Post by RPankn on Feb 14, 2005 20:54:29 GMT -5
2/14/2005
Reporter with prostitution links and false name got access to Bush; Questions surface on relationship with White House staff
Filed under: General— site admin @ 2:08 pm
Questions fly on Guckert’s relationship with White House
RAW STORY
The former White House reporter for the conservative website Talon News, who resigned after his links to military escort domains appeared on the Web, is said to have paid two individuals to set up a site on which he intended to prostitute himself, RAW STORY has learned.
These individuals claim to have invoices which show the name of the reporter Jim Guckert’s personal business as paying for the website’s development.
AmericaBLOG’s John Aravosis has discovered previous images of the site through an Internet service which keeps records of sites that have been taken down. The images of the site seem to definitively show Guckert in various indiscrete poses. The images also match with images of Guckert that have appeared in the press, down to personal accoutrements, such as his watch.
Aravosis’ discovery finds particular resonance in a unfolding scandal which involves a White House reporter getting press credentials under a false identity. Guckert had used the name Jeff Gannon in his reporting.
Some question whether Gannon may have leveraged a personal intimate relationship with someone at the White House to gain access to President Bush. Guckert also says he was given access to an internal memorandum which named then-covert CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Such leveraging of personal relationships have seen increased scrutiny after the resignation of former New Jersey Governor James McGreevey, who admitted to having an affair with a male staff member.
Sources have intimated possible relationships with members of the White House staff. Guckert did not respond to requests for comment.
RAW STORY has been told that the White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan visited a gay bar in Austin, Texas, on March 19, 1995. The date was placed exactly as a local memorial service was held on the same day.
The source, who would only comment on condition of anonymity, reserved comment on whether McClellan was actually gay, but said he was frequently seen at gay clubs. Another source also confirmed this account.
“He was often seen in gay clubs in Austin, Texas and was comfortable being there,” the Texan said. “He’s been seen in places that normal people who are looking for heterosexual relationships are not seen alone.”<br>
According to a White House transcript, McClellan is married, and Gannon sent the press secretary a wedding card. The White House, however, declined to comment.
“He was the mayor’s son in town, everybody knew who he was,” the source added, referring to McClellan’s mother Carole Keeton Strayhorn.
At press time, a message for Strayhorn, controller for the state of Texas has gone unanswered. Strayhorn is considered a hot future prospect for the Texas governor’s mansion.
Guckert joined the White House press corps under former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. McClellan was Fleischer’s deputy at the time.
Several calls placed to the White House and McClellan’s office today were not returned. The White House transferred the call to various offices and took detailed accounts of the information in this story, but refused to comment.
The White House has been aware of the allegations about McClellan’s sexuality since at least September.
BlogACTIVE.com’s Mike Rogers, who outed and forced Congressman Ed Schrock to retire from his Virginia House seat after publishing tapes in which he solicited gay sex, placed several calls to the White House press office in September. Rogers is editor of RawStoryQ.com, Raw Story Media’s queer news site.
On Sept. 3, 2004, Rogers says he spoke with a woman in the White House Press Office who asked him to fax any documentation.
“She says, would you like to fax it to us?” he said.
Rogers then asked if the press office felt it appropriate to fax such information to a White House fax machine. The woman he spoke with then took down his information, but said nothing further about faxing documentation.
Rogers has audiotapes of his conversations with the White House, which RAW STORY has heard.
He left another message on Sept. 9 “giving him an opportunity to yank the story if he called me back,” he says. “I’m sure he received it.” A third message was left Sept. 17.
The Republican National Committee also declined comment on whether Guckert had any relationship with Chairman Ken Mehlman, who was outed on Air America last year, and who has refused to answer questions about his sexuality.
rawstory.com/news/2005/wp-trackback.php/73
Reporter with prostitution links and false name got access to Bush; Questions surface on relationship with White House staff
Filed under: General— site admin @ 2:08 pm
Questions fly on Guckert’s relationship with White House
RAW STORY
The former White House reporter for the conservative website Talon News, who resigned after his links to military escort domains appeared on the Web, is said to have paid two individuals to set up a site on which he intended to prostitute himself, RAW STORY has learned.
These individuals claim to have invoices which show the name of the reporter Jim Guckert’s personal business as paying for the website’s development.
AmericaBLOG’s John Aravosis has discovered previous images of the site through an Internet service which keeps records of sites that have been taken down. The images of the site seem to definitively show Guckert in various indiscrete poses. The images also match with images of Guckert that have appeared in the press, down to personal accoutrements, such as his watch.
Aravosis’ discovery finds particular resonance in a unfolding scandal which involves a White House reporter getting press credentials under a false identity. Guckert had used the name Jeff Gannon in his reporting.
Some question whether Gannon may have leveraged a personal intimate relationship with someone at the White House to gain access to President Bush. Guckert also says he was given access to an internal memorandum which named then-covert CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Such leveraging of personal relationships have seen increased scrutiny after the resignation of former New Jersey Governor James McGreevey, who admitted to having an affair with a male staff member.
Sources have intimated possible relationships with members of the White House staff. Guckert did not respond to requests for comment.
RAW STORY has been told that the White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan visited a gay bar in Austin, Texas, on March 19, 1995. The date was placed exactly as a local memorial service was held on the same day.
The source, who would only comment on condition of anonymity, reserved comment on whether McClellan was actually gay, but said he was frequently seen at gay clubs. Another source also confirmed this account.
“He was often seen in gay clubs in Austin, Texas and was comfortable being there,” the Texan said. “He’s been seen in places that normal people who are looking for heterosexual relationships are not seen alone.”<br>
According to a White House transcript, McClellan is married, and Gannon sent the press secretary a wedding card. The White House, however, declined to comment.
“He was the mayor’s son in town, everybody knew who he was,” the source added, referring to McClellan’s mother Carole Keeton Strayhorn.
At press time, a message for Strayhorn, controller for the state of Texas has gone unanswered. Strayhorn is considered a hot future prospect for the Texas governor’s mansion.
Guckert joined the White House press corps under former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. McClellan was Fleischer’s deputy at the time.
Several calls placed to the White House and McClellan’s office today were not returned. The White House transferred the call to various offices and took detailed accounts of the information in this story, but refused to comment.
The White House has been aware of the allegations about McClellan’s sexuality since at least September.
BlogACTIVE.com’s Mike Rogers, who outed and forced Congressman Ed Schrock to retire from his Virginia House seat after publishing tapes in which he solicited gay sex, placed several calls to the White House press office in September. Rogers is editor of RawStoryQ.com, Raw Story Media’s queer news site.
On Sept. 3, 2004, Rogers says he spoke with a woman in the White House Press Office who asked him to fax any documentation.
“She says, would you like to fax it to us?” he said.
Rogers then asked if the press office felt it appropriate to fax such information to a White House fax machine. The woman he spoke with then took down his information, but said nothing further about faxing documentation.
Rogers has audiotapes of his conversations with the White House, which RAW STORY has heard.
He left another message on Sept. 9 “giving him an opportunity to yank the story if he called me back,” he says. “I’m sure he received it.” A third message was left Sept. 17.
The Republican National Committee also declined comment on whether Guckert had any relationship with Chairman Ken Mehlman, who was outed on Air America last year, and who has refused to answer questions about his sexuality.
rawstory.com/news/2005/wp-trackback.php/73
