Gannon's Editor & Publisher interview

In Friday's Editor & Publisher article Gannon made a lot of claims in an effort to put the entire story to bed.  I know he's been all over the airwaves, but this seems to be the most complete airing of his post-quitting, pre-Americablog position I've seen in print.

We know he was being less than forthright about the extent of his involvement with the so-called "sex sites."  However, everything else does flow into a kind of narrative that could almost work.

Two of his key assertions contradict what kossacks thought we knew:

• That he had been subpoenaed and appeared before a grand jury. (Intsead he claims to have been interviewed by two FBI agents last year.)

• That Talon News existed well before he joined on.

I haven't seen any conclusive evidence that he did receive a subpoena or appear before a grand jury, just a story or two from last year saying he was a possible target - such as this one (http://www.navyseals.com/community/articles/article.cfm?id=2827).  
and the Newsday article.  

But I also haven't searched the diaries as thoroughly as I'd like.

He also claims no ties to the White House - other than going to the 2003 and 2004 Christmas Parties and sending McClellan a wedding card.

So I guess the question is - to swing this conversation back away from the escort angle - what do we know for SURE, with multiple backups, to establish the accuracy or inaccuracy or what Gannon said in E&P?  One lie about sex is not as damning as three lies about different topics.  And how does his interview compare with Scott McClellan's?  What's the likelihood that they compared notes over the weekend?

Because frankly, I don't believe Scott when he said he didn't know Jeff Gannon, had no idea that wasn't his real name, and particularly that he had no idea of Talon News's connections to the Texas GOP.  If he's telling the truth, he's an incompetent press officer.  My god, he's said in the past that he takes it upon himself to contact reporters if he sees problems with their stories.

See Low-Key Player  He has to read his own press.  He knew who and what Jeff Gannon was.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand - if anyone knows what's true and what's not about Gannon's most recent interview with E&P, let me know!

•  Subpoena claim

  I think that this is the source of the subpoena claims. James Guckert alias Jeff Gannon declined to comment in a FreeRepublic.com thread at the time.

  As to the existence of Talon, if they did exist, their web site didn't. Whois reports that the domain TalonNews.com was created on March 29, 2003. However, Guckert was writing articles for "GOPUSA news" starting in Jan. 2003, and this may have been what he was talking about.

  by silence on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 10:21:44 PM PDT

  •  that's the Newsday article

    which merely says that White House records were subpoenaed.

    "A federal grand jury has subpoenaed White House records on administration contacts with more than two dozen journalists and news media outlets in a special investigation into the improper leak of a covert CIA official's identity to columnist Robert Novak last July. They include:"

    and then at the bottom it lists Gannon.  But it doesn't say he was actually subpoenaed.

    by jakester on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 10:25:35 PM PDT

    •  That's all we really know

      We don't actually know that Guckert was subpoenaed, although his last post in the thread I linked to implied the grand jury would question him.

      by silence on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 10:37:42 PM PDT

      •  the press release said differently

        "In fact, because of his possible tie to the leak, Guckert was one of a small number to be subpoenaed to testify in the federal grand jury investigation into the matter."

        by jakester on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 10:47:20 PM PDT

        •  that is, the dkos diarists' press release

          which I can't find right this second

          by jakester on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 10:58:48 PM PDT

          •  Press release

            The press release is here, and I suspect that it is a mistake. If SusanG read just the FreeRepublic thread, it makes sense that she would have thought that a subpoena was issued to Guckert.

            by silence on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 11:12:41 PM PDT

•  asdf

  When writing my own analysis I realised that we had no firm information regarding these facts.

  The Talon site "About Us" makes no mention of when they came into existence and I did not have a source for the nature of Gannon's investigation by the CIA. I therefore made no particular claims in relation to these facts.

  It is important that all facts used are accurate even, as I believe to be so in this case, if they do not have much bearing on the issues.

  by Welshman on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 10:27:28 PM PDT

  •  it affects the direction of the inquiry

    Gannon has put together a narrative that he's hoping will nip this in the bud.  It's the difference between a compulsive liar who could well have provable links with McClellan and a male escort who thought he could get away with fooling everyone (including the White House) -- and did, for awhile.

    There's STILL a major scandal even if Guckert is essentially telling the truth (other than about sex).  Where GOPUSA got it's funding, whether Scott is incompetent or merely a liar, and of course, whether the Plame paper was leaked intentionally to Gannon.

    And I think parsing the interview will help us figure out if Gannon & McClellan specifically shaped their talking points together.

    by jakester on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 10:40:01 PM PDT

•  PlameOut

  
  It seems to me like the Gannon / Plame connection isn't amounting to much. His interview with Wilson came after the WSJ had done a feature on the leaked memo.

  That said, I'd be glad to hear about why there is fire there, not just smoke ...

  Otherwise, the basic questions of who put Gannon in business at the White House, why, and how did they know him seem the best ones to be asking.

  by Ottoe on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 11:05:42 PM PDT

•  Not difficult to deconstruct

  Gannon's E&P interview.

  On the established timeline alone that I covered from that perspective here it falls apart.

  I have more that I didn't include in that Diary but others took that apart in comment threads.

  Many things have been repeated in many of the threads as if they were facts when they have not been established (I lost count of the times I corrected people for asserting the Bobby and Bruce Eberle were brothers, but only yesterday did someone find something that stated they weren't even related even though Bruce wrote a letter suggesting that they were).  That happens when something is being looked into quickly and the data comes in at a furious pace and there are too few guardians of the solid facts who can keep correcting those who make unsupported and erroneous statements.  I know that at least some of us were aware that it had not been determined if Gannon had been subpeoned before the Plame Grand Jury before the E&P interview.

  by Marie on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 11:20:27 PM PDT

  •  thanks so much

    Thanks Marie, what you put up was what I was looking for....  Will ask a couple of questions over there & recommend!

    by jakester on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 11:29:02 PM PDT

    •  oops can't recomment

      n/t

      by jakester on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 11:29:27 PM PDT

    •  Better ask you're questions in newer

      threads because dead ones are too easily overlooked.

      by Marie on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 12:34:02 AM PDT