February 15, 2005

The "Jeff Gannon" story exploded on the blogosphere today. Link possibly NSFW, some links on page definitely NSFW. For those not in the know, see this earlier post. A man calling himself Jeff Gannon was asking softball questions at a Presidential press conference (full press conference here.) and at White House daily briefings for some time. Turns out the guy was (and perhaps still is) a male prostitute.

Gannon had several websites advertising his services, including "USMCPT.com" - (US Marine Corps Part Time). "While the site is no longer live on the Internet, archived copies of it show that it was live at the USMCPT.com address at least from October 31, 2001 until May 8, 2003...The “Ammunition” section contains the description of the escort. It reads: White, 200 pounds, hair “high and tight,” chest “46’ Usually Shaved or Clipped,” and under “Weapon” it says "8 inches cut." The escort mentions that he takes clients in the Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland area, and that he prefers to “travel to your location or travel with you.”" There are numerous x-rated photos of "Gannon" on the site, the man who designed the sites still has invoices which seem to link Gannon to the site. There are several other sites where he seems to be advertising his wares. This is a long story, and I won't recite the entire thing here. However, why is a possibly active (see the site for more info on this) male prostitute asking questions at a Presidential press confrence? A background check MUST have been done and yet someone within the White House had to have made a decision to give this man access. He was also apparently among the reporters let in on the story which exposed a clandestine CIA operative. Will the mainstream media pick up on this story? Oh, the question he asked at the press conference? Q Thank you. Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the U.S. economy. Harry Reid was talking about soup lines, and Hillary Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet, in the same breath, they say that Social Security is rock-solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you said you're going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality? Seems Gannon's divorced from reality. Sen. Reid never said anything about soup lines, Rush Limbaugh himself admitted it was he who said the line.

posted by waitingtoderail 19 years ago
  • Turns out the guy was (and perhaps still is) a male prostitute. That ranks higher than being one of the hosts of Crossfire.
  • Turns out the guy was (and perhaps still is) a male prostitute. You sure he's not a male model?
  • Well, since he's shown fully erect and pissing, along with being "reviewed" on one of the sites, I'd assume he's no model...
  • Dammit, I was hoping that the very fact an 'activist' posing as a 'journalist' asking the POTUS questions from 8 feet away (how far was it?) under an assumed name for many months would be story enough. If this latest is also part of the story, it works to give it more news-cycle time but also ammo for the talk radio circuit to claim it's all about his sexuality. No gay marriage, after all. Also: Holy shit. This is the Conservative Republican Bush White House we're talking about. It's looking increasingly like they made a decision to allow a hooker to ask the President of the United States questions.
  • Yeah, they're already trying to make it out that it has anything to do with his sexuality (although he did write articles painting gays in a negative light), that's not at all what this is about. We've seen journalists and commentators being paid to shill for the administration, and now a prostitute, using a false name, being given West Wing access on a daily basis? What the hell is going on here? By the way, I see this isn't on Matt Drudge's site anywhere....
  • As I said in the last discussion about this... he's just Deep Cover for the conservative agenda... He's "pretending" to be a male prostitute to expose any conservatives who shove their cocks in his ass to be the gays they are.... You people STILL don't konw anything.... God!
  • Bush administration takes surreal to new heights...no!... depths... um...oh, damn.... Again.
  • The only way this could get better is if he threatened to reveal which top cabinet officals he'd slept with. Not that this'll do anything. People just don't care anymore apparently.
  • By the way, I see this isn't on Matt Drudge's site anywhere.... No, but he's on the Drudgemeister's speeddial.. Of course, with a little spin, they could argue that they were giving him these "journalistic" opportunities to help him to quit being a male prostitute. Besides, the standard qualifications these days for White House Reporters and male prostitutes are pretty similar...
  • I have a rough idea what male prosties charge for their services, but I wonder how much Rove paid Gannon for this?
  • Heck, the Conservative Voice is even speculating that there may have been blackmail involved.
  • I think the conservatives are throwing Jeff over the side of the boat. The best thing thing for the right is to move on from this guy.
  • On that blog you pointed out, cabingirl - one of the commenters: "Well, that takes the cake. I can't DO this anymore. I can't support the GOP, I cannot support these so-called conservatives in power, and tomorrow I am switching my party affiliation to independent. It's obvious to me that the lunatics have taken over the asylum. They sold us a menu of "family values" but it is really all about my child in Iraq getting shot, maybe killed, for Halliburton, cheap oil, and profit for the corporate pigs. After thirty years with the party, I turn my back. I am sick, sad, disgusted. I'm starting to think these liberals have a point. That may say more about the state of our government than them, but I'm finished--not one more dime, not one more moment of my time to help a single one of them get elected."
