Gannongate: the weird story of a non-scandal

National Review, March 14, 2005 by Byron York

In today's media world, it was inevitable that the issue would find its way into the mainstream press. As the bloggers combed Gannon's background, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and cable-news channels picked up on the story. Not wanting to dig too deeply into the gay-sex angle, the mainstream reports focused on the question of Gannon's access to the White House.

Specifically, did Gannon have a "hard pass" allowing him permanent entry into the building? Was he allowed into the White House under an assumed name? And in any event, did he deserve to be part of the White House press corps?

Some of the answers weren't too complicated. For example, the White House said unequivocally that Gannon did not have a hard pass. Instead, he was allowed in on what are known as daily passes, in which the journalist calls the White House ahead of time and gives his name, date of birth, and Social Security number. Gannon, the White House said, entered under his real name, Guckert.

Nevertheless, critics still suggested that Gannon had special access. One of the most prominent was Keith Olbermann, host of the MSNBC program Countdown, who has made a virtual running feature of Gannongate. "How did James Guckert/Jeff Gannon get White House press credentials?" Olbermann asked on February 17, well after the White House had made clear that Gannon did not have press credentials. In the Times, Maureen Dowd wrote, "I was rejected for a White House press pass at the start of the Bush administration, but someone with an alias, a tax evasion problem and Internet pictures where he posed like the 'Barberini Faun' is credentialed to cover a White House that won a second term by mining homophobia and preaching family values?"

Seemingly nothing the White House said would convince the Olbermanns and Dowds of the world that Gannon did not receive special access. But the administration kept on trying.

"He did not have a hard pass," McClellan said in an interview with NATIONAL REVIEW. "He did not apply for a hard pass." McClellan said Gannon got into the White House the way other visitors do, using his real name. As for whether a representative of Talon News should have been considered for entry into the White House, McClellan said he does not want to pass judgment on who gets in and who doesn't. "I've never inserted myself into the credentialing process here. I don't think it is the place of the White House press secretary to start picking and choosing who covers the White House. I don't think the press secretary should be drawing the lines, because then the question is, Where do you draw the line? Do you draw the line at advocacy journalism? There are people there who cross that line every day."

The reality of the White House briefing room bears McClellan out. The fact is, it's simply not too hard to get inside for a briefing, and people of all professional and ideological stripes are there. There is, for example, Russell Mokhiber, who runs a far-left newsletter and sometimes asks McClellan off-the-wall questions: Recently, he wanted to know whether President Bush believes the Sixth Commandment applies to the war in Iraq. Last year, Mokhiber took time off to volunteer for the Ralph Nader campaign. When he returned, McClellan said, at the briefing, "Russ, welcome back. It's been a while. How was the Nader campaign?"