White House Acknowledges Officials Were Likely Invited To WaPo Salons

The White House acknowledged on Thursday that some members of the administration may have been invited to high-priced "salons" sponsored by the Washington Post and featuring corporate executives and lobbyists. But in his daily briefing with the press, spokesman Robert Gibbs said that no one, to his knowledge, had accepted the invitation and that the administration's ethics policy most likely would have prevented them from doing so.

"I think some people in the administration writ large may have been invited," Gibbs acknowledged towards the end of Thursday's briefing. "I do not believe, based on what I have been able to check, that anyone has accepted the invitation. Obviously the [White House] Counsel would have to review an invitation like this, and I think it would likely exceed what the counsel would -- the Salon that the Washington Post is offering would likely exceed what [administration] would feel in this case would be appropriate."

The admission that administration officials were likely contacted to attend the proposed Washington Post gatherings is another interesting tidbit in a story that has consumed much of the journalism and political wor.d on Thursday. Early in the morning, Politico reported that the Post was arranging a series of gatherings that would bring together newspaper officials, lobbyists, industry executives and White House officials for a price ranging from $25,000 to $250,000.

Several reporters at the paper told the Huffington Post that they were outraged by the news, having not been told in advance that management or the business side of the operation were considering the salon idea. Even if they did not partake in the events, these journalists felt that having representatives of industries and companies the paper was tasked with covering pay for access to its staff would irrevocably compromise their credibility. For the Obama White House, the association with lobbyists at these salon events would also create a host of ethical dilemmas.

The issue was made moot (at least for the time being) Thursday afternoon, when Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth canceled the planned events.

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Comments

[pakaal]

Ah, is this how it works? Since the scandal's been publicized so early, the officials hadn't said yes yet, and the White House can still spin it?

I'd sure like to know who was invited to attend, since the flyer distributed clearly said "Obama officials" would be there, as opposed to there simply being invitations "sent out" as Gibbs makes it seem.

Just wondering.

[tompoe]

Geez, Bush's utter arrogance era was sure short-lived. And worse, they have self-censored the fraud and corruption stories on the banking industry, held off tracking homelessness, food banks, shelters, main street news important to Americans, for what? Nothing? Well, what good is a Salon without administration access? Might as well cancel the whole shebang, eh?

[triplbee]

The Washington Post used to be such a great paper. This is pathetic.

[LemonMeringue]

Another newspaper loses its credibility.

So long, WaPo. Enjoy irrelevance along with the NY Times.

[RobinSeattle]

Weymouth is going full metal Palin on this one, not just lying about something embarrassing, but telling really stupid fibs in the bargain.

The best thing now that WaPo can do is call a press conference and just sit there and take all the mortifying questions and get it over with. Otherwise, they risk a steady drip drip drip of informational gonnorhea (referencing Cheech and Chong there) that only exacerbates suspicions of both how the paper is operated and just what the integrity of the information they are purveying is. I would also suggest that some sacrificial resignations are in order here, starting with Weymouth.

[wijg]

Isn't this Dana Milbank's Washington Post? Dana Milbank who implied Nico Pitney and the WH were in collusion with one another? LOL! Priceless!

[fusillijerry]

A "salon"? What do they get free haircuts or something?

[larry278]

Re: Calling off WaPo "Salons". It's about fother mucking time. The preson who had the, "Salon", idea & the suit who approved this so called promotion should be reminded that, "If at 1st you don't succeed, forget it. It was a lousy idea in the 1st place.". It would be good if the WA PO placed the reminders on 9 x 21 sturdy signs & each supervisor, manager & PR type was given the sign & encouraged to put the sign in their offices where each of them could see the sign clearly.

[Crissy Patters]

Oh, oh, just wait, P. Obama is going to be slammed because his staff "may have received an invitation to an event they didn't accept" (if it was offered) and it gets worse, the event was cancelled.
There goes POTUS not living up to his campaign promise and becoming an undercover GOP.

[01202009]

Why is Katharine Weymouth turning the Post into the Faux News of print publishing? I don't even bother with it anymore because I know it's slanted, just look at the columnists. Krauthammer? Kripes!

[Knowitall]

Don't forget George "Mr. Peepers" Will. Plus, WashPo has disappointed greatly in recent years. Their support of the Iraq war nearly made me cancel my subscription. But what do you do when there's no other game in town? The Washington Times, the Examiner and Politico are even worse.

[Knowitall]

Should note that the Examiner and Politico are distributed free in the Washington area. I think the Times is still a home delivered daily--I don't keep up with them. Can't remember when I didn't get WashPo (even in the house as a kid), but read it sometimes now and wonder why.

[Bernique]

This is shameful for the venerable, formerly trustworthy Washington Post. There needs to be another daily in D.C., one with impeccable credentials.

Not the Washington Times, not The Examiner, not sure about Politico ...

[jdw1981]

Helen Thomas pwns Ari Fleischer II (aka Robert Gibbs):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOKbL0Cuk8A

Don't look behind the curtain!!

[evekendall]

Robert Gibbs made a complete fool of himself in that press conference. He sounded just like one of Bush's press secretaries. Helen Thomas and Chip Reid did a good job.

[sparky73]

whats the big deal...the repugs are always calling for a free market so the washington post should be allowed to pay as much money as they can afford to white house insiders....If I worked at the white house making 50 grand a year as an aid and was offered that money, I would definatly go.

I think the post did nothing wrong

[miriamfl]

Isn't the Wash Post a right leaning paper? It looks fishie to me, some type of coo!

[Jeff Kreisler - Huffpost Blogger]

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