Ari Fleischer Tells E&P He Spoke to Gannon/Guckert's Boss

[demo dutch]

Ari Fleischer Tells E&P He Spoke to Gannon/Guckert's Boss

By Joe Strupp

Published: February 17, 2005 4:45 PM ET

NEW YORK Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was so concerned about Talon News reporter James Guckert's potential ties to the Republican Party that he stopped calling on him at press briefings for about a week in 2003, Fleischer told E&P today.

"I found out that he worked for a GOP site, and I didn't think it was my place to call on him because he worked for something that was related to the party," Fleischer said in a phone interview. "He had the editor call me and made the case that they were not related to the Republican Party. He said they used the GOP name for marketing purposes only."

He said he resumed calling on Guckert, who used the alias Jeff Gannon, after Bobby Eberle, owner of both GOPUSA and Talon News, "assured me that they were not part of the Republican Party." Eberle is a Texas Republican activist and served as a delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention.

Fleischer has not previously commented on the Gannon/Guckert affair.

"I don't think that party organizations should have people in that room acting as reporters," Fleischer said, explaining his initial concerns. "They are advocates, not reporters, and a line should be drawn." But, after speaking with Eberle and looking at Talon News, he was convinced that GOPUSA.com and Talon News were not official party sites.

"It looked like a conservative news organization," Fleischer said. "If I thought that they were part of the party, I would not have calling on them."

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http://199.249.170.220/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000807754

[blue4barb]

1. The WH spin is in high gear

as it now appears jim/jeff had a hard pass.