Reply #110: Democrats Call on President to Stop Covert Propaganda in U.S. Media

[sarahlee]

News From House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
H-204, The Capitol, Washington D.C. 20515

http://democraticleader.house.gov

Friday, January 7, 2005

Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616

Pelosi, Senior House Democrats Call on President to Stop Covert Propaganda in U.S. Media

WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and senior House Democrats today called on President Bush to stop the alarming use of illegal covert propaganda to promote government policy after two new accounts of such activity surfaced today. In a letter to the President, they pointed out that independent investigations have revealed the use of covert propaganda in at least three federal agencies.

"We are concerned that these three incidents, while serious and disturbing on their own, may not be isolated incidents," the lawmakers wrote to the President. "It would be abhorrent to our system of government if these incidents were part of a deliberate pattern of behavior by your Administration to deceive the public and the media in an effort to further your policy objectives."

They called on the President to "publicly renounce the use of covert propaganda to influence public opinion. And we urge you to direct your department and agency heads to immediately disclose all past and ongoing efforts to engage in covert propaganda, whether through contracts with commentators, the distribution of video news releases, or other means."

The lawmakers pointed out that "covert propaganda to influence public opinion is unethical and dangerous. It violates fundamental principles of open government. And it is illegal."

The letter was signed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the Government Reform Committee, Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Rep. David Obey (D-WI), the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the senior Democrat on the Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources Subcommittee of the Government Reform Committee.

The letter was in reaction to two reports today. USA Today disclosed that the Department of Education paid $240,000 to conservative political commentator Armstrong Williams to routinely promote the No Child Left Behind Act on his broadcast shows without revealing that he was being paid by the government to do so. Rep. Miller separately today requested that the Department's Inspector General investigate this contract with Williams.

And the Washington Post and New York Times reported today on a General Accounting Office report to Rep. Waxman and Rep. Obey that found the Office of Drug Control Policy violated the law when it used video news releases to promote an anti-marijuana message without revealing to television news viewers that the on-camera "reporter" was really an actor, not a journalist. In May, the GAO found that the Department of Health and Services also violated the law by producing and distributing similar video news releases regarding Medicare policy.

The text of the letter follows.


***
January 7, 2005


The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing about the Administration's use of taxpayer dollars to influence public opinion. Recent investigations have revealed at least three separate instances in which the Administration has used covert propaganda to shape public perceptions.

Today, USA Today reported that, "Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same." The article reported that the Department of Education paid Armstrong Williams, a conservative political commentator, $240,000 to promote the No Child Left Behind Act during his broadcast television and radio shows and to encourage other prominent black journalists to take similar actions.<1>

Yesterday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that video news releases concerning the dangers of marijuana, involving actors pretending to be reporters and distributed by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, were illegal "covert propaganda."<2>

Last May, GAO made a similar finding regarding video news releases that also involved fake reporters and were distributed by the Department of Health and Human Services in support of the Medicare Modernization Act.<3>

Covert propaganda to influence public opinion is unethical and dangerous. It violates fundamental principles of open government and it distorts the free press and the public's right to know. And it is illegal. GAO found that both sets of video news releases violated prohibitions against publicity and propaganda because they did not identify the federal government as the source of the fabricated news reports.

We are concerned that these three incidents, while serious and disturbing on their own, may not be isolated incidents but rather a deliberate pattern of behavior by your Administration to deceive the public and the media in an effort to further your policy objectives.

We ask you to publicly renounce the use of covert propaganda to influence public opinion. And in furtherance of official congressional oversight, we request that you direct all department and agency heads to immediately provide to us all past and ongoing efforts to engage in covert propaganda, whether through contracts with commentators, the distribution of video news releases, or other means.


Sincerely,

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Minority Member, Government Reform Committee
Rep. David R. Obey, Ranking Minority Member, Appropriations Committee
Rep. George Miller, Ranking Minority Member, Education and the Workforce Committee
Rep. Elijah Cummings, Ranking Minority Member, Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources Subcommittee, Government Reform Committee


<1> White House Paid Commentator to Promote Law, USA Today, (Jan. 7, 2005).

<2> U.S. Government Accountability Office, Office of National Drug Control Policy - Video News Release (Jan. 4, 2005) (GAO/B-303495).

<3> U.S. Government Accountability Office, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services - Video News Releases (May 19, 2004) (GAO/B-302710).