Hillary campaign can’t decide why they denied Daily Mail pool reporter access to NH event
Hillary’s trouble with the press: Part 2,876
Monday, Daily Mail designated print pool reporter, David Martosko, was denied access to a Hillary Clinton campaign event in New Hampshire.
@mikememoli that is correct. I'm driving myself to Rochester NH anyway.
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) June 15, 2015
@AnnieLinskey @HillaryClinton those of you with my number… Feel free to call for more info
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) June 15, 2015
Martosko pushed Clinton aid Nick Merrill for answers. Merrill responded, but gave, “varied and contradictory reasons,” according to the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail reports:
First he confirmed that the concern had to do with the Daily Mail’s status as foreign press, saying; ‘We’ve been getting a lot of blowback from foreign outlets that want to be part of the pool and we need to rethink it all, maybe for a day, and just cool things off until we can have a discussion.’
Martosko then informed Merrill that the Guardian is part of the pool, and that the pool does not discriminate on the basis of media ownership.
@AnnieLinskey @HillaryClinton also ironic given that the Guardian has already filed pool reports
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) June 15, 2015
AWKWARD. So then Merrill changed his story:
Merrill said that the campaign’s position is that the Daily Mail does not qualify because it has not yet been added to the White House’s regular print pool – something Martosko informed him was a timing issue, not a White House choice, since Francesca Chambers, the Mail’s White House correspondent, has been vetted and has a hard pass.
‘We’re just trying to follow the same process and system the White House has,’ said Merrill.
Merrill then insisted that the decision had ‘nothing to do’ with the campaign considering the Daily Mail foreign press.
‘We don’t consider you foreign press,’ he said.
Merill then added; ‘This isn’t about you. It’s about a larger…’ and did not continue his sentence.Merrill later insisted that his reasons were not based on the foreign-press question, but that the campaign simply wanted a day to ‘have a conversation’ about how to proceed.
‘We’re going to make the decision,’ he said, referring to choosing whether to give access to the designated print pooler.
Martosko pointed out to Merrill that he seemed to be contradicting himself, noting the murky situation of foreign ownership interests in several outlets in the pool, at which point Merrill reiterated that the campaign could choose to decline pool coverage, and claimed that ‘it’s my understanding that the pool wasn’t sending a reporter today.’
Martosko informed Merrill at that point that ‘the pool sent me and I’m here,’ and that the pool would show up at all the events today whether or not the campaign chose to grant access, and would request access each time.
The pool had been formed at the request of the Clinton campaign, with one reporter, photographer and videographer traveling with the presidential hopeful each day.The pool works by correspondents choosing a rotation of reporters, and the campaign is not supposed to interfere with who is chosen or have a say as to who will travel for the day.
As if Hillary’s campaign denying a designated pool reporter access isn’t bad bull enough, when Martosko asked to use the YMCA facilities, the attending Secret Service agent suggested he take care of business in the woods.
Latest @HillaryClinton development: Sec. Service agent won't let me into the YMCA venue to go to the bathroom, says "Hit the woods."
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) June 15, 2015
For those of you asking: What I've seen online re: today is accurate, and I intend to report here whether they want me to or not.
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) June 15, 2015
@TheDCVince Too late
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) June 15, 2015
Hillary’s campaign was then forced to make an official statement:
Clinton camp statement on Daily Mail's @dmartosko denied access as pool reporter for event: cc @anitakumar01 pic.twitter.com/aOGAar1vVu
— Michael Calderone (@mlcalderone) June 15, 2015
Not to get all Alex Jones, but it’s more than a little interesting that Martosko (a great reporter, btw) tweeted this Friday and was suddenly (and without cohesive explanation) banished from the Clinton’s magic kingdom the following Monday:
It's truly astonishing how many journalists at the @Hillaryclinton speech today reported exactly, and only, what the campaign wanted them to
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) June 14, 2015
And so Hillary’s trouble with the press continues, though completely by her choosing.
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Comments
Sec. Service agent won’t let me into the YMCA venue to go to the bathroom, says “Hit the woods.”
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So. Does a credentialed shore-nuff pool reporter piss in teh woods…on orders from teh Secret Swerve-ice?
Apparently.
Remember…THIS Hellary IS THE Hellary. There isn’t any other.
The Secret Service is never noted for their cheery mood and they have no sense of humor at all. But the Hillary detail may be especially surly: assignment to her is considered punishment, the worst duty available, because she treats agents like servants and expects them to wait on her hand and foot instead of just doing their jobs.
As Capt. Ramus of “Hunt For Red October” observed…
“That could be useful when the time comes….”
Bad optics on the hillary’s outfit in the picture. First, it’s blue and second, those things on it look like stylized… well, use your imagination.
Ya sayin’ the “Dead Broke” Hillary is borrowing 2nd hand from Monica???????
Semen? Look at those tails swim!
What difference does it make?
George Soros will be counting the votes.
Ya mean “stealing” the votes once again?
He sure learned good from his Nazi benefactors, no?
“And so Hillary’s trouble with the press continues, though completely by her choosing.”
Trouble? How so? Her campaign is controlling the media, in part by not giving access to any reporter not already on the Democrat team. Blowback will come only from those who wouldn’t vote for her anyway. She controls the media and there will be no meaningful blowback. They’ll take that kind of ‘trouble’ all day long.
Did anyone hear Hillary’s senior spokesperson on Sunday? The spokesperson was questioned by Chris Wallace.
The spokesperson talked around Wallace’s questions and said absolutely nothing of import.
As a senior spokesperson for the UpHillary campaign she is as oblique as Hillary’s private and non-compliant server.
This election will be so painful to watch.
The GOP will make it feel like I am watching the Chicago Bulls play a middle school girls JV basketball team and intentionally losing.
Because yes- Hillary is politically performing worse than a JV girls middle school team.
I’ve read enough Daily Mail stuff to understand what the real problem is.
The Daily Mail does not kiss rings. Furthermore, when you compare it to the Guardian, it’s probably considered some sort of wildly right-wing cesspool (by British standards).
Also, MUUUUURDOCH!
I bet it was punishment for that tweet exposing the press corps’ obsequious catering to Hillary’s demands. She doesn’t like to be questioned.
You think Obama is petty and vindictive? He is, of course, but his is a meanness born of pique, he lashes out when crossed like a spoiled brat. Hillary, OTOH, is evil and revenge-minded to the core, she embodies what Talleyrand (or was it François Dumouriex?) said of the Bourbons when they regained the throne: “They had learned nothing, and forgotten nothing.”
Fortunately for us, she’s a moron, and about to get humiliated once again.