow">"Gannon launches a blog!,"</a> AMERICAblog Blogspot, February 24, 2005:</li>

</ul>

<dl>

<dd>"Yes, we know this is him because it's the same Web address he was using while working at Talon News, and he answers emails addressed to him at this address. We have other proof as well, this is him. He pulled his site after he resigned. He's now relaunched it, with a vengeance apparently. I can't imagine <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Karl_Rove" title="Karl Rove">Karl Rove</a> is very happy right now."</dd>

</dl>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.jeffgannon.com/" class="external text" title="http://www.jeffgannon.com/" rel="nofollow">"Bruised but not broken,"</a> jeffgannon.com, February 24, 2005:</li>

</ul>

<dl>

<dd>

<dl>

<dd>"I'm baaaaaaack! If you thought I was going to slink away - then you don't know much about me. Someone still has to battle the Left and now that I've emerged from the crucible, I'm stronger than before.</dd>

</dl>

</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>

<dl>

<dd>"Despite all the pleas from the Left to go over to the 'dark side' and expose the 'corrupt Bush administration' simply isn't going to happen. My faith and my ideology are rock solid.</dd>

</dl>

</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>

<dl>

<dd>"Still, the last few weeks have been difficult for my family and my associates. To them I offer my apology and gratitude for their support.</dd>

</dl>

</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>

<dl>

<dd>"In regard to the allegations about my personal life, I have been advised by my attorneys not to comment on any of the details pending the outcome of any possible legal action I might pursue. Therefore, I won't be discussing any of that stuff here."</dd>

</dl>

</dd>

</dl>

<h3>Criticism</h3>

<ul>

<li>John Aravosis wrote in the February 23, 2005, AMERICAblog Blogspot that <a href="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/worldnetdaily-savages-gannonguckert.html" class="external text" title="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/worldnetdaily-savages-gannonguckert.html" rel="nofollow">"WorldNetDaily savages GannonGuckert."</a></li>

</ul>

<dl>

<dd>"One of the best, BEST, stories ever about GannonGuckertGate and what it means, and why it matters, comes from one of the most - MOST - conservative pro-Bush news sources on the Internet. This guy spells out exactly why this is a story. Exactly why this is so outrageous. And note, his column doesn't even criticize us, the liberal bloggers. It is pure and simple an article about how outrageous Gannon's and Talon's AND THE WHITE HOUSE'S actions were in this entire affair."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>

<ul>

<li>Joseph Farah, <a href="http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42974" class="external text" title="http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42974" rel="nofollow">"No substitute for real journalism,"</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily" title="WorldNetDaily">WorldNetDaily</a>:</li>

</ul>

</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>

<dl>

<dd>"Who knows why this symbiotic relationship succeeded for as long as it did? Perhaps Gannon-Guckert knew something about people in the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bush_administration" title="Bush administration">Bush administration</a>. Or, perhaps some inside the Bush administration knew the truth about Gannon-Guckert. We may never know the full truth.</dd>

</dl>

</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>

<dl>

<dd>"But the whole sordid affair illustrates just why a truly free and independent press is so vital to watchdogging government."</dd>

</dl>

</dd>

</dl>

<h2>Connections</h2>

<h3>Rove-Gannon</h3>

Dotty, Lynch, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/18/opinion/lynch/main675050.shtml" class="external text" title="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/18/opinion/lynch/main675050.shtml" rel="nofollow">"Rove-Gannon Connection?,"</a> CBS News, February 18, 2005:

<dl>

<dd>"So when Jeff Gannon, White House 'reporter' for Talon 'News,' was unmasked last week, the leap to a possible Rove connection was unavoidable. Gannon says that he met Rove only once, at a White House Christmas party, and Gannon is kind of small potatoes for Rove at this point in his career.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>"But Rove's dominance of White House and Republican politics, Gannon's aggressively partisan work and the ease with which he got day passes for the White House press room the past two years make it hard to believe that he wasn't at least implicitly sanctioned by the 'boy genius.' Rove, who rarely gave on-the-record interviews to the MSM (mainstream media), had time to talk to GOPUSA, which owns Talon."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>"This week Democrats, who have serious case of Rove envy, went a little nuts and started sending around information and graphic pictures of Gannon and his porn Web sites. But it is the more routine part of Gannon's life that deserves serious scrutiny. Planting or even just sanctioning a political operative in the WH press room is a dangerous precedent and Karl Rove's hope to become a respected policymaker will be hampered if the dirty tricks from his political past are more apparent than his desire to spread liberty around the globe."</dd>

</dl>

<ul>

<li>Also see <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Treasongate:_Beyond_Karl_Rove" title="Treasongate: Beyond Karl Rove">Treasongate: Beyond Karl Rove</a>.</li>

</ul>

<h3>Liddy-Gannon</h3>

At the September 16-18, 2004, "GOPUSA Issues & Answers Conference" held in Washington, DC, the Friday, September 17th 3:30-4:15 Policy Session IV - Politics and the Media was moderated by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=G._Gordon_Liddy" title="G. Gordon Liddy">G. Gordon Liddy</a>, "Radio Talk Show Host and Former Presidential Advisor," and the panel consisted of (<a href="http://www.gopusa.com/conference/schedule.shtml" class="external text" title="http://www.gopusa.com/conference/schedule.shtml" rel="nofollow">as stated</a>):

<dl>

<dd>

<ul>

<li>Jeff Gannon, White House Correspondent, Talon News</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Paul_Rodriguez&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Paul Rodriguez (page does not exist)">Paul Rodriguez</a>, Managing Editor, Insight Magazine</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Peter_Roff" title="Peter Roff">Peter Roff</a>, National Political Analyst, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=UPI" title="UPI" class="mw-redirect">UPI</a></li>

</ul>

</dd>

</dl>

<h3>Credentials</h3>

<ul>

<li>In his February 11, 2005, Media Citizen Blogspot article <a href="http://mediacitizen.blogspot.com/2005/02/gannons-white-house-maneuver.html" class="external text" title="http://mediacitizen.blogspot.com/2005/02/gannons-white-house-maneuver.html" rel="nofollow">"Gannon's White House Maneuver,"</a> Tim Karr provided a link to <a href="http://mediachannel.org/mc/gannondoc.pdf" class="external text" title="http://mediachannel.org/mc/gannondoc.pdf" rel="nofollow">Talon News' application</a> on behalf of Guckert/Gannon to the "Standing Committee of Correspondents, the press body that oversees the distribution of credentials on Capitol Hill." According to the Committee's April 7, 2004, minutes, the application was unanimously denied. However:</li>

</ul>

<dl>

<dd>

<dl>

<dd>1. The application clearly states that the "application [was] from James Guckert, who writes under the name Jeff Gannon, of Talon News."</dd>

</dl>

</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>

<dl>

<dd>2. The application provides a clue that, at the time of the application, Guckert/Gannon was not a full-time paid employee of Talon News:</dd>

