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James Dale Guckert (1957) worked under the Pseudonym '''Jeff Gannon''' as a White House reporter between 2003 and 2005 , representing Talon News . After Guckert came under public scrutiny, in particular for his lack of a significant journalistic background and involvement with various Homosexual Escort Service websites using the professional name '''Bulldog''', he resigned from Talon News on February 8 , 2005 . Continuing to use the name Gannon, he has since created his own official homepage and become a columnist for the '' Washington Blade '' newspaper, where he has come out, claiming to be a Bisexual . Guckert routinely obtained daily passes to White House briefings. He attended four Bush press conferences and appeared regularly at White House press briefings. . Although he did not qualify for a Congressional press pass, Guckert was given daily passes to White House press briefings "after supplying his real name, date of birth and Social Security Number ." {Link without Title} Guckert first gained national attention during a presidential press conference on January 26 , 2005 , in which he asked United States President George W. Bush a question that some in the press corps considered "so friendly it might have been planted." BACKGROUND James Guckert was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity when he attended West Chester University Of Pennsylvania in West Chester, Pennsylvania , from which he graduated in 1980. Prior to becoming a journalist working for Talon News, Guckert was involved with homosexual prostitution. In the 1990's, Gannon had previously advertised his services on the Internet as a $200/hour s of a sexual nature, including Hotmilitarystud.com and Militaryescorts4m.com. Guckert later said that he had registered the domain names for a client who ended up not using them. Many sexually explicit photos of Guckert existed online, with accompanying ads appearing to offer himself as a Gay Prostitute for clients seeking a military type. To rule out any question as to the nature of his business, Guckert advertised himself as a "top" who is "8 inches, Cut ." When these ads became public, Gannon commented that these activities were in his "past," however some noted that many of his online gay profiles were still active after he had resigned from Talon News {Link without Title} . These findings had some critics questioning Guckert's sexual orientation. Some denounced this speculation as irrelevant, but others said that it revealed Hypocrisy on the part of Guckert, his employers, the White House and/or the Republican Party . Critics noted, for instance, that Guckert made statements in articles that could be perceived as anti-gay or Homophobic . During the 2004 Election , he wrote that John Kerry "might someday be known as ‘the first gay president,’" and that Kerry had supported "the Pro-gay Agenda ." {Link without Title} CAREER AS A JOURNALIST White House press credentials Guckert first attended a White House press conference on February 28 , 2003 , and there asked a question of then White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer . At this time Guckert had never had an article published, was not associated with any kind of news organization (Talon News had not been created yet), and ads for his services as a homosexual escort were still present on several Web sites. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan later claimed that there was no breakdown in security and no one intervened on Guckert's behalf to ensure his access, despite the fact that Gannon/Guckert had been able to get a press pass for the White House using an assumed name. Guckert's response was that the Alias Jeff Gannon was a professional name used for convenience, claiming that his "real last name is hard to spell and pronounce," and that the Secret Service was aware of his identity. Journalists have pointed out that it can take weeks to get the kind of clearance Guckert received. Indeed, the ''Augusta Free Press'' reported that its acquisition of a single one-day pass was a two-week process. Furthermore, it was said that, highly unusually, Gannon was issued one-day press passes for nearly two years, avoiding the extensive background checks required for permanent passes, and sidestepping Guckert's inability to gain the necessary Congressional press pass. Guckert applied for a Congressional press pass in April 2004 but was denied one by The Standing Committee of Correspondents, a group of congressional reporters who oversee press credential distribution on Capitol Hill, on the grounds that Talon did not qualify as a legitimate and independent news service.[http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000787908 On his resume Guckert claimed to be a "graduate of the Leadership Institute Broadcast School of Journalism." However, upon examination this was found to be a two day seminar for "conservatives who want a career in journalism." Talon News Talon News is a virtual organization (with no physical office or newsroom) owned by the Web site GOPUSA. "Talon News apparently consists of little more than (Robert) Eberle, (Jeff) Gannon, and a few volunteers, and is virtually indistinguishable from GOPUSA.com," says the Media Matters For America web site {Link without Title} . Robert Eberle is the president and CEO of both GOPUSA and Talon News. This has led to charges that Talon News was created specifically to give Gannon a news organization that he could ostensibly represent, to justify his continuing to work at the White House. As of mid-February, 2005, the Talon News website had shut down for an indefinite amount of time, according to the message on that site. Extensive portions of many of the articles that were published by Talon News were copied from conservative press releases and from the mainstream press. For one story, Guckert plagiarized an entire paragraph word-for-word from an Associated Press article {Link without Title} . Controversy The controversy over Gannon's background started after President George W. Bush 's January 26 , 2005 press conference, at which Gannon asked the president the following question: :Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the U.S. economy. ( Senate Minority Leader ) Harry Reid was talking about soup lines. And ( Senator ) Hillary Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet in the same breath they say that Social Security is rock solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work – you've said you are going to reach out to these people – how are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality? Guckert's question was ridiculed on '' The Daily Show With Jon Stewart '' (which dubbed him "Chip Rightwingenstein of the Bush Agenda Gazette") and by a number of liberal Blog gers, who considered it an excessively deferential question for a reporter to ask at a presidential press conference. Some also noted that Guckert's reference to Sen. Harry Reid "talking about soup lines" was false, a canard that had apparently originated from a characterization Rush Limbaugh had made on his