Mysterious Forays

It seems Jeff Gannon/James Guckert, the partisan faux journalist who lifted words verbatim from press releases and other reporters, had the run of the White House. Raw Story has the scoop:

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...

Guckert made more than two dozen excursions to the White House when there were no scheduled briefings...

On at least fourteen occasions, Secret Service records show either the entry or exit time missing...

This information obtained through an FOIA request by Representatives Slaughter [D-MY] and Conyers [D-MI] raises serious questions:

• Holders of a temporary press pass don't undergo the stringent screening required for a hard press pass. How can someone like Gannon/Guckert whose journalism experience is next to nothing, who previously worked as a male escort and who was denied a congressional pass make such frequent, unfettered visits to the White House on a temporary pass?

• Why did the Secret Service allow someone with only a temporary pass skip the check in/check out process not once, not twice, but fourteen times? Is this evidence of lax security at the official residence of the President of the United States or did someone from the inside high enough on the totem pole waive Gannon/Guckert in?

• If Gannon/Guckert was waived in, why and by whom?

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