</dl>

</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>

<dl>

<dd>As "... a stipend was arranged that would provide more than half of Mr. Guckerts income in an effort to comply with the gallery's requirement that correspondents be paid, full time employees of the organization for which they are applying."</dd>

</dl>

</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>

<dl>

<dd>3. The application states that "information [had] been requested about Mr. Guckert's role as executive director of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Free_Speech_Foundation" title="Free Speech Foundation">Free Speech Foundation</a> in order to determine whether it would conflict with gallery rules regarding paid promotion, publicity, and advertising."</dd>

</dl>

</dd>

</dl>

<ul>

<li>On the evening of February 17, 2005, the Daily Kos blogspot issued a <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/18/0748/71841" class="external text" title="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/18/0748/71841" rel="nofollow">request</a> for distribution of the following press release, asking that "As Propagannon is being picked up by the national media, it is critical that we keep them focused on the important aspect of this: How did Guckert get access, and did he have anything to do with the Plame leak?"</li>

</ul>

<dl>

<dd>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</dd>

<dd>Brian Kelly at nybri2@yahoo.com</dd>

<dd>Member, DailyKos.com</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>WHITE HOUSE SCRAMBLES TO EXPLAIN</dd>

<dd>FAKE REPORTER IN ITS PRESS CORPS</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Feb.17, 2005 - Internet researchers have uncovered new evidence that contradicts the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bush_Administration" title="Bush Administration" class="mw-redirect">Bush Administration</a>'s claims about James Guckert, a Republican activist allegedly involved in criminal activities and linked to an incident involving a major breach of national security. Guckert, operating as "Jeff Gannon," was granted daily access to White House press briefings for more than two years as a "reporter" for Talon News.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>White House Press Secretary <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Scott_McClellan" title="Scott McClellan">Scott McClellan</a> stated that Guckert was granted access in part because he was affiliated with a news organization that "publishes regularly." But yesterday, bloggers discovered video footage suggesting this standard was not applied to Guckert. Video footage of a Feb. 28, 2003 White House press briefing shows Guckert, apparently unaffiliated with any news organization, asking former White House Press Secretary <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ari_Fleischer" title="Ari Fleischer">Ari Fleischer</a> a question. It is unclear why Guckert was granted any pass at this time, since the Internet-based Talon News did not register its domain name until March 29, 2003.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Maureen Dowd, a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the New York Times, reported today she was denied press credentials at the start of the Bush administration in 2001. Yet Guckert, whose only journalistic training was derived from a $50 weekend seminar, was repeatedly granted access.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Despite calls from Congress for the White House to disclose its standards for entrance to the briefing room, the Bush administration has yet to reveal its credentialing standards or details surrounding the scandal, including: specific dates when Guckert was admitted to the briefing room, how many passes he was issued, as well as how he cleared a Secret Service background check while owing the state of Delaware over $20,000 in back taxes (penalties and interest) and possibly engaging in prostitution, as revealed by Americablog.org.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Guckert has also been implicated in a leak of federal classified information that revealed the identity of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=CIA" title="CIA" class="mw-redirect">CIA</a> undercover agent Valerie Plame. Revealing the identity of an undercover agent is a federal crime.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has insisted that President Bush will do anything he can to assist the Plame investigation. But the White House has not answered questions about the role of Guckert in the Plame investigation or his inexplicable access to White House Press Corps briefings.</dd>

</dl>

<h2>Background</h2>

According to <a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/%7Ejeffgannon/" class="external text" title="http://www.freerepublic.com/_jeffgannon/" rel="nofollow">Free Republic</a>, "Since June 23, 2003, ... Jeff Gannon is the Washington Bureau Chief and White House Correspondent for Talon News. www.talonnews.com ... He also hosts 'Jeff Gannon's Washington' on Rightalk."

Suzanne Goldenberg reported February 11, 2005, about Jeff Gannon, the<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1410627,00.html" class="external text" title="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1410627,00.html" rel="nofollow">"Fake reporter unmasked at White House,"</a> who at press briefings had a propensity to ask softball questions or questions that the White House desired to address.

The White House faced fresh accusations of a clandestine <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Propaganda" title="Propaganda">propaganda</a> campaign yesterday after it emerged it granted regular access to a rightwing blogger with a habit of asking <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_Walker_Bush" title="George Walker Bush">President Bush</a> easy questions.

Gannon, who represented a rightwing site owned by a Texas-based Republican activist, had been a regular at White House briefings since 2003 but aroused reporters' suspicions after posing ideologically loaded questions.

Gannon, the fake White House correspondent, quit his job at the Talon News site on Wednesday after liberal bloggers found he had been operating under a pseudonym, and that he was linked to several gay pornographic web domain addresses under his real idenity, James Guckert.

And his use to the White House becomes clear:

<dl>

<dd>"You could see there was a pattern in which the White House press secretary, Scott McLellan, would be getting a more aggressive and less friendly question, and then would seem to call on Jeff Gannon to change the subject. And when he did he got a softball question in return," Mr Brock said.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>"The fake reporter's downfall came last week when he attracted suspicion with a particularly loaded question to the president on how he would enlist Democratic support for his <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S._Social_Security" title="U.S. Social Security">U.S. Social Security</a> reforms.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>"After falsely attributing quotes to Democratic leaders, Gannon asked: 'How are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?'"</dd>

</dl>

On January 30, 2005, Susan G. posted <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/30/9415/11717" class="external text" title="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/30/9415/11717" rel="nofollow">"Plame Leaked by Fake News Source? Overview: Part IV"</a> on the Daily Kos: "White House-credentialed fake news reporter 'Jeff Gannon' from fake news agency 'Talon News' was cited by the Washington Post as having the only access to an internal CIA memo that named <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Joseph_Wilson" title="Joseph Wilson" class="mw-redirect">Joseph Wilson</a>'s wife, Valerie Plame, as a covert CIA agent. Gannon, in a question posed to Wilson in an October 2003 interview, referred to the memo (to which no other news outlet had access, according to the Post). Gannon subsequently has been subpoenaed by the federal grand jury looking into the Plame outing."

Additionally, she writes: "Gannon has as many as seven websites (www.jeffgannon.com, www.theconservativeguy.com), all of which have the following registration information:

Bedrock Corp

4001 Kennett Pike

Wilmington, DE 19807 US

Daniels, J. bedrockcorp@aol.com

4001 Kennett Pike

Wilmington, DE 19807 US

202-547-8825

"The phone number returns to a Bill Turnley, 616 E. Capitol St. NE, Washington DC 20003 (one commenter found it also returned to a Sean Turner, who also writes for GOPUSA, which is another tie-in between GOPUSA and Talon News/Gannon). Turnley appears to be a professor in the business program at Kansas State University, and the property is registered with its owner as the Janice N. Hedges Trust. Hedges appears to be an author of several pieces regarding labor and management. ... [At the time, Susan G. wondered] if there could possibly be a tie-in with the Leadership Institute here since so many members of its board are involved in anti-labor/pro-management activities.

