/Standard Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained new documents from the United States Air Force detailing the decision to retract an invitation to Family Research Council (FRC) President and Marine Corps veteran Tony Perkins to serve as a guest speaker for a prayer breakfast held in February at Andrews Air Force Base. According to the documents, obtained pursuant to Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, Air Force officials were concerned about FRC statements opposing President Obama's policies.
The following is an excerpt from a January 29, 2010, Air Force email included among the documents:
"General [REDACTED] came by a few moments ago and asked me to go to www.frc.org. That is the website for Mr. Tony Perkins who is to speak at the National Prayer Luncheon on 25 February 2010. The webpage has numerous Obama issues to which the organization is opposed. The organization can oppose initiatives, but the Command-in-Chief is named."
"CONCERN: Suppose the media gets a hold of this story."
On October 2, 2009, a Chaplain for the Air Force extended an invitation to Mr. Perkins to serve as the keynote speaker at the 2010 National Prayer Luncheon scheduled for February 25, 2010, at Andrews Air Force Base: "Sir, it would be a great honor for our community if you would accept our humble invitation and share with us some of the basic principles that have guided you along the way," the Chaplain wrote.
However, in a letter dated January 29, 2010, the Air Force rescinded the invitation. The letter cited Family Research Council website statements calling them "incompatible in our role as military members who serve our elected officials and our commander in chief."
"It seems like this administration's enemies list just gets longer and longer. Mr. Perkins is not only a respected national leader who has held public office but he is also a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. I find it unconscionable that the Air Force would ban Mr. Perkins from speaking to a prayer luncheon on a military base due to his organization's opposition to some of President Obama's 'issues,'" stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
"This new scandal is bound to outrage many Americans and it raises additional questions about the Obama administration's commitment to the First Amendment."
Visit www.JudicialWatch.org to access the Air Force records obtained by Judicial Watch.
Showing posts with label scandal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scandal. Show all posts
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Media Analyst: White House Cover-Up of Salahi Gate-Crashing Demands an Investigative Press
/PRNewswire/ -- Accuracy in Media analyst Roger Aronoff, in a special report on the White House "GateCrashers" scandal, faulted the Obama administration for refusing to allow White House social secretary Desiree Rogers and other staffers to testify before the Homeland Security Committee. He called on the national media to further investigate what White House officials might be trying to hide.
"One thing is certain: As Obama works feverishly to pass health care legislation, the White House doesn't want a growing scandal involving the President's staff to occupy the attention of the media and Congress. The Democrats who control Congress can be expected to fall into line. These are times that demand an investigative press unwilling to play lap dog to the White House," Aronoff wrote.
Aronoff gave credit to some members of the national press, who have generally been supportive of President Obama, for speaking out on the White House's lack of transparency. They include CNN's Anderson Cooper, David Gergen and Ed Henry, and The Chicago Tribune editorial board.
On the other hand, he pointed out that NBC's Matt Lauer failed to disclose a conflict of interest when he interviewed Tareq and Michaele Salahi on The Today Show. Though the Salahis stated on the air that they were not paid in any way for the NBC interview, in fact they were under contract with Bravo, a subsidiary of NBC Universal, which prevented them from appearing on other shows.
Though Aronoff expected most Democrats in Congress to fall in line with the administration, he did recognize Reps. Chris Carney (D-PA) and Al Green (D-TX) for asking tough questions and calling for transparency from the White House.
The report is available here: What is White House Covering Up in "GateCrashers" Scandal?
Accuracy in Media is a citizens' media watchdog organization whose mission is to promote fairness, balance, and accuracy in news reporting. Founded in 1969, AIM is the oldest non-profit press watchdog group in America. For more information, please visit www.aim.org.
-----
www.politicalpotluck.com
Political News You Can Use
"One thing is certain: As Obama works feverishly to pass health care legislation, the White House doesn't want a growing scandal involving the President's staff to occupy the attention of the media and Congress. The Democrats who control Congress can be expected to fall into line. These are times that demand an investigative press unwilling to play lap dog to the White House," Aronoff wrote.
Aronoff gave credit to some members of the national press, who have generally been supportive of President Obama, for speaking out on the White House's lack of transparency. They include CNN's Anderson Cooper, David Gergen and Ed Henry, and The Chicago Tribune editorial board.
On the other hand, he pointed out that NBC's Matt Lauer failed to disclose a conflict of interest when he interviewed Tareq and Michaele Salahi on The Today Show. Though the Salahis stated on the air that they were not paid in any way for the NBC interview, in fact they were under contract with Bravo, a subsidiary of NBC Universal, which prevented them from appearing on other shows.
Though Aronoff expected most Democrats in Congress to fall in line with the administration, he did recognize Reps. Chris Carney (D-PA) and Al Green (D-TX) for asking tough questions and calling for transparency from the White House.
The report is available here: What is White House Covering Up in "GateCrashers" Scandal?
Accuracy in Media is a citizens' media watchdog organization whose mission is to promote fairness, balance, and accuracy in news reporting. Founded in 1969, AIM is the oldest non-profit press watchdog group in America. For more information, please visit www.aim.org.
-----
www.politicalpotluck.com
Political News You Can Use
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)