christian grantham
Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later was a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD.
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February 09, 2005

Spiderleaf at DailyKos has an excellent timeline on "Jeff Gannon." John Aravosis at Americablog does a great job piecing together who "Jeff Gannon" really is here, here and here.

It's amazing how the Bush Administration managed to grant White House access to a person using a fake name and fake press credentials. In the least case, a required background check would have clearly shown "Gannon's" most recent experience in media was limited to time as a gay porn webmaster and military escort pimp.

Either White House security has experienced a serious and egregious lapse, or the White House covered for "Gannon" in exchange for his efforts through Texas-based GOPUSA's Talon News to target and discredit Joe Wilson. Wilson, as you recall, was the man at the center of intelligence refuting White House assertions that Iraq had purchased "yellow cake." The White House selectively used this known questionable intelligence, among other intelligence falsely described as definitive, to justify assertions that America would see "mushroom clouds" if Saddam Hussein's massive WMD program wasn't dismantled.

How was "Gannon" dramatically transformed into a credible conservative reporter and given access to a highly confidential intelligence memo? Was there a background check done by the White House, as is required for regular passes to the West Wing's Press Office? If not, why? If so, what did it yield? These are serious questions the White House must answer.

The White House regularly called on "Gannon" using his fake name over a matter of months, but it fits perfectly into this administration's level of regard for an independent media in America and its general treatment of the facts and those defending them leading up to war with Iraq. We now know those patriots were right, and those smearing them ultimately threatened national security with a disgraceful level of partisan chicanery and selective political subterfuge to sell a nation on war. Is it any surprise the Bush Administration found itself left with the likes of conservatives like "Jeff Gannon" to help make such a case?