"Jeff Gannon's" incredible access
There's evidence he got into White House briefings before he was a
"reporter."

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By Eric Boehlert



Feb. 17, 2005 | James Guckert's mysterious career as a White House
correspondent for Talon News just took another strange twist. And once
again, the newest revelation begs the central question: Who broke the
rules on Guckert's behalf to give him access to the White House? Despite
administration claims that Guckert simply followed established protocol
in order to routinely slip inside the White House briefing room, it now
appears clear that Guckert, who just months before his 2003 debut as a
cub reporter was offering himself up online as a $200 an hour male
escort, benefited from extraordinary preferential treatment, likely
granted by someone inside the White House press office.

Thanks to the continued digging by online sleuths, there's now
documented evidence that Guckert attended White House briefings as early
as February 2003. Guckert, using his alias "Jeff Gannon," once boasted
online about asking then-White House press secretary Ari Fleischer a
question at the Feb. 28, 2003, briefing. The date is significant because
in order to receive a White House press pass, Guckert would have needed
to prove that he worked for a news organization that, in the words of
White House press secretary Scott McClellan, "published regularly," in
itself an extraordinarily low threshold. Critics have charged that while
Talon News may publish regularly, it boasts a nearly all-volunteer news
team which includes not a single person with actual journalism
experience. (The team does, though, have quite a bit of experience
working on Republican campaigns.) In other words, the outfit is not
legitimate nor independent, two criteria often used in Washington, D.C.,
to receive press credentials.

But what's significant about the February 2003 date is that Talon did
not even exist then. The organization was created in late March 2003,
and began publishing online in early April 2003. Gannon, a jack of all
trades who spent time in the military as well as working at an auto
repair shop (not to mention escorting), has already stated publicly that
Talon News was his first job in journalism. That means he wasn't working
for any other news outlet in February 2003 when he was spotted by C-Span
cameras inside the White House briefing room. And that means Guckert was
ushered into the White House press room in February 2003 for a briefing
despite the fact he was not a journalist.

Whereas it was once suspected that White House press officials in charge
of doling out coveted press passes went easy on Guckert, a Republican
partisan working for an amateurish news outlet who would routinely ask
softball questions, it now appears those same unnamed White House
officials simply ignored all established credential standards --
including detailed security guidelines -- and gave Guckert White House
access, even though he had no professional standing whatsoever.

For more than a week White House officials have refused to answer any of
Salon's questions regarding the credential process used for Guckert's
press passes.

Democrats on the Hill are also looking for answers. Last week, Sen.
Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., requested from McClellan all documents related
to Guckert's press passes. On Wednesday, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and
Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., filed a Freedom of Information request
with the Department of Homeland Security, in search of all information
related to Guckert's credentials and security clearance to cover the
White House. "Access to the President and his press corps is highly
competitive, and many seasoned journalists have not had the honor of
attending the events or enjoying the access Mr. Guckert has," the two wrote.

President Bush called on Guckert during a Jan. 26 press conference. "It
is a huge deal for Bush to pick on you at a press conferences," says a
member of the White House press corps. "There are people in the press
room who have covered Bush for four years and haven't had a chance to
ask him a question." Ironically, it was Guckert's time in the spotlight
on Jan. 26 that triggered his downfall. After asking a loaded, partisan
question, in which Guckert mocked Democratic leaders for being "divorced
from reality," liberal critics online began digging into his
qualifications, Talon's partisan ties, and eventually into Guckert's
unusual past. Guckert resigned as Talon White House correspondent on Feb. 9.

The question about credentials remains key. The vast majority of
reporters covering the White House have what's called a "hard," or
permanent, pass. To obtain one they have to verify they work for a
recognized news organization with job responsibilities covering the
White House. They have to submit to a lengthy security background check
conducted by the FBI, which can take months to complete and requires
being photographed and fingerprinted. Journalists also must verify to
the White House they already have credentials to cover Capitol Hill.
Without them, the White House won't complete a hard pass request.

In late 2003 Guckert applied for a Capitol Hill pass and was denied
because Talon, which enjoys close ties to GOPUSA.com, was not deemed to
be a legitimate, independent news outlet. That in and of itself should
have been a red flag for the White House press office. Yet for nearly
two years, it allowed Guckert to circumvent the hard pass system by
using a day pass whenever he needed White House access. The day pass
requires just a minimal background check. It was designed to be used on
a temporary basis, such as for reporters coming in from out of town to
cover the White House for a brief period. Guckert, though, with the help
of somebody inside the press office, turned the day pass system into his
own revolving door. That was when he was at least working for Talon News.

To learn Guckert was waved into the White House for fourth estate
briefings even before he was affiliated with any kind of news outlet is
startling.