[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 23 (Thursday, March 3, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E354-E355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY REGARDING ``JEFF GANNON''

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                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 3, 2005

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I introduce this resolution to inquire 
whether the Justice and Homeland Security Departments were abused in 
favoring Mr. Guckert, a fake reporter from a fake news organization. I 
had hoped that the half dozen congressional and Senate requests for 
information would have been sufficient. However, to date, they have not 
even merited a response from the White House or its agencies.
  For nearly 3 years, the White House has been granting Mr. Guckert, a 
right-wing activist with no press credentials, access to the White 
House briefing room and presidential press conferences. This appears to 
violate long standing practices of carefully screening contacts with 
the President.

[[Page E355]]

  This special access not only raises security concerns, but calls into 
question the fundamental fairness of the White House press corps. In 
fact, the favoritism bestowed on this fake reporter may have violated 
federal law. Mr. Guckert's efforts as a mouthpiece for the White House 
likely violated statutes banning the Administration from using 
appropriated money for propaganda purposes.
  Finally, Mr. Guckert has claimed that he had access to a classified 
Central Intelligence Agency document that revealed the undercover 
status of Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife. It's now been over a year 
and a half since Valerie Plame was maliciously outed, and we appear to 
be no closer to finding out who in the Administration played with her 
life for political purposes. I hope this resolution may shed some light 
on whether Mr. Guckert, the White House's go-to propagandist, also 
received classified information and from who.

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