"The Bedrock Corp address seems to return to a Mailboxes Etc. dropbox in a mall."

<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200502120002" class="external text" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200502120002" rel="nofollow">Media Matters for America</a> reports the only journalistic training Guckert has received, as posted on his bio since removed from Talon News, was a two-day training course at The Leadership Institute's Broadcast School of Journalism. The institute was founded by former <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Reagan_Administration" title="Reagan Administration" class="mw-redirect">Reagan White House</a> staffer <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Morton_C._Blackwell" title="Morton C. Blackwell">Morton C. Blackwell</a> and funded by wealthy right-wing doners

<h2>Contact</h2>

<ul>

<li>URL: www.jeffgannon.com/</li></ul>

<h2>SourceWatch resources</h2>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Manufactured_journalism" title="Manufactured journalism">manufactured journalism</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Manufactured_journalism/External_Links" title="Manufactured journalism/External Links">manufactured journalism/External Links</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Softballing" title="Softballing">softballing</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Treasongate:_Beyond_Karl_Rove" title="Treasongate: Beyond Karl Rove">Treasongate: Beyond Karl Rove</a></li>

</ul>

<h2>External links</h2>

<h3>References</h3>

<li id="cite_note-PressClub-0">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#cite_ref-PressClub_0-0" title="">1.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon#cite_ref-PressClub_0-1" title="">1.1</a> Joe Strupp, "<a href="http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003817747" class="external text" title="http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003817747" rel="nofollow">Former WH Reporter Jeff Gannon Now a National Press Club Activist</a>," Editor & Publisher, June 18, 2008.</li>

</ol>

<h3>Photos</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/man-called-jeff.html" class="external text" title="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/02/man-called-jeff.html" rel="nofollow">"A man called Jeff,"</a> AMERICAblog Blogspot, February 14, 2005. Includes graphic photos and links to Guckert/Gannon's web sites.</li>

</ul>

<h3>Radio & audio</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/2005/02/17/jeff-gannons-greatest-hits" class="external text" title="http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/2005/02/17/jeff-gannons-greatest-hits" rel="nofollow">"'Jeff Gannon’s' Greatest Hits,"</a> The American Street, February 17, 2005.</li>

<li>David Folkenflik, <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4492778" class="external text" title="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4492778" rel="nofollow">"Conservative Reporter Resigns Amid Controversy,"</a> National Public Radio, February 9, 2005: "Gannon spoke with NPR's David Folkenflik the day before he resigned. He says he is open about his conservative point of view, but that he is just as valid a journalist as other reporters in the White House press corps." Audio link to interview with Gannon on page.</li>

</ul>

<h3>Parody & humor</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://billmon.org/archives/001705.html" class="external text" title="http://billmon.org/archives/001705.html" rel="nofollow">"The Creation of Gannon,"</a> Whiskey Bar, February 19, 2005.</li>

<li><a href="http://www.internetweekly.org/2005/02/cartoon_bush_no_clothes.html" class="external text" title="http://www.internetweekly.org/2005/02/cartoon_bush_no_clothes.html" rel="nofollow">"They Hate Us Because of Our Hookers"</a> and <a href="http://www.internetweekly.org/2005/02/cartoon_name_that_thune.html" class="external text" title="http://www.internetweekly.org/2005/02/cartoon_name_that_thune.html" rel="nofollow">"Name That Thune/Gannongate,"</a> The Internet Weekly, February 2005.</li>

</ul>

<h3>On-going files</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Aravosis" title="John Aravosis">John Aravosis</a>, <a href="http://www.americablog.org/" class="external text" title="http://www.americablog.org/" rel="nofollow">AMERICAblog.org</a> Blogspot.</li>

<li><a href="http://www.buzzflash.com" class="external text" title="http://www.buzzflash.com" rel="nofollow">BuzzFlash.com</a>.</li>

<li><a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com" class="external text" title="http://www.crooksandliars.com" rel="nofollow">Crooks and Liars.com</a>.</li>

<li><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/" class="external text" title="http://www.dailykos.com/" rel="nofollow">Daily Kos.com</a> and <a href="http://www.dkosopedia.com" class="external text" title="http://www.dkosopedia.com" rel="nofollow">dKosopedia.com</a>.</li>

<li><a href="http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/index.php/Jeff_Gannon" class="external text" title="http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/index.php/Jeff_Gannon" rel="nofollow">Demopia: "Jeff Gannon"</a>.</li>

<li>Joe Strupp, <a href="http://www.editorandpublisher.com" class="external text" title="http://www.editorandpublisher.com" rel="nofollow">Editor and Publisher.com</a>.</li>

<li><a href="http://mediamatters.org" class="external text" title="http://mediamatters.org" rel="nofollow">Media Matters for America.org</a>.</li>

<li><a href="http://www.hardnewsnow.com/GannonGate.html" class="external text" title="http://www.hardnewsnow.com/GannonGate.html" rel="nofollow">"GannonGate,"</a> Hard Attack News.</li>

<li>John Byrne, <a href="http://rawstory.com" class="external text" title="http://rawstory.com" rel="nofollow">The Raw Story.com</a>.</li>

<li>William Pitt, <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/story/2005/2/10/83242/3251" class="external text" title="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/story/2005/2/10/83242/3251" rel="nofollow">"The Jeff Gannon Experience,"</a> truthout.org.</li>

<li><a href="http://www.uspoliticstoday.com/news/JeffGannon" class="external text" title="http://www.uspoliticstoday.com/news/JeffGannon" rel="nofollow">"Jeff Gannon/James Guckert News,"</a> U.S. Politics Today.</li>

<li>Frank Rich, "<a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/03/04/features/rich5.html" class="external text" title="http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/03/04/features/rich5.html" rel="nofollow">In need of Thompson's savage take</a>", International Herald Tribune, March 5, 2005. (Reprinted from the New York Times).</li>

</ul>

<div id="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:Scandals" title="Category:Scandals">Scandals</a> | <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:George_W._Bush" title="Category:George W. Bush">George W. Bush</a> | <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:United_States" title="Category:United States">United States</a></div>

</div>

The following are the full-length September 13, 17, and 21, 2004, articles regarding <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rathergate" title="Rathergate" class="mw-redirect">Rathergate</a> that were written by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeff_Gannon" title="Jeff Gannon">Jeff Gannon</a> of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Talon_News" title="Talon News">Talon News</a>.

Please note that the following Talon News items cannot be accessed directly as <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=GOPUSA" title="GOPUSA">GOPUSA</a> conducted severe <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Web_scrubbing" title="Web scrubbing">web scrubbing</a> on its news archive following the Jeff Gannon scandal. A search for the article finds <a href="http://www.gopusa.com/missing/" class="external free" title="http://www.gopusa.com/missing/" rel="nofollow">http://www.gopusa.com/missing/</a>. However, the web is ever accommodating, as occasionally websites such as <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Free_Republic" title="Free Republic">Free Republic</a>, The Weekly and GOPUSA-affiliated MensNewsDaily store articles in their entirety.

