Due to the successful application of a
Freedom of Information Act request by two US Congressmen, the entry/exit logs to the White House have
been opened & made public for the controversial Jeff Gannon/Jim Guckert.
The information, provided by the Secret Service, shows that Guckert did indeed apply under his real name. But, they also show, on numerous occasions,
that Guckert was at the White House
when there was no press conference and that he sometimes signed in ( entry time logged) without ever
signing out ( no exit time logged).
rawstory.com
Gannon’s ready access to President Bush and his work for a news agency that frequently plagiarized content from other reporters and tailored it to
serve a conservative message may raise new questions about the White House’s attempts to seed favorable news coverage. Democrats have sought to
paint Guckert in the context of other efforts by the Administration to “plant” positive spin by paying for video news releases and columnists to
espouse their views.
Guckert made more than 200 appearances at the White House during his two-year tenure with the fledging conservative websites GOPUSA and Talon News,
attending 155 of 196 White House press briefings. He had little to no previous journalism experience, previously worked as a male escort, and was
refused a congressional press pass.
Guckert made more than two dozen excursions to the White House when there were no scheduled briefings. On many of these days, the Press Office held
press gaggles aboard Air Force One—which raises questions about what Guckert was doing at the White House. On other days, the president held photo
opportunities.
On at least fourteen occasions, Secret Service records show either the entry or exit time missing. Generally, the existing entry or exit times
correlate with press conferences; on most of these days, the records show that Guckert checked in but was never processed out. In March, 2003, Guckert
left the White House twice on days he had never checked in with the Secret Service. Over the next 22 months, Guckert failed to check out with the
Service on fourteen days. On several of these visits, Guckert either entered or exited by a different entry/exit point than his usual one. On one of
these days, no briefing was held; on another, he checked in twice but failed to check out.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
View the FOI request letters and the actual logs
Here.
This opens up more questions than it answers, all of them troubling as well as clearly conspiratorial. How does an unproven, unaccomplished
"journalist", during a time of Ascroftian uber-security, not only get access to the White House, but also be able to go unaccounted for? How does he
not set search teams afoot by not showing an exit time ( processed off the grounds ) on over a dozen occasions? How is he on the grounds,
two dozen times, when there is no scheduled press briefing?
Those regular reporters on the White House beat wonder the same:
" “I’d be worried if I was the White House and I knew that a reporter with a
day pass never left,” one White House reporter told RAW STORY. “I’d wonder, where is he hiding? It seems like a security risk.”
Others who have covered the White House say not checking in or out with the Secret Service is unusual, especially in the wake of Sept. 11. The Secret
Service declined to comment. "