Guckert/Gannon had a hard pass, not day pass.

[Teaser]

Check this story at Dkos.

Here's some frames that show his "hard pass."

Why is this important? 1) Because Scottie McLellan said he never had a hard pass, only a day pass, which "anyone" could get. And 2) A hard pass requires months of investigation by the secret service.

Any chance they would have cleared Guckert after months of investigation into his finances, history, etc?

So it looks like the White House just gave out this hard pass, no questions asked, to their favorite puppet.

Gotta let Olbermann know about this.

[Beetwasher]

1. GD Thread!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3130107&mesg_id=3130107

[Spazito]

2. Dana Milbank gave a description of both passes today...

in an interview with SusanG at Daily Kos:


"You've stated that you think you've seen Gannon with a "hard press" pass. What is the visual difference between a hard pass and a daily pass?
A hard pass has your photo and news org and name on it. A daily pass is just a brown and white striped pass that says, "Press," on it and comes on a dog-tag style chain. Note that the one Gannon wears in the footage on TV is a blue lanyard - not the sort of thing a day pass comes on."

From SusanG's interview posted today with Dana Millbank. (The interview took place before the revelations of JG's escort service were up on AMERICAblog.) What "news org" would have been on that pass on Feb. 28, 2003?"

That's about 3/4s down the page of the OP link.


It sure looks like a hard pass to me!!!

[Pirate Smile]

3. In today's NYT, Dowd writes

"At first when I tried to complain about not getting my pass renewed, even though I'd been covering presidents and first ladies since 1986, no one called me back. Finally, when Mr. McClellan replaced Ari Fleischer, he said he'd renew the pass - after a new Secret Service background check that would last several months."

MSNBC was reporting that the WH does now say they knew his real name was Guckert.

[tridim]

4. Another nuclear strike on BushCo/Gannon!

Keep the hits coming! I continue to be amazed at what these bloggers are uncovering. It's historic.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. The sense was that he lied about the hard pass/ soft pass thing

The pass has his picture on it, hard to imagine a guy getting a temporary pass everyday, much less one with his photo on it. Anyway what the hell is the difference? The guy is clearly a lunatic and is capable of god-knows-what. I didn't have any faith in the system going into this scandal, and my worst fears/doubts have only been reconfirmed with this episode.

[Pirate Smile]

7. The difference is that if he got a hard pass he should have had a

several month security check into his real identity (since they now admit they knew his real name). We know what that security check should have found out about his other job.

If he got in without the security check, why? Who helped him get around the normal checks?

If he got in with the security check, how the hell could that happen?

[tridim]

9. And Simple Scotty lied about it

Why? Who told him to lie about it? What a tangled web they've weaved.

[lawladyprof]

11. What is the actual difference between a hard and a day pass?

No, seriously. I'd assume a day pass was a temporary pass, but Gannon was attending press briefings for a little over two years (right?) so why not a hard pass. As in why didn't he request a hard pass? Or why didn't someone think it odd that he continued to use a day pass for that length of time? And why should you go through hurdles of getting a hard pass if a day pass would get you in for two years?

This could all be irrelevant because it could just be a status (permanent, all-the-time member of the press corps as opposed to a sometimes attend, if-space-is-available person) rather than a length of time issue. Don't know enough about the mechanics/procedures for members of the WH press corps.

[Village Idiot]

6. Don't you need to be allowed into Congress as a journalist, too?

I thought that acceptance into one or more of the Houses was mandatory for a Hard Pass?

We know that Jeff/Jim had been denied Congressional Press privileges, so what gives???

[Pirate Smile]

8. Lots of questions because he got special treatment. Why? By who?

More information is needed but please, not about his sex life.

[Stephanie]

10. Here is Scotty lying about the hard pass/daily pass >>>

from this old thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Milbank thinks he saw a hard pass. Is Scotty lying about this too?
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6947877 /

Feb. 9.

OLBERMANN: Was he—it‘s been reported that he was issued daily passes rather than the proverbial hard pass, the permanent one that admitted him. Is that correct, to your knowledge?

MILBANK: Well, we don‘t know. I‘ve seen him with something that looked an awful lot like a permanent White House pass, with his face, name and organization on it. Others have seen the same thing. We don‘t know for sure. But either way, it‘s clear that Scott Mcclellan knew that it wasn‘t his real name. He had to provide his real name to get into the White House. So, here you have the press secretary to the United States, playing along addressing this guy by his pseudo name. So there was some degree of complicity, even if he was not granted, against White House rules, an actually hard past.

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http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050210-6.html#4

Q Jeff Gannon. How did he get a White House pass, or what kind of credentials did he have?

MR. McCLELLAN: Just like anyone else who comes to the White House.

Q Hard pass?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, he had never applied for a hard pass. He had a daily pass. I think he's been coming for --

Q Was he coming for --

MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on. I think he's been coming for more than two years now.

* * * * *

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, like I said -- what do I think about it? Well, let me explain a few things. First, as the press secretary, I don't think it's the role of the Press Secretary to get into picking or choosing who gets press credentials. Also, I don't think it's the role of the Press Secretary to get into being a media critic, and I think there are very good reasons for that. I've never inserted myself into the process. He, like anyone else, showed that he was representing a news organization that published regularly, and so he was cleared two years ago to receive daily passes, just like many others are. The issue comes up -- it becomes, in this day and age, when you have a changing media, it's not an easy issue to decide or try to pick and choose who is a journalist. And there -- it gets into the issue of advocacy journalism. Where do you draw the line? There are a number of people who cross that line in the briefing room.

* * * * *
Q But just to make it clear, the only criteria, from the White House perspective is, someone can pass the Secret Service background check

MR. McCLELLAN: No, no, that's not -- first of all, I don't involve myself in that process, it's handled at a staff level. Like I said, if the White House Correspondents Association ever wants to talk about issues, I welcome that. But it becomes an issue -- it becomes an issue of where do you draw the line? Do you draw the line at advocacy journalism because there are a number of people that crossed that line, as I said? But there's hard -- there's hard passes and there's daily passes, as you are well aware. For a hard pass, you have to have a House and Senate credential, you have to regularly cover the White House, you have to apply for it, you have to go through a detailed FBI background check.

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