<hr />

<h2>Contents</h2>

[<a href="javascript:toggleToc()" class="internal" id="togglelink">hide</a>]</div>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rathergate:_Jeff_Gannon_and_Talon_News#.22CBS_Producer_Who_Obtained_Questionable_Guard_Documents_Identified.22_by_Jeff_Gannon.2C_September_13.2C_2004.">1 "CBS Producer Who Obtained Questionable Guard Documents Identified" by Jeff Gannon, September 13, 2004.</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rathergate:Jeff_Gannon_and_Talon_News#.22CBS.27Rathergate.27_Producer_Under_Pressure_from_Network.22_by_Jeff_Gannon.2C_September_17.2C_2004.">2 "CBS 'Rathergate' Producer Under Pressure from Network" by Jeff Gannon, September 17, 2004.</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rathergate:_Jeff_Gannon_and_Talon_News#.22CBS_Apologizes_for_Using_Forged_Documents.22_by_Jeff_Gannon.2C_September_21.2C_2004..22">3 "CBS Apologizes for Using Forged Documents" by Jeff Gannon, September 21, 2004."</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rathergate:_Jeff_Gannon_and_Talon_News#Resources">4 Resources</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rathergate:_Jeff_Gannon_and_Talon_News#Related_SourceWatch_articles">4.1 Related SourceWatch articles</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rathergate:_Jeff_Gannon_and_Talon_News#References">4.2 References</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h3>"CBS Producer Who Obtained Questionable Guard Documents Identified" by Jeff Gannon, September 13, 2004.</h3>

<dl>

<dd>WASHINGTON (Talon News) - Mary Mapes, a Dallas-based producer for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=CBS" title="CBS">CBS</a>, has been identified by Talon News sources as the person who obtained the documents that suggest President <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_W._Bush" title="George W. Bush" class="mw-redirect">George W. Bush</a> did not fulfill his National Guard obligations 30 years ago. The documents, which have been judged to be forgeries by many news services and forensics experts, are at the center of a scandal that threatens the credibility of the network.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Late Friday, CBS spokesperson <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kelli_Edwards&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Kelli Edwards (page does not exist)">Kelli Edwards</a> confirmed to Talon News that it was Mapes that obtained the documents ..., but refused to comment on the questions surrounding their authenticity. Mapes did not respond to Talon News requests for comment.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>During Friday's network news broadcast, anchor <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dan_Rather" title="Dan Rather">Dan Rather</a> defended the four pages he claims were written by Bush's superior officer at the Texas Air Guard, Lt. Colonel <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_B.Killian" class="external text" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_B.Killian" rel="nofollow">Jerry Killian</a>. Rather talked with handwriting expert Marcel Matley who said that on the basis of his analysis of the signatures, he is pronouncing the documents to be authentic. Not all of the pages carry Killian's signature.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Two others were interviewed for the segment. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Strong&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Robert Strong (page does not exist)">Robert Strong</a>, an administrative officer for the Texas Air Guard during the Vietnam era, who vouched for the documents.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Author James Moore, a Bush antagonist, said, "They are absolutely consistent with the records as I know it."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Rather dismissed his critics, saying, "Today, on the Internet and elsewhere, some people -- including many who are partisan political operatives -- concentrated not on the key questions the overall story raised but on the documents that were part of the support of the story."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>But glaring omissions marred Rather piece. On Friday, Killian's son Gary told nationally syndicated talk-show host <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sean_Hannity" title="Sean Hannity">Sean Hannity</a> that Mary Mapes had contacted him before CBS ran the story. He said that he warned her that the documents might be forgeries.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Following the broadcast, Talon News asked Edwards why Killian's son and wife weren't mentioned during the broadcast.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>She said, "I'm not going to debate every aspect of the story. We stand by the piece."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Killian's widow, Marjorie Connell, told ABC Radio News, "The wording in these documents is very suspect to me. ... I just can't believe these are his words."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Connell said that her late husband would be "turning over in his grave to know that a document such as this would be used against a fellow Guardsman," and she is "sick" and "angry" that his name is "being battled back and forth on television."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Connell said that her late husband was a fan of the young Bush.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>She stated, "I know for a fact that this young man ... was an excellent aviator, an excellent person to be in the Guard, and he was very happy to have him become a member of the 111th."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Rufus Martin, the personnel chief in Killian's unit at the time told CNN, "They looked to me like forgeries. ... I don't think Killian would do that, and I knew him for 17 years."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Retired Maj. General Hodges, Killian's supervisor, told ABC News that he feels CBS misled him about the documents they uncovered. He said that CBS told him the documents were "handwritten" and after CBS read him excerpts he said, "Well if he wrote them that's what he felt."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Hodges believes the documents are frauds.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Doubts were being openly debated on rival networks. ABC News reported that they contacted more than a half dozen document experts who said they had doubts about the memos' authenticity.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Bill Flynn, one of country's top authorities on document authentication, told ABC, "These documents do not appear to have been the result of technology that was available in 1972 and 1973."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>He continued, "The cumulative evidence that's available ... indicates that these documents were produced on a computer, not a typewriter."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=CNN" title="CNN" class="mw-redirect">CNN</a> contacted independent document examiner Sandra Ramsey Lines who said the memos looked like they had been produced on a computer using Microsoft Word software. Lines is a document expert and fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. She pointed to a superscript -- a smaller, raised "th" in "111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron" -- as evidence indicating forgery.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>After reviewing copies of the documents at her office in Paradise Valley, Arizona, Line said, "I'm virtually certain these were computer generated."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>One expert counts at least 50 points that suggest the documents are forgeries.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>The White House is remaining neutral on the documents' authenticity.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Press Secretary <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Scott_McClellan" title="Scott McClellan">Scott McClellan</a> said Friday, "We don't know whether the documents were fabricated or are authentic. The media has talked to independent experts who have raised questions about the documents."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>He pointed out that CBS has not disclosed the source of the documents.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Newsweek" title="Newsweek">Newsweek</a> is suggesting that Mapes received the documents from <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bill_Burkett&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bill Burkett (page does not exist)">Bill Burkett</a>, who it describes as a disgruntled former Guard officer. The magazine reports that Mapes flew to Texas to interview him.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>If the documents are proven to be forgeries, the scandal would go to the highest level of CBS news. Talon News sources say that Jim Murphy, Executive Producer of the CBS Evening News, approves virtually every word that goes on the air. "60 Minutes II" Executive Producer <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeffrey_Fager&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jeffrey Fager (page does not exist)">Jeffrey Fager</a> would also be on the endangered list, since his show originated the document story.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>But more likely it would be Mapes who would take the fall along with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Janet_Leissner&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Janet Leissner (page does not exist)">Janet Leissner</a>, the Washington Bureau Chief for CBS News. Leissner orchestrated the interview with White House communications director <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dan_Bartlett" title="Dan Bartlett">Dan Bartlett</a> during which he was confronted with the suspect documents. Dan Rather was originally scheduled to do the interview, but White House correspondent <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Roberts" title="John Roberts" class="mw-redirect">John Roberts</a> was substituted at the last minute for an unknown reason.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Mapes is no stranger to controversy as she also obtained the photographs of inmate abuse at the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Abu_Ghraib" title="Abu Ghraib">Abu Ghraib</a> prison in <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Iraq" title="Iraq">Iraq</a>. The source of the photographs as well as the documents now in question has never been revealed.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>In 1999 Mapes was threatened with imprisonment if she failed to turn over the transcript of an interview that Dan Rather conducted with the third defendant being tried for murder in the dragging death of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=James_Byrd,_Jr.&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="James Byrd, Jr. (page does not exist)">James Byrd, Jr.</a> in Jasper, Texas. CBS ultimately complied with the court's demand for the information.</dd>

