By Todd Johnston
ePluribus Media
Also posted on DailyKos
To be fair, when Ronald Reagan was wounded by John Hinckley it was an unpredictable bank shot around his human shields that punctured the President’s lung. And 24 years later, no doubt, somebody in the Secret Service is pulling “ricochet duty.” Yet new documents, reported on Monday by Raw Story, reveal at least five days that James D. Guckert, a.k.a. Jeff Gannon, was inside the White House, apparently without the knowledge of the Secret Service.
The following clips, found by ePluribus Media researchers at C-Span and the White House, unmistakably capture Guckert at White House press briefings, asking questions, and being called on by name:
April 15, 2003
Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer.June 9, 2003
Press Briefing by Ari FleischerNovember 5, 2003
Press Briefing by Scott McClellanJanuary 6, 2005
Press Briefing by Scott McClellanJanuary 10, 2005
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
But Guckert never entered or exited the White House on these days, according to Secret Service “Access Control Records” released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Louise Slaughter (D-NY).
The audio and video prove he was there. By what means, however, remains unanswered by the bodyguards for the most powerful man in the world.
The FOIA documents purport to contain “computerized entry and exit logs from the White House Complex listed by name only,” and indeed, entries for a “Denise” Guckert were also reported. But this overlap suggests even more strongly that any evidence of “James D” doesn’t exist for those days, and that he was repeatedly loose in the White House without raising any red flags.
In addition to the days in question, the logs are riddled with errors, omissions, or both, including entries without exits and vice versa. Compounding matters, the FOIA exemption list claims that no records exist of “communication between the Secret Service and Mr. Guckert” as requested by Reps. Conyers and Slaughter.
Was Guckert loose in the White House? Post 9/11, the description seems apt for a man actively sought by the State of Delaware for tax evasion and advertised on the internet as a male escort: information easily uncovered by ordinary, motivated civilians.
It seems implausible, then, that the Secret Service was unaware of Guckert’s past on 04/15/03, after he had been admitted to the White House on 22 previous occasions and after Ari Fleischer was calling him “Jeff.”
And yet, only the unwavering vigilance of the video age confirms his presence. Writing as “Jeff Gannon” for Talon News — the red, white and blue Band-Aid artlessly slapped over the “G.O.P.” in GOPUSA.com — Guckert seems to have slipped in through a back door left ajar.
The other option, that somehow the agency responsible for guarding the president can’t even keep track of who’s coming and going at the White House, is even harder to reconcile.
ePluribus Media Credits
Researchers/Contributors: susie dow, silence, mkt, wanderindiana, bronxdem, cici414, avahome, NYBri, HeyTherItsEric, Donna in Rome, Jill Lehnert, BarnBabe, ricardo4, sawcielackey, Stormwatcher, kfred, SusanG, Doorguy, Cho, Sue in KY
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