Gannon won't give clear answer on whether he's seen classified memo

[Roland99]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200502140009

Former Talon News Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent Jeff Gannon (aka James D. Guckert) told Editor & Publisher in a February 11 article that he "never said" he "had ... or had seen" a classified memo written by a State Department official and purportedly summarizing a meeting in which former clandestine CIA operative Valerie Plame allegedly suggested that her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, be sent to Niger to investigate reports that Iraq had tried to purchase uranium from the west African nation. But in previous interviews, Gannon has left a different impression.

The Editor & Publisher article stated that Gannon "threw into question media accounts suggesting that he had seen a classified CIA document critical to the Plame case, saying he had made references to the 'internal memo,' but adding, 'I never said I had it or had seen it.' But when asked if he had in fact seen it, he declined to say."

Gannon originally referenced the memo in an interview with Wilson, which Talon News posted on its website on October 28, 2003 (no longer available on TalonNews.com). Gannon asked Wilson about the memo and appeared familiar with its contents:

An internal government memo prepared by U.S. intelligence personnel details a meeting in early 2002 where your wife, a member of the agency for clandestine service working on Iraqi weapons issues, suggested that you could be sent to investigate the reports. Do you dispute that?

[UL_Approved]

1. There is something big here

There is some reason that the media, from tabloid to trusted source, is not covering this story. Its like it is being erased from existence in all news. It comes on good one day on the Internet, and then it ceases to exist.

It has all of the sleazy tidings for a Dateline special. It even has the National Enquirer angle with the gay thing. But even the serious side of it is totally glossed over. This is quite dangerous for our nation when these things don't pan out.

The MSM hounded Clinton over Monica, Jones, and Whitewater. They at least have a duty to cover this on national television in an article.

[SpiralHawk]

3. A Maxim from our erstwhile "Maximum Leader"

"By making the right choices, we can make the right choices for our future." - George W. Bush

i hope the MSM will take that to heart.

[Roland99]

10. Ayup...and Vince Foster...and White House Travel Office

Where the hell is the MSM??

[rodeodance]

2. the sin of ommision

[madhat]

4. DRUDGE

I have been e-mailing him for days asking him why he isn't covering this. No replies.

[Ian David]

16. Maybe Drudge saw the memo instead. Or maybe both of them saw it.

[tom_paine]

5. Of course not. If he stonewalls and waits it out his friends in THE PARTY

will see that he gets off, and probably a promotion and a nice stipend from Olin (or perhaps the Black Budget)

Just like the Anthrax Assassin
Just like the Plame Leaker
Just like Halliburton.

And on and on and on just like ANY variety of Totalitarianism from Soviets and Nazis to Medeval Kings.

PARTY Members are immune from investigation and prosecution.

[Rob H.]

6. Here's another question regarding this exchange posted at MediaMatters

GANNON: And the FBI did come to interview me. They were interested in where -- how I knew or received a copy of a confidential CIA memo that said that Valerie Plame suggested that Joe Wilson be sent on this mission, something that everybody -- they have all vigorously denied but is, in effect, true.


BLITZER: So they didn't make you go testify before the grand jury?

GANNON: No.

BLITZER: Do you have to reveal how you got that memo?

GANNON: No.

BLITZER: They didn't ask you?

GANNON: Well, the FBI kept asking. I said, well, look, I'm a journalist, I can't --

BLITZER: You didn't tell them?

GANNON: Yes. Can't divulge that. And they accepted that, and I've never been asked again.

Other people may have asked about this in other threads, but since he isn't a "legitimate" journalist (the one-day seminar he attended notwithstanding), can he claim that as a journalist, he can't reveal his sources? I know that he worked for Talon News--a partisan propaganda organization that existed for a grand total of 96 hours between its founding and the first time Gannon was granted a press pass--but since he isn't a credentialed journalist, is he still protected?

[jdj]

8. Here he is on freerepublic saying the CIA is "upset with him" over it

Plame's Input Is Cited on Niger Mission (Joe Wilson lied about EVERYTHING)

Posted by Jeff Gannon to Maigrey
On News/Activism 07/10/2004 10:21:23 AM PDT · 108 of 451


The truth will set you free! I point you to the WashPo story from Dec 26, 2003 that says the CIA is upset with me for talking about a document they say is a forgery (when they are not denying that it exists) that details EXACTLY what the Senate Intel Committee says.

Plame got him the job and the White House didn't know they were sending him - otherwise they would have nixed it knowing that Wilson was anti-war.

The sweet taste of vindication.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/user-posts?name=jeff%20gannon

[BurtWorm]

11. Anyone who is acting as a journalist can claim the same protections

as a professional "legitimate" journalist. There is no magic moment when a person who publishes "reports" suddenly becomes "legitimate" as a journalist, except for the moment of publication.

By the way, the Supreme Court has ruled in Branzburg v. Hayes that journalists are not protected by the first amendment from withholding information in criminal cases.

[Rob H.]

12. Good to know

Thanks, BurtWorm, for clearing that up. In reading my post again, I hope nobody took offense to the way I phrased my questions.

Does anyone know whether investigators in the Plame case are availing themselves of the Branzburg v. Hayes ruling?

On edit: Here's another question--he allegedly obtained the information while posing as "Jeff Gannon." Is a journalist still protected when he obtains and publishes information while using press credentials obtained via a false identity?

[BurtWorm]

14. Someone just posted about Judge Sentelle's ruling ordering

Judith Miller and a Time magazine reporter (I think) to testify to the grand jury about what they know because the First Amendment does not protect them in this case.

[natrat]

7. i think good americans deserve the truth

maybe if we keep this alive at some level it will find some traction,,,,i know, i know wishful thinking

[gratuitous]

9. He doesn't have a clear answer . . . it was kinda dark, you know

When you're doing the pillow talk thing afterwards, and suddenly your honey bunny jumps up and scoots over to the dresser to show you the classified memo whilst telling you what it says, it's difficult to make out a macintosh from a mcclellan in that light. So you can't say for sure whether you actually saw the memo or not.

If you know what I mean.

[Spazito]

13. Here is a link to a 'Gannon' interview done on CBC on Friday

with both John at AmericaBlog and 'Gannon'. He is asked specifically about the memo, his answers are very interesting. He refuses to say whether he saw it or not.

http://www.cbc.ca/insite/AS_IT_HAPPENS_TORONTO/2005/2/11.html

The interview starts with John at 11:38 on Part 1.

[riverwalker]

15. his client list

who were his clients? If they were potential targets of blackmail and endangering our national security, why isn't his client list a major issue here? More questions: Were any Pentagon officials on that list? Did they hire any gay prostitutes to dress up as fake Marines when they were sending real Marines to die?

[Ian David]

17. Journalists aren't REQUIRED to reveal anything. They can just go to jail.

They never have to talk if they don't mind never leaving jail.

I suppose a terminally ill journalist with a few months to live might not mind so much.