syndicated radio program. Limbaugh himself noted much the same. After the January 26 , 2005 press conference, scrutiny into his background by news organizations and blogs began. On February 8 , 2005 , Guckert resigned from Talon News and temporarily shut down his website www.jeffgannon.com. Guckert said he was being stalked and his family was being harassed. He has revived his website since that time. Connection to Plame investigation Guckert has been questioned by the Justice Department in relation to the department's criminal investigation into the Valerie Plame affair, in which Plame's identity as an undercover CIA operative was allegedly illegally leaked to a number of journalists and commentators by one or more senior administration officials. On October 28 , 2003 , Talon News published an interview Guckert had conducted with Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson , Plame's husband, whom the CIA had sent to Niger in 2003 to investigate claims that Iraq was attempting to procure Yellowcake Uranium . In the interview, Guckert asked Wilson about an "internal government memo prepared by U.S. intelligence personnel" that said Plame had suggested Wilson for the job. In a February 2005 interview, Guckert told CNN 's Wolf Blitzer that the FBI had spoken to him in an effort to learn who had leaked the classified memo and to whom, but that he had not been asked to appear before the Grand Jury investigating the case. Previously, Guckert had come under fire when he extensively covered the South Dakota Senate race between Tom Daschle and John Thune . Supporters of Daschle claimed he acted as a de facto member of the Thune campaign while ostensibly a journalist. Washington Blade In July 2005 , Gannon began writing for the DC-area gay publication '' Washington Blade ''. His articles included criticism of gay blogger John Aravosis , who had helped uncover Gannon's pornographic ads. ''Blade'' editor Chris Crain attracted their own criticism from many in the gay community for this decision, due to Gannon's past history of anti-gay reporting as well as Gannon's refusal to disclose his sexual orientation (he has said, “My personal life is a private matter, despite that fact that I have become a public person.”). Crain defended his decision in a September 2005 editorial {Link without Title} and claimed the "steady stream of feedback/vitriol" had declined "a little" with each new Gannon article. HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE The House Judiciary Committee voted against House resolution 136, on March 16, 2005. The 21 Committee Republicans present voted against the resolution. The 10 Committee Democrats voted for the resolution. The resolution directed the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to transmit documents in the possession of officials to the House of Representatives. These documents related to the security investigations and background checks involved in granting access to the White House of James D. Guckert (also known as Jeff Gannon). The documents were to be transmitted no later than 14 days after the date of the adoption of the resolution. The resolution requested information including:
Democratic Representatives John Conyers of Michigan and Louise Slaughter of New York had submitted similar requests under the Freedom Of Information Act , on February 15 , 2005. A letter dated March 7, 2005, from the Secret Service stated ,"Please be advised that our Office of Protective Operations has looked into this matter and has determined that there was no deviation from Secret Service standards and procedures as your letter suggests," wrote Secret Service Deputy Assistant Director Conrad A. Everett. The letter did not detail what the standards were. During the Committee meeting Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said Gannon had engaged in a possible "penetration of the White House." The Louise Slaughter request was answered by the Department Of Homeland Security with Secret Service records of Mr. Guckert's check in and out times at the White House [http://rawstory.rawprint.com/0405/guckert_access_a1.htm]. Reviewers of the logs pointed out the numerous times Gannon was admitted when no press conference was scheduled, as well as the numerous times he was not recorded as checking out [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/24/203357/842]. Guckert, who wants to be addressed as Jeff Gannon, wrote in his blog, "I hope this vote will put these issues to rest and allow me to return to my work as a journalist". WHITE HOUSE LOGS White House Secret Service logs of Jeff Gannon's White House entries and exits were requested and obtained by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) using the FOIA ( Freedom Of Information Act ). These logs, listing entry and exit show at least 14 times when Gannon either failed to check in (and then checked out) or checked in and failed to check out. Some critics also noted that Gannon had over 20 visits on days with no scheduled press briefing. Others pointed out that briefings often occurred despite not being scheduled. Gannon/Guckert's White House visits totalled 196 times. The first set of times for each date is Guckert's login and logout. The second set is the briefing time. "No briefing" does not necessarily mean no briefing took place, only that none was scheduled by the White House press office.
SPECULATION Missing details in the Secret Service logs lead some to speculate that Gannon stayed overnight in the White House on several occasions. Most suggested poor record-keeping was more likely to blame, as Guckert wasn't shown checking in one day and leaving another; he was often shown checking in repeatedly while never having checked out (or the converse). The following is written with no documentation included. It is essentially a conspiracy theory that while interesting, is lacking any real evidence. According to Alan Stang, Stang books.com, Guckert could possibly be Johnny Gosch , a 12-year old child kidnapped in 1982 while delivering newspapers who has not been heard from since needed . Gosch's mother called the theory "quite bizarre" but not impossible needed . Senator DeCamp [http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/10/1538670_comment.php] also wrote about this topic in his book. Given that Gannon/Guckert has a living mother, and records of graduating from high school and college, this seems implausible needed . To add to the speculation Gannon/Guckert threatened to sue occult author William H. Kennedy needed [http://www.williamhkennedy.com] who suggested that Gannon was Johnny Gosch on ''A Closer Look'' needed hosted by Michael Corbin [http://www.4acloserlook.com]. Gannon/Guckert called into the program on July 23rd, 2005 and promised to take a DNA test with Noreen Gosch to prove he is not her missing son needed . [http://www.4acloserlook.com/july2005.html] As of April 2006 Gannon has not yet provided a DNA sample fueling further speculation that he is the missing boy needed . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS AND REFERENCES
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