</dl>

Source: Jeff Gannon, <a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1214528/posts" class="external text" title="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1214528/posts" rel="nofollow">"CBS Producer Who Obtained Questionable Guard Documents Identified,"</a> Talon News (Free Republic), September 13, 2004.

<hr />

<h3>"CBS 'Rathergate' Producer Under Pressure from Network" by Jeff Gannon, September 17, 2004.</h3>

<dl>

<dd>Talon News - Talon News sources inside CBS have indicated that the producer of the 60 Minutes story that used what appear to be forged documents to charge that President George W. Bush received preferential treatment during his service with the Texas Air National Guard 30 years ago is under pressure from the network. Mary Mapes, a Dallas-based producer, obtained the documents from a source that she and the network refuse to reveal, even though the documents themselves have been widely discredited.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Doubts about the authenticity of the documents have put the network and its anchor Dan Rather at the center of a controversy that continues to grow. After a series of defensive statements about the documents, the network has finally admitted there might be a problem with them.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>CBS is maintaining that the substance of its story is unchallenged regardless of the provenance of the documents.</dd>

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<dl>

<dd>Rather made that point during the Wednesday broadcast of the television news magazine, saying, "Those who have criticized aspects of our story have never criticized the major thrust of our report."</dd>

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<dl>

<dd>But Rather did acknowledge that documents might yet prove to be fraudulent.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>"If the documents are not what we were led to believe, I'd like to break that story," Rather added. "Any time I'm wrong, I want to be right out front and say, 'Folks, this is what went wrong and how it went wrong.'"</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bob_Schieffer&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bob Schieffer (page does not exist)">Bob Schieffer</a>, CBS's chief Washington correspondent, was quoted in the Washington Post saying, "I think this is very, very serious. He added, "When Dan tells me these documents are not forgeries, I believe him. But somehow we've got to find a way to show people these documents are not forgeries."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Schieffer was selected to moderate one of this year's presidential debates. Despite White House denials that the CBS veteran might be replaced in the wake of a scandal, some have suggested making the change to ensure fairness.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>CBS News President Andrew Heyward issued a tepid statement Wednesday in defense of their investigative work.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>He said, "I feel that we did a tremendous amount of reporting before the story went on the air or we wouldn't have put it on the air."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>He did leave open the possibility that the documents might be forgeries, saying, "There's such a ferocious debate about these documents...we want to get to the bottom of these unresolved issues."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Rather took a shot at CBS's "journalistic competitors," when he suggested, "Instead of asking President Bush and his staff questions about what is true and not true about the president's military service, they ask me questions: 'How do you know this and that about the documents?'"</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>But rival news services have kept the focus on the documents, leaving the network isolated in its belief in the authenticity of them. CBS's stonewalling has only exacerbated the network's problems and demoralized some of its employees.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Some CBS employees are amused at Rather's predicament.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>One told Talon News, "Sooner of later something like this was going to happen. When you see how hard they've been working this National Guard story, you know they weren't going to come up empty-handed one way or another."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>But because Rather is CBS's franchise player with a contract that extends through 2006, fallout from any scandal is likely to fall on someone else at the network. An insider tells Talon News that Mapes is the most likely candidate. She has been working on this story for five years and obtained the documents that are now in dispute.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>While the network has refused to reveal its source, the documents appear to have been faxed to CBS from a Kinko's in Abilene, TX. Abilene is located in Taylor County, where Rather made a speech at the fundraiser previously mentioned.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>That location points to retired Texas National Guard officer Bill Burkett as the source of the documents. His Baird, Texas ranch is about 21 miles from the copy shop at which the fax transmission took place. Burkett, a bitter critic of Bush makes the same charges that have been parroted by CBS and the DNC.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>In an August 25, 2004 posting to www.onlinejournal.com, Burkett wrote, "I know from your files that we have now reassembled, the fact that you did not fulfill your oath."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Burkett isn't specific in what he meant by "reassembled," but the only files that have surfaced are the ones at the center of the controversy about forgeries.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>In the years that CBS producer Mary Mapes has been pursuing this story, she never contacted Lt. Col. Jerry Killian's secretary, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Marian_Carr_Knox" title="Marian Carr Knox">Marian Carr Knox</a>, until after her existence was revealed by the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Drudge_Report" title="Drudge Report" class="mw-redirect">Drudge Report</a>. On 60 Minutes on Wednesday, Knox said that the documents were forgeries, but the content was accurate.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Mapes interviewed Killian's widow Marjorie Connell and his son Gary. Both expressed doubt to the CBS producer that the documents were real. Neither of them have appeared on the network nor even been mentioned in CBS's reporting.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>CBS' own experts have moved away from the authenticity of the documents. One of the experts consulted was Emily Will, a veteran document examiner from North Carolina. She told ABC News that she sent Mapes an e-mail message about her concerns and strongly urged the network the night before the broadcast not to use the documents.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>She said, "I told them that all the questions I was asking them on Tuesday night, they were going to be asked by hundreds of other document examiners on Thursday if they ran that story."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>If Rather was informed of the doubts, he ignored them, plunging his network into a quagmire. The veteran anchor forged ahead because, as he stated on Wednesday's broadcast, that the charges are so charges are so serious, the evidence of little importance.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>His confidence in Mapes may have led him to go with the story, despite the red flags. After all, it was Mapes who brought CBS the Abu Ghraib photos of prisoner abuse and who risked jail by refusing to turn over videotapes of Rather's interview with a man charged in the 1998 dragging death of James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, Texas.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>But Mapes' father sees a political agenda behind his daughter's work. Don Mapes, 76, was a recent guest on a radio talk show hosted by John Carlson on KVI in Seattle.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>He said, "I'm really ashamed of what my daughter has become. She's a typical liberal. She went into journalism with an ax to grind, and that was to promote radical feminism."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>He confessed to being disappointed in his daughter's role in the controversy. He said, "When I heard about 60 Minutes, I suspected she would be the producer of the show."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>In an interview with Talon News, Don Mapes said his suspicion was because that he believed, "Dan Rather and she have been working on this ever since Bush was elected."</dd>

