| The following includes
three pages of responses from the Secret Service to
Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI).
The responses were obtained through a Freedom of Information
Act request.
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 views.
Guckert 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.
Article originally published Apr. 25, 2005. |