  • The comments in Conservative Voice are very emotional. Most conservatives don't live in fantasy land like Glenn Reynolds. There is only so much that these people can take.
  • It's not about the sex; it's about the lying. Or, um. Actually, it should be about "How the fuck did this guy get White House credentials and why was he called on?" On a certain level, I know that I admire him for the first part. I'd love to get credentialed for the White House on the basis of my weblog (which is pretty much the level that Talon sits at). And any liberal that scammed that, well, I'd be secretly in awe. Screwin' the man. But Jesus, the problem is the implied complicity of the Administration. I don't like being manipulated, and that's what they were doing. I'd bet that's why Gannon's being eaten now: he was allowed in because he had a background that made it easy to deflect blame away from the White House. I doubt that Rove picked him, but I do know that the White House does pretty decent background checks and that all this information would have popped up. I tend to believe Bushco. to be opportunistic cronies, not scheming geniuses... But c'mon, get it offa teh gay. The longer it's on it, the worse everyone comes out. (This may be yet another time when the Democrats have to decide whether or not to pander to Middle/Homophobic America or to do the right thing...)
  • It ISN'T about "teh gay." If it was a female hooker, no one would worry about it being about her "lifestyle" or her "sexuality." It's about what the hell was this guy doing asking questions of the President? And who let him in on the name of an undercover CIA agent?
  • You sure he's not a male model? No, he's a he-bitch man-whore. Male models do not typically describe themselves as vocal dominant tops. It explains a lot. People were wondering, how did he get to be a whitehouse reporter? How did he know about Plame? Simple- he had a little business relationship with someone on the inside.
  • The sexuality bit just clouds the real story here. Male prostitutes aren't necessarily gay. He must have something on somebody.
  • Shamina Latrine: male prostitutes aren't necessarily gay, true, but any who expects to make any money had better be ready to sleep with gay or bisexual men as men are the primary customers.
  • That Conservative Voice site is great. I expected righteous indignation, but instead got cool new phrases like "toxic hypocrasy." I hope this turns into the scandal that will wipe those nasty smirks off those nasty faces.
  • Oh, and somebody call an exorcist. This administration is possessed by Roy Cohn.
  • Derail: Read the link and tell me it's not about "teh gay" to AmiricaBlog. He's certainly focusing on the salacious.
  • ooh you bad bloggers! You'd better stop! Watch out! They're gonna get you! Oooo! I think it's interesting that this made the front page of CNN.com during the blogger's finest hour(s) to date. >set derail off
  • The White House should let bloggers do all the background checks.
  • The White House does let bloggers do all its background checks.
  • And js for the extra point conversion!
  • This somehow brings to mind all the hilarity of the pigReagans speaking out of one side of their mouths about being good Christians and then consulting astrologers with the other side of their mouths. Only human sacrifice will end this surreal display of contempt for decency that the off-white house proudly emits.
  • *hurls broken record at oncoming zombies*
  • Well, in case you didn't realize by all the ads on the site, it is a gay-themed left-wing website, js. One of his points is to point out the hypocrisy of someone who wrote negative stories about gays. That being said, that is but a side angle to the story. Will it get it noticed? Probably. That's more of a sign that our mainstream media is so weak that unless there's a salacious element to a story, they'll let it die. This should have been front page news BEFORE this came out. It also shouldn't take a blogger to dig for this. Why has this barely been touched by the mainstream media? A guy using an assumed name with extremely minimal (and that may be too genereous) journalism experience gets White House access? And if this guy gets access, why don't the left-wing bloggers get West Wing access? It's all about media manipulation, baby. That's been going on for a long time, but these guys have been extremely sloppy and pretty generous with our money.
  • Gay themed lefty or not, the reason why Gannon/Guckert deserves notice has nothing to do with Gannon/Guckert being a homo ho. And the repeated hammering of that fact does little but distract from the real issues. Like I said, the unfortunate thing is that is probably what will give this story legs, so it's a choice between supporting something that's lurid and sensational and keeping the White House's feet to the fire, or letting this die and having Bushco. get away with another bit o' chicanery.
  • What repeated hammering? It's the first story about it.
  • It's but one part of a bigger story, js. Hopefully, someone in the media will notice and investigate further. Right now, it looks like Keith Olbermann is the only one with the guts to report on this.
  • OK, so what if he's gay? Who cares? The misdirected fury is unbelievable. The whole thing smells like dung in the evening, and it needs to be exposed post haste. But nobody is stepping up; so it's up to nutjobs like me to bang the drum? Right, that gets results. God, the democritos as well as the press are helpless bots. You stood over your own grave, now dive in!
  • It seems Jeff Gannon was attending news conferences before Talon News started and posting his questions in the comments at Winds of Change.
