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White House Policy or Politics?
Published January 25, 2017
And now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...
House Call
Good government groups and some Republicans are questioning the propriety of a Democratic Party-sponsored event with Wall Street executives at the White House back in March. The administration maintains it was a meeting about the economy not a fundraiser. Critics say it may have violated the Hatch Act, the law that limits the political activity and fundraising by federal employees.
Two attendees told Politico the event was clearly related to the campaign. One said -- quote -- "It was policy-focused, but everyone knew why they were there."
Applause Line
There was an actual fundraiser last night in Washington and the White House was not laughing about an error in the transcript.
President Obama said the administration has created over 2 million private sector jobs. The original transcript noted "laughter" after that remark.
Late this afternoon, reporters received a revised transcript by e-mail. The new transcript noted "applause" instead of laughter after the line.
My Name Is...
One big challenge for the campaign of newly-minted presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is name recognition and that was painfully evident during today's kickoff event.
Some media passes distributed by Huntsman's own people had Huntsman's first name spelled incorrectly on that pass. It's J-O-N, no "H."
"Under" Fire
And finally, last night "NBC Nightly News" included the backlash over Sunday's omission of "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance during the U.S. Open golf coverage, in a story labeled "Bad Decisions," quoting from a second apology from NBC in as many days.
Reporter Mike Taibbi then went on to reference the Obama impersonator who was pulled off stage early during the Republican Leadership Conference and Jon Stewart's appearance on "Fox News Sunday."
One conservative media watchdog said NBC was -- quote -- "trying to submerge its own network's 'under God' censorship into a greater narrative."
Late today, Indiana Republican Senator Dan Coats sent a letter to NBC asking for an explanation of what happened with the Pledge.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/white-house-policy-or-politics