OK, but was McClellan there?
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Guckert linked to male escort sites, Va. orgy party: sources
By JOE CREA
Friday, February 18, 2005
Several members of Congress have intensified criticism of the White House’s media credentialing process and are demanding an investigation after a conservative reporter with dubious credentials was unmasked as working for a GOP political operative.
But the story of James D. Guckert, who worked under the alias “Jeff Gannon,” took on a more salacious tone early this week, when gay activist John Aravosis provided evidence that Guckert had worked as a gay escort and posted profiles featuring nude pictures of himself on various Web sites, including MaleCorps.com and MeetLocalMen.com. Aravosis reported that Guckert’s profile on an escort site remained active until May 2003 — just before he began writing for Talon News.
Since the Aravosis report, two sources have confirmed to the Washington Blade that Guckert attended a December 1998 Christmas party near Leesburg, Va., that “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. The sources provided to the Blade two photos from that party of a man who appears to be Guckert. In one image which the Blade has decided not to publish, the man poses with his arm around another man and his penis is exposed.
Guckert responded to inquiries for this article, but declined to comment. He has not commented publicly about his sexual orientation.
The gay revelations are significant, some gay rights advocates have asserted, because Guckert worked for anti-gay employers. Guckert worked for Talon News and GOPUSA, which are both owned by Texas Republican activist Bobby Eberle. Talon News is a Web site regarded as a Republican propaganda outlet and not a reputable journalistic enterprise. Eberle acts as editor in chief for Talon News.
Guckert, writing under the name Gannon, regularly reported on the news of the day including a few gay-related stories. In one article, “California Gays Celebrate Domestic Partner Law,” Gannon reported that “Homosexual advocates in California are hailing a new law that went into effect on Jan. 1 that established ‘gay marriage’ in the state.”
In another piece, he wrote that an aide to Sen. John Kerry used a gay smear to defeat an incumbent senator. He also wrote about the federal gay marriage amendment and about the journalistic integrity of CBS News in light of Dan Rather’s 60 Minutes II story about President Bush’s tenure at the Texas National Guard that turned out to be based on forged documents.
Guckert, who was a fixture at the daily White House press briefings, gained national attention after he asked President Bush a loaded question last month about how the president planned to work with Democrats on Social Security when they “have divorced themselves from reality.”
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) is insisting that all documents relating to the credentialing of Guckert be released. Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.) is calling on the White House to explain the matter more fully and, along with Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), wants to know of Guckert’s possible involvement in the leaking of a classified memo containing the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame.
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a statement that “valid questions” are being raised over Guckert’s White House press credentials since he was denied a congressional press pass because he did not write for a valid news organization.
“This issue is important from an ethical as well as from a national security standpoint,” Hoyer said in a statement. “It is hard to understand why a man with little real journalism experience was given a White House press corps credential let alone access to sensitive security documents. In fact, it only raises questions as to the nature of the relationship between ‘Jeff Gannon’ and the White House, and whether there was an alliance of interests that did not conform to ethical and security standards.”
“This is an important story because this is the latest in a long line of the Bush administration using fake news outlets to promote their agenda,” said Jamison Foser, a senior adviser at Media Matters for America, a liberal media group that first broke the Guckert story.
“We found that there was no reason to consider [Talon News employees] journalists since they are advocates,” Foser said. “His questions, sure, were over the top but some of the things that were written … they were lengthy pieces from the White House briefings, not independent reports. Yes, Fox News or the Washington Times, they are conservative but they are legitimate news organizations.”
This is a screen capture of the AmericaBlog story that claimed Jeff Guckert, also known as Jeff Gannon, worked as a male prostitute before going to work as a reporter for Talon News. AmericaBlog was started by D.C. gay activist John Aravosis.
Bloggers expose personal life
Guckert resigned from Talon News on Feb. 8. Since then, bloggers and media watchdog groups have dug deeper into his personal life. First came reports that Guckert had ties to a number of gay sex sites. The same person who had registered his personal Web site also registered others, including HotMilitaryStud.com, MilitaryEscorts.com and MilitaryEscortsM4M.com.
Late last week, Guckert was asked about those sites in an interview on CNN’s “Wolf Blitzer Reports” and said, “Well, several years ago, before I came to Washington, I had registered various domain names for a private client. I was doing Web site development. Those sites were never hosted. There’s — nothing ever went up on them. And the client went on to do something else.”
Guckert first discussed his sudden departure from Talon News in that CNN interview. He resigned with the hope that the harassment of his family would cease, he said. When pressed by Blitzer to be more specific about his family, Guckert replied “Well, I mean — I mean my — when my mother and my brother and his wife received telephone calls that — you know, that contained threats and all kinds of terrible things being said about me, it’s very disturbing. And that’s way over the line. And I needed to put that to an end.”
Timothy Karr, executive director of MediaChannel.org and Media for Democracy, said he is concerned that the White House is using journalists in a way to create friendly media reports.
“Journalists used to be ranked very high in terms of their ethical standing in public polls. This scandal is dangerous because journalism does serve an essential role in Democracy. Talon News is clearly an organization intent on spreading conservative ideas and they do it in a sloppy fashion,” Karr said. “The questions Gannon was asking were not about trying to get the truth but more about grandstanding and presenting a very partisan point of view.”http://www.washblade.com/2005/2-18/news/national/reporter.cfm |
