| The revelation found by
researchers of ePluribusMedia
sent shockwaves through the liberal blog Daily Kos,
but has received mixed reactions from the mainstream
press.
RAW STORY spoke with
several reporters who covered the White House during
the time of Gannon's access. The reporters had mixed
reactions as to whether the last Gannon findings were
significant. Most declined to comment for the record.
Dana Milbank, the Washington Post reporter
who covered the White House for the first Bush term,
spoke on Keith Olbermann's MSNBC program last night
and gave his thoughts on the new findings today.
Milbank told RAW STORY
he believes that Gannon's remarkable access to the White
House given the fact that he was a "phony journalist"
is significant. But he dismissed suggestions that Gannon
might have gotten by the Secret Service.
“I’m not here to apologize for the Secret
Service, but I find it absolutely inconceivable that
they are unaware of the comings and goings of each person
who works at that complex,” Milbank said. “I’m
100 percent certain that there was no security risk
here.”
The Secret Service declined to comment.
Another reporter who covered the White House and asked
not to be identified, agreed the White House is secure
but said security isn't necessarily airtight.
“In the gate that I always came through on the
west side, it’s just one gatehouse with five or
six security and a [metal detector]," the reporter
said. "You walk through one magnetometer and you’re
in and you’re walking around on the driveway,
and there’s no security standing at the front
door of the press room."
Milbank said he believes there are other explanations
for Gannon having gotten access without it being noted
in the records released by the Service.
“The most plausible thing is that these aren’t
complete records,” he said.
Another possibility, reporters said, is that of human
error. Gannon—whose real name was Guckert—may
have had his name improperly inputted. But some said
that human error may not account for the sheer number
of irregularities in Gannon's records.
“The first thing that comes to mind is human
error," one reporter told RAW
STORY."You can imagine human error once or
twice but five times is harder to imagine."
But if the records are accurate, the journalist said,
something is most certainly wrong.
“If it’s a complete FOIA request and there
aren’t any misspellings then either he’s
getting special treatment from the White House or the
Secret Service needs to have a few retraining sessions,”
the reporter quipped.
“Especially in the post 9/11 universe that we
live in," the reporter added, "you don’t
expect any sort of breach of protocol.”
Milbank says the story is in Gannon's number of visits,
not the particulars of his access.
“The story here if there’s a story is that
this guy who was a phony journalist was allowed into
the White House so much," he said. "There’s
no security risk."
Article originally published Apr. 27, 2005. |
