Monday, Daily Mail designated print pool reporter, David Martosko, was denied access to a Hillary Clinton campaign event in New Hampshire.
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.
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.
Hillary’s campaign was then forced to make an official statement:
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:
And so Hillary’s trouble with the press continues, though completely by her choosing.
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