Trying to put a final coda on the bizarre off-the-record speech David Plouffe gave at the National Press Club Thursday, figures close to the Obama campaign manager said on Friday that it was the event sponsor who decided to keep it off-record even when pressure mounted to open it to the press.
On Thursday, a Plouffe associate pointed to an agreement made between Georgetown University and the Washington Speakers Bureau months earlier that established that the remarks would be off the record. Now a David Plouffe "representative" writes the Huffington Post to offer their interpretation of what happened:
"Georgetown University and Washington Speakers Bureau, David Plouffe's speaking agency, entered into an agreement on December 18 for Mr. Plouffe to speak to the Georgetown community. There was no discussion about Politico or any other media entity being involved. On December 18, it was mutually agreed upon these remarks would be off the record to facilitate dialogue.
Mr. Plouffe did not choose the venue for this speech, Georgetown University did, and nonetheless -- by mutual agreement with the Washington Speakers Bureau -- agreed that the speech would be off the record.
The day before Plouffe's speech, Georgetown approached WSB and said there some questions about why this session was off the record. WSB and the Georgetown official responsible for the event discussed the desire to have candid questions and discussions for the students and other attendees and the Georgetown official reiterated that the speech would remain off the record."
In the minutes leading up to Plouffe's speech, Georgetown officials insisted that it was the Obama campaign manager who wanted the event to be kept off the record. Plouffe, through it all, said he had entered an agreement to keep it closed to the media and that the decision to stick by that agreement was Georgetown's alone.
Either way, the episode underscores just how difficult it is proving for Obama associates to live up to the pledges of openness and transparency they set during the campaign, whether because the bar was set too high or individuals have failed to live up to the standards. A lesson, of course, was also learned: don't hold a off-record session at the National Press Club.