- WASHINGTON -- Despite
assurances
by the Bush Administration that the gay hustler who posed as a journalist
was given only limited access to the White House new evidence shows that
over a two year period he visited 196 times.
-
- James D. Guckert, who wrote under the name Jeff Gannon,
was Washington bureau chief for Talon News, a conservative online news
outlet associated with another Web site, GOPUSA.
-
- Questions began to circulate within the White House press
corps almost as soon as "Gannon" arrived on the scene.
-
- During news conferences he was regularly called on for
questions by President Bush. But, invariably "Gannon's"
questions
would show an extreme right-wing and often anti-gay agenda. On one occasion
he asked Bush how he could work with Senate Democratic leaders ìwho
seem to have divorced themselves from reality.î
-
- White House press secretary Scott McClellan also would
regularly call on "Gannon" whenever he would be under more
aggressive,
hostile questions from the press.
-
- During last year's election campaign "Gannon"
wrote in Talon that Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry
ìmight
someday be known as ëthe first gay president.'"
-
- He then noted that Kerry has enjoyed "a 100% rating
from the homosexual advocacy group Human Rights Campaign since 1995 in
recognition of his support for the pro-gay agenda.î
-
- While the White House press corps winced at
"Gannon's"
lack of objectivity and began to wonder if he were an Administration
"plant",
John Aravosis, who operates the AMERICAblog Web site, began to probe his
background. (story)
-
- Aravosis and other liberal bloggers discovered that
"Gannon"
was really J.D. Guckert and that he owned a number of extreme conservative
websites. They also found that Guckert owned gay sex sites - all with a
military theme and all offering his sexual services.
-
- Following his exposure Guckert quit Talon and GOPUSA
and Talon subsequently closed. (story)
-
- McClellan, responding to media questions earlier this
year said "Gannon" received only infrequent day passes, and
denied
that he had been a GOP "plant".
-
- But, Democrats in Congress took up the issue. Democratic
Reps. Louise Slaughter of New York and John Conyers of Michigan filed a
freedom of information request and were given Secret Service records of
Guckert's visits.
-
- Today's revelation that "Gannon" had visited
the White House nearly twice monthly raises even more questions.
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- ©365Gay.com 2005
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- Phttp://www.365gay.com/newscon05/04/042605gannon.htm
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