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<dl>

<dd>In commenting on the Wednesday's 60 Minutes show, he said, "It was a farce, it was fraud. I'm sorry as a father that my daughter was the producer of it."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>His fatherly instinct showed through when he said, "To give her the benefit of the doubt, I believe she has been had."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>But he also chastised his daughter for being intellectually dishonest.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>He said, "She ought to look closer at <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_Soros" title="George Soros">George Soros</a> or <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Michael_Moore" title="Michael Moore">Michael Moore</a>."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Mary Mapes declined several opportunities to comment for this article.</dd>

</dl>

Source: Jeff Gannon, <a href="http://www.theweekly.com/news/2004/September/17/Rathergate.html" class="external text" title="http://www.theweekly.com/news/2004/September/17/Rathergate.html" rel="nofollow">"CBS 'Rathergate' Producer Under Pressure from Network,"</a> Talon News (The Weekly), September 17, 2004.

<hr />

<h3>"CBS Apologizes for Using Forged Documents" by Jeff Gannon, September 21, 2004."</h3>

<dl>

<dd>Talon News - CBS issued a statement Monday in the wake of the controversy surrounding phony documents the network used to accuse President George W. Bush of receiving preferential treatment to get into the Texas Air National Guard 30 years ago. The network backed off its previous claims that the documents were "100% authentic" when the source of the forgeries confessed that he had misled the "60 Minutes" producer of the investigative piece.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Bill Burkett, the Baird, Texas Democrat who had been widely suspected to be the source of the documents, confirmed to CBS News anchor Dan Rather in a weekend interview that he gave the memos to the network and deliberately lied about where he got them. Originally, he told producer Mary Mapes that he got the documents from another former Guardsman, but has refused to name the actual source.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Burkett denied that he forged or faked anything. He stood by his claim that the documents are real, but said he was in no position to verify them.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>CBS News President Andrew Heyward announced that the network would commission an independent review to investigate the matters. He said that using the documents in the story was "a mistake which we deeply regret."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>In recognizing that their reputation and credibility is at stake, Heyward said, "Nothing is more important to us than our credibility and keeping faith with the millions of people who count on us for fair, accurate, reliable, and independent reporting. We will continue to work tirelessly to be worthy of that trust."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>During the Monday broadcast of the CBS Evening News, Rather issued his own mea culpa for failing to "properly, fully scrutinize the documents and their source." Rather said that airing the documents was wrong and apologized "personally and directly."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>The veteran anchor maintained that the network was only trying to do its job.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>He said, "This was an error made in good faith as we tried to carry on the CBS News tradition of asking tough questions and investigative reporting." But, it was a mistake.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Talon News contacted the network to ask about the identity of the person it suspects forged the documents.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>CBS spokesperson Marcy Erhard told Talon News, "We are working on answers and will report them as we get answers."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>But questions are springing up faster than answers as the saga develops.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters Monday, "There are a number of serious questions that remain unanswered and they need to be answered. Bill Burkett, who CBS now says is their source, in fact, is not an unimpeachable source, as was previously claimed."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>McClellan continued, "Bill Burkett is a source who has been discredited in the past. So this raises a lot of questions. There were media reports about Mr. Burkett speaking with senior -- or having senior-level contacts with the Kerry campaign. That raises questions."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Republicans are demanding that CBS be more forthcoming about others involved in promoting the phony documents. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Republican_National_Committee" title="Republican National Committee">Republican National Committee</a> Chairman <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ed_Gillespie" title="Ed Gillespie">Ed Gillespie</a> said that while he accepted CBS's apology for its breach of journalistic ethics, he questioned whether other Democrats, in addition to Burkett, were involved.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Gillespie said, "CBS has now answered questions about the authenticity of the documents but questions remain surrounding who created the documents, who provided them to CBS and if Senator Kerry's supporters, Party committee, or campaign played any role."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Gillespie rattled off a list of questions that he says need to be answered before the matter is put to rest.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>He wondered, "Did Bill Burkett, Democrat activist and Kerry campaign supporter, who passed information to the DNC, work with Kerry campaign surrogate <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Max_Cleland" title="Max Cleland">Max Cleland</a>? Did Bill Burkett's talks with 'senior' Kerry campaign officials include discussions of the now discredited documents? Was the launch of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Democratic_National_Committee" title="Democratic National Committee">Democratic National Committee</a>'s <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Operation_Fortunate_Son&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Operation Fortunate Son (page does not exist)">Operation Fortunate Son</a> designed with knowledge of the faked forged memos?"</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>He noted that there is possible criminal activity involved with the forgery of government documents being used to affect the outcome of a presidential election. Forgery is a crime under Texas state law as well as federal statutes.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Last week, House Majority Whip <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Roy_Blunt" title="Roy Blunt">Roy Blunt</a> (R-MO) and 39 other House Republicans wrote a letter to Heyward demanding a retraction of the Guard story. On Monday he said that CBS's most recent statement "raises more questions than it answers."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Blunt said, "If any of the 39 Members of Congress who signed that letter with me promoted a theory that was later found to be based on unreliable information, the press would demand accountability."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Sen. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Cornyn" title="John Cornyn">John Cornyn</a> (R-TX) called on the Kerry campaign and the leadership of the Democratic National Committee to "immediately retract their irresponsible statements and denounce this failed attempt to smear the president."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>"The Kerry campaign and its surrogates used these now-discredited 'documents' for desperate attacks on the President and his credibility," Cornyn said. "Those documents are now reported to be cheap fakes."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Talon News sources at CBS say that there has been at least one high-level meeting to discuss whether anyone will be fired over the scandal. Mapes, the producer who got the documents from Burkett, appears to be in the most tenuous position. It was Mapes who decided not to include comments from Col. Killian's son and widow in the story. Both had warned her that it was unlikely that Killian wrote the memos now known to be fakes.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>One of the presidential debates might also be jeopardized by CBS's admission to being a party in the scandal. The Drudge Report said late Monday that a top Bush advisor is suggesting that CBS chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer be replaced as moderator of the October 13 debate at Arizona State University.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>The source is quoted saying, "Who can trust these CBS people to play it straight [during the debate]? I suspect they will be out for revenge."</dd>

</dl>

Source: Jeff Gannon, <a href="http://mensnewsdaily.com/archive/newswire/news2004/0904/092104-cbs.htm" class="external text" title="http://mensnewsdaily.com/archive/newswire/news2004/0904/092104-cbs.htm" rel="nofollow">"CBS Apologizes for Using Forged Documents,"</a> Talon News (MensNewsDaily), September 21, 2004.

