Reply #13: I asked this question last week WRT the LIES of Scotty McClellan >

[Stephanie]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Milbank thinks he saw a hard pass. Is Scotty lying about this too?
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6947877 /

Feb. 9.

OLBERMANN: Was he—it‘s been reported that he was issued daily passes rather than the proverbial hard pass, the permanent one that admitted him. Is that correct, to your knowledge?

MILBANK: Well, we don‘t know. I‘ve seen him with something that looked an awful lot like a permanent White House pass, with his face, name and organization on it. Others have seen the same thing. We don‘t know for sure. But either way, it‘s clear that Scott Mcclellan knew that it wasn‘t his real name. He had to provide his real name to get into the White House. So, here you have the press secretary to the United States, playing along addressing this guy by his pseudo name. So there was some degree of complicity, even if he was not granted, against White House rules, an actually hard past.

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http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050210-6.html#4

Q Jeff Gannon. How did he get a White House pass, or what kind of credentials did he have?

MR. McCLELLAN: Just like anyone else who comes to the White House.

Q Hard pass?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, he had never applied for a hard pass. He had a daily pass.I think he's been coming for --

Q Was he coming for --

MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on. I think he's been coming for more than two years now.

* * * * *

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, like I said -- what do I think about it? Well, let me explain a few things. First, as the press secretary, I don't think it's the role of the Press Secretary to get into picking or choosing who gets press credentials. Also, I don't think it's the role of the Press Secretary to get into being a media critic, and I think there are very good reasons for that. I've never inserted myself into the process. He, like anyone else, showed that he was representing a news organization that published regularly, and so he was cleared two years ago to receive daily passes, just like many others are. The issue comes up -- it becomes, in this day and age, when you have a changing media, it's not an easy issue to decide or try to pick and choose who is a journalist. And there -- it gets into the issue of advocacy journalism. Where do you draw the line? There are a number of people who cross that line in the briefing room.

* * * * *
Q But just to make it clear, the only criteria, from the White House perspective is, someone can pass the Secret Service background check

MR. McCLELLAN: No, no, that's not -- first of all, I don't involve myself in that process, it's handled at a staff level. Like I said, if the White House Correspondents Association ever wants to talk about issues, I welcome that. But it becomes an issue -- it becomes an issue of where do you draw the line? Do you draw the line at advocacy journalism because there are a number of people that crossed that line, as I said? But there's hard -- there's hard passes and there's daily passes, as you are well aware. For a hard pass, you have to have a House and Senate credential, you have to regularly cover the White House, you have to apply for it, you have to go through a detailed FBI background check.

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