    This is a question I asked Ari Fleischer at a White House press briefing on Friday: Q There have been reports out of Maine that the children of deployed service personnel are being harassed as a result of their elementary school teacher's expression of anti-war views in the classroom. Could you comment on that? MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not familiar with any specific report, but I can assure you that the President, in all instances, believes that it's important for all to honor and respect the first amendment. Not the answer I was looking for, but at least I was able to get the issue in front of the mainstream press.
    So Jeff didn't have a publication to work for so he had to post his press conference questions at a popular conservative blog. Note: Armed Liberal writes some good national security stuff.
  • keeping the White House's feet to the fire, or letting this die and having Bushco. get away with another bit o' chicanery. I've already heard the right-wing AM talk show fuckholes spew some "what does it matter?? What does it matter??" crap and fully expect my well-meaning and confused freinds to pick up the line and run with it. I actually saw a fairly good refutation that Gannon/Guckert had anything to do with the Plame story over on the blue. But here's the crux, yo: Who knew? WHO knew? Who was the White House press flunkie who stared in blinking disbelief as Guckert said "Actually, make it 'Gannon' on the press ID. You see I'm using a fake name. Are you a bottom?" McClellan? "I don't think it's my job to care who is in the press corps"?? Oh, this kind of thing goes on all the time? It's no big deal? Ohhh. Okay. Baaaaaa!
  • More coverage of this emerging scandal can be found here.
  • Thank you Salon 1) "Committee guidelines require that on-line publications 'must charge a market rate fee for subscription or access, or carry paid advertising at current market rates.' You have not demonstrated to the committee's satisfaction that Talon News has any paid subscribers, that paid client newspapers publish Talon News stories, or that it is supported by advertising." 2) "The application for accreditation to the press galleries states that 'members of the press shall not engage in lobbying or paid advertising, publicity, promotion, work for any individual, political party, corporation, organization, or agency of the Federal Government.' Talon News has not demonstrated to the satisfaction of the committee that there is a separation from GOPUSA."
  • Another pass for Gannon On a party-line vote, the House Judiciary Committee rejected Rep. John Conyers' resolution that would have required the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to provide Congress documents regarding "security investigations and background checks relating to granting access to the White House of James D. Guckert (also known as Jeff Gannon)." Fucking assholes. err . . .
  • There was no chance in hell of that passing in the House. Besides, at this point Gannongate is a non-story. The only people who care about it are a handful of bloggers on places like dKos.
  • Yeah, if it could have gone through at the story's peak, maybe the exposure would have gotten it through the Judiciary Committee, but even that would be unlikely, surely. I assume it's a slow process to get something through committee which is why it's only happening now.
  • you can't hear the pillow suffocating the story, but it's actively being supressed, IMO. Who let him in with a fake name? I just want them to answer that one. Then we'll see if it's a surprising set of circumstances or something more. Someone should purposefully use a fake name and either get in or grill whomever stops them for it.
  • a search for "gannon" on Google news finds more recent stories of atheletes with that name than the fake reporter. Hear the Darth Vader breathing noise? 10 . . . 9 . . . 8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . .
  • Yeah, saw that SusanG piece yesterday. It's all well and great, but I wish they wouldn't call it 'open source journalism'. Firstly, their sources are not all open. Secondly, 'open source' has a precise meaning in the context of copyright and licence agreements. I know I'm shouting in the wind, but this is yet another instance of the dilution of an important technical concept by the buzzword-crazy masses.
  • what are you . . a hacker or a cracker?? Heh. No, I hear you. Paging languagehat . . . language evolving in aisle six . . .
  • Secret Service records released 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.
  • Makes ya wonder what he was doing there when not in a press breifing. Or who.
  • Vanity Fair article that reviews the story so far pretty well, from a different pov. "He actually had two jobs—one obviously was sleazy and shameful, and the other was a gay male prostitute," Bill Maher joked.
  • and the ensuing bitchfest about the VF article from the newly minted huffingtonpost.com.
  • Wait...isn't Gannon the evil demon guy that Link has to defeat in order to save princess Zelda?
  • I dunno, coudln't find a better place to post it.
  • White House Visitor Records Closed The White House and the Secret Service quietly signed an agreement last spring in the midst of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal declaring that records identifying visitors to the White House are not open to the public. The Bush administration didn't reveal the existence of the memorandum of understanding until last fall. The White House is using it to deal with a legal problem on a separate front, a ruling by a federal judge ordering the production of Secret Service logs identifying visitors to the office of Vice President Dick Cheney. These aren't the droids you're looking for. He can go about his business. Move along.
  • This administration needs to be punished in order that future fatheads in high office don't try to pull these tricks again. And besides, they're a remarkably bad lot.