<h2>Resources</h2>

<h3>Related SourceWatch articles</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dan_Rather" title="Dan Rather">Dan Rather</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_W._Bush%27s_military_service" title="George W. Bush's military service">George W. Bush's military service</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Manufactured_journalism" title="Manufactured journalism">manufactured journalism</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mary_Mapes" title="Mary Mapes">Mary Mapes</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rathergate:Sumner_M.Redstone,George_W.Bush_%26_CBS" title="Rathergate: Sumner M. Redstone, George W. Bush & CBS">Rathergate: Sumner M. Redstone, George W. Bush & CBS</a></li>

</ul>

<h3>References</h3>

</div>

1998 - James Guckert allegedly goes to a December 1998 Christmas party near Leesburg, Va., which "always turns into an orgy toward the end." "The party was described as being predominantly for gay men, though not exclusively. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that about 25 people attended." (Wash. Blade link below) Gannon perhaps met the Stones or another member of the GOP inner circle at this party near DC. http://www.washblade.com/2005/2-18/news/national/reporter.cfmImagine the ensuing maelstrom if a gay male prostitute with a slew of solicitous websites (among them, militaryescorts.com) featuring nude photos of himself pimping his services was found to be kicking around the Obama White House.Jeff Gannon/Guckert became the most famous male hooker since Joe Buck when he made more than 200 appearances at the White House posing as a journalist with the conservative websites GOPUSA and Talon News, attending 155 White House press briefings. He possessed no previous journalism experience, and had previously been refused a congressional press pass.If that weren't enough to raise eyebrows, Guckert made more than twenty-four visits to the White House when there were no scheduled briefings. On at least fourteen occasions, Secret Service <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/secret_service_gannon_424.htm" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">records</a> show that Guckert checked in but was never processed out.Heaven help us should Gannon/Guckert show up at the Obama White House...... It's not my business, and it's not news. Still, I cannot ignore what NY Times Columnist Maureen Dowd <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/17/opinion/17dowd.html?_r=1&hp" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">wrote:</a> on February 7, 2005:<blockquote style="margin: 1.2em 0px; padding: 20px; line-height: 14.3999996185303px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 225); border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 225); border-top-style: solid; color: rgb(36, 36, 36);">   I'm still mystified by this story. I was rejected for a White House press pass at the start of the Bush administration, but someone with an alias, a tax evasion problem and Internet pictures..is credentialed to cover a White House that won a second term by mining homophobia and preaching family values.    In an era when security concerns are paramount, what kind of Secret Service background check did James Guckert get so he could saunter into the West Wing every day under an assumed name while he was doing full-frontal advertising for stud services for $1,200 a weekend? He used a driver's license that said James Guckert to get into the White House, then, once inside, switched to his alter ego, asking questions as Jeff Gannon.</blockquote>It is a recurring theme with the right. It's not (just) the policy. It's the hypocrisy.Secret Service records raise new questions about discredited conservative reporteBy John Byrne| RAW STORY EditoUpdated: Day discovered with two check-ins but no check outs; Other events found on some days without press briefings
READ THE DOCUMENTIn what is unlikely to stem the controversy surrounding disgraced White House correspondent James Guckert, the Secret Service has furnished logs of the writer’s access to the White House after requests by two Democratic congressmembersThe documents, obtained by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) through a Freedom of Information Act request, reveal Guckert had remarkable access to the White House. Though he wrote under the name Jeff Gannon, the records show that he applied with his real name.Gannon’s ready access to President Bush and his work for a news agency that frequently plagiarized content from other reporters and tailored it to serve a conservative message may raise new questions about the White House’s attempts to seed favorable news coverage. Democrats have sought to paint Guckert in the context of other efforts by the Administration to “plant” positive spin by paying for video news releases and columnists to espouse their viewsGuckert made more than 200 appearances at the White House during his two-year tenure with the fledging conservative websites GOPUSA and Talon News, attending 155 of 196 White House press briefings. He had little to no previous journalism experience, previously worked as a male escort, and was refused a congressional press pass.Perhaps more notable than the frequency of his attendance, however, is several distinct anomalies about his visits.Guckert made more than two dozen excursions to the White House when there were no scheduled briefings. On many of these days, the Press Office held press gaggles aboard Air Force One—which raises questions about what Guckert was doing at the White House. On other days, the president held photo opportunities.On at least fourteen occasions, Secret Service records show either the entry or exit time missing. Generally, the existing entry or exit times correlate with press conferences; on most of these days, the records show that Guckert checked in but was never processed out.In March, 2003, Guckert left the White House twice on days he had never checked in with the Secret Service. Over the next 22 months, Guckert failed to check out with the Service on fourteen days. On several of these visits, Guckert either entered or exited by a different entry/exit point than his usual one. On one of these days, no briefing was held; on another, he checked in twice but failed to check out“I’d be worried if I was the White House and I knew that a reporter with a day pass never left,” one White House reporter told RAW STORY. “I’d wonder, where is he hiding? It seems like a security risk.”Others who have covered the White House say not checking in or out with the Secret Service is unusual, especially in the wake of Sept. 11. The Secret Service declined to comment.“We responded to the FOIA request and can provide no further information,” Service spokesman Jonathan Cherry said.Guckert declined to comment, directing all questions to the Service.The records furnished by the Service are unlikely to finally answer who approved Gannon’s “temporary” day passes into the presidential residence. The Service keeps a record of who approved passes only for the last sixty days; previous records are kept by the White House.Since December 2004, all but one of Gannon’s forty-eight temporary appointments were requested by Lois Cassano, a White House Press Office media assistant. One additional request was made by Peter Watkins, a press assistant who now works as deputy press secretary to First Lady Laura Bush.Guckert sometimes stayed for an extended period of time before and after press conferences, particularly early in his tenure. This was especially common during his first few months, when he might be in the White House for as long as six hours.A White House reporter dismissed this as insignificant, noting that sometimes reporters stay between events.“You could probably find people who stayed there for nine hours,” the reporter said.Occasionally, the former Talon News reporter visited the White House twice on the same day. This was also most common in the early months.The Secret Service furnished the records after a Freedom of Information Act request from Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Louise Slaughter (D-NY).Guckert drew fire from liberals after asking a question of President Bush earlier this year in which he misquoted the Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). Investigative bloggers at Daily Kos and AmericaBlog.org discovered that Guckert owned male escort sites, and was himself a male prostitute.The now-blogger has also been accused of lifting copy from press releases and other reporters.A Massachusetts editor and reporter have accused Guckert of plagiarism, which RAW STORY reported in March. The watchdog Media Matters for America has also found that many of Guckert’s stories lifted directly from White House press releases.Talon News, which shut down after the fracas over Gannon erupted, was self-avowedly Republican. Bobby Eberle, the site's founder, told the Washington Post, "We make no bones about it: It's a partisan site."In a February letter to President Bush, several Senate Democrats raised concern about Gannon in connection with what they believe is an attempt to “buy” coverage.“The Gannon/Guckert affair is disturbing because of what we have recently learned about apparent efforts by some in your Administration to try to "buy" favorable news coverage,” the Democrats wrote. “These other efforts include paying news personalities … large sums of money to promote your Administration's education and marriage initiatives, and using taxpayer dollars to produce video news releases promoting the new prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries and other policies the Administration regards as accomplishments.”The Administration has defended such efforts, and has sought to downplay their significance.
READ THE DOCUMENTSThe first set of times for each date is Guckert's login and logout. The second set is the briefing time. Research conducted by Raw Story researcher Muriel Kane. No briefing does not necessarily mean no briefing took place, only that none was scheduled by the White House press office. We have tried to make note of other briefings held on the dates there was no White House press briefing.
*ANALYSIS UPDATED -- 12:24 A.M. Dates without briefings reduced to thirty.
2/25/03 11:46 - 1:25 (briefing 12:26-1:03)2/26 9:56 - 2:17 (unusually long) (briefing 1:25-1:53)2/27 11:49 - 1:34 (no briefing)2/28 11:20 - 1:26 (briefing 12:35-1:10)
3/3/03 9:51 - 1:32 (unusually long) (briefing 12:21-1:00)3/4 11:48 - 1:45 (briefing 12:46-1:20)3/5 11:56 - 1:57 (briefing 12:21-1:00)3/6 11:58 - 12:42 (no briefing)3/6 9:11 pm exit - no entry (Bush press conference, 8 pm)3/7 3:22 pm exit -- no entry (briefing 2:20-3:00)3/10 12:47 - 3:11 (briefing 1:23-2:10)3/11 12:25 - 1:47 (briefing at 12:38 - no end time given)3/12 12:55 - 2:40 (briefing 1:20-1:59)3/13 12:12 - 1:55 (briefing 12:40-1:19)3/14 12:02 - 1:49 (briefing 12:35-1:06)3/17 12:01 - 1:30 (no briefing)3/18 12:09 - 1:31 (briefing 12:21-1:05)3/19 9:38 - 3:27 (unusually long) (12:15-12:59) (Bush speech, 10 pm)3/20 12:19 - 1:38 (briefing 12:32-1:15)3/21 10:52 - 12:31 (briefing 2:31-3:12 -- doesn't match)3/24 1:02 - 2:43 (briefing 1:00-1:44) 3/25 1:45 - 3:30 (briefing 2:30-3:15)3/28 12:34 - 3:51 (unusually long) (briefing 12:35-1:15)
4/4/03 12:18 - 1:31 (12:20-12:59)4/9 1:48 - 3:48 (2:32-3:20)4/10 12:14 - 2:00 (12:20-1:03)4/11 12:24 - 1:52 (12:15-12:45) (arrives late)4/14 12:34 - 1:46 (12:30-1:15) (arrives late)4/21 3:33 - 4:19 (no briefing)4/22 11:36 - 1:37 (12:30-1:14)4/23 12:16 - 2:26 (1:17-1:55)4/25 11:21 - 1:25 (12:19-1:00)4/28 3:01 - 4:40 (11:08-11:23 -- doesn't match) 4/29 11:25 - 1:10 (12:23-12:58)4/30 11:37 - 3:14 (unusually long) (12:32-1:19)
5/6/03 11:27 - 12:56 (11:50-12:30)5/7 11:53 - 1:29 (12:30-1:10)5/8 1:09 - 7:10 (unusually long) (1:45-2:26)5/9 9:49 - 11:38 (no briefing)5/14 12:02 - 1:47 (12:35-1:15)5/14 5:15 pm - 6:56 pm (second evening visit)5/15 12:27 - 2:25 (1:08-1:47)5/16 12:05 - 1:40 (12:35-1:19)5/20 12:27 - 2:04 (12:55-1:34)5/27 11:56 - 1:31 (12:23-1:05)5/28 11:50 - 12:53 (12:05-12:44)5/28 3:26 - 4:53 (second visit)5/29 11:42 - 1:43 (12:20-1:00)
6/10/03 12:13 - 1:19 (12:33-1:12)6/17 12:29 - 1:41 (12:32-1:11)6/18 12:16 - 1:42 (12:50-1:34)6/22 3:32 - 4:49 (no briefing)6/23 1:41 - 2:21 (no briefing)6/25 12:16 - 1:01 (12:30-12:55)6/26 11:32 - 12:35 (11:45-12:24)
7/1/03 11:25 - 1:42 (12:50-1:26)7/2 11:50 - 1:20 (12:35-1:12)7/3 3:04 - 4:16 (Condi Rice briefing, 3:40-4:10)7/14 11:33 - 1:32 (Ari's goodbye party) (12:03-12:56)7/15 12:15 (no exit) (12:38-1:23)7/16 12:26 - 2:05 (12:50-1:20)7/17 4:43 - 6:13 (12:36-1:17 -- doesn't match)7/22 12:23 - 1:53 (12:58-1:35)7/23 12:21 - 2:23 (1:17-2:07)7/25 2:08 - 3:30 (2:39-3:15)7/27 3:08 - 5:24 (no briefing)7/28 12:53 - 2:04 (briefing 10:12-10:23 -- doesn't match)7/30 12:13 - 12:45 (no briefing) (Bush press conference earlier than that)
8/1/03 12:18 (no exit) (12:24-12:54)8/1 12:39 - 1:20 (two sets of times if put together seem to match the briefing)
9/2/03 12:37 (A4 HC Entry Lane, no exit) (12:42-1:23)9/3 12:10 - 1:18 (12:30-1:10)9/10 12:17 - 1:32 (12:49-1:23)9/16 12:23 - 1:59 (1:00-1:39)9/17 12:12 - 1:55 (1:00-1:41)9/22 1:54 - 3:06 (no briefing) (Bush meets with Iraqis, remarks end 4:35)9/25 12:49 - 1:53 (12:48-1:35)9/26 12:09 - 2:24 (12:36-1:15)9/29 12:09 - 1:10 (12:18-1:03)
10/1/03 11:51 - 1:37 (12:44-1:30)10/2 11:52 (no exit) (12:47-1:26)10/6 12:58, 6:10 (no exit; checks in twice but doesn't check out) 10/7 12:46 - 2:03 (12:58-1:46)10/8 12:10 - 1:27 (12:16-12:42)10/14 12:22 (no exit) (12:40-1:14)10/27 12:32 - 1:33 (12:39-1:15)10/28 10:54 - 12:22 (Bush press conference 11:15-12:03)10/29 12:20 - 1:08 (12:20-12:57)
11/6/03 12:09 - 1:09 (12:35-1:04)11/12 12:09 - 1:58 (1:10-1:47)11/14 12:54 - 2:07 (1:36-2:00)11/21 5:25 - 6:49 (no briefing)11/24 8:49 - 9:43 (no briefing)...

Gannon, J

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