Gothamist: Press Aides Gone Wild!

Mikel Toscano

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:43:46 -0500

London-born rapper Sway is to be honoured at the BET Hip-Hop awards in the US...

jrock

Wed, 19 May 2004 11:27:49 -0500

I remember Emily Miller from when I used to work on Capitol Hill and she worked for DeLay. This is totally in line with her behavior. If you don't believe it, read this excerpt from the Washington Post's May 13, 2001 story, "Absolute Truth" by Peter Perl in the Sunday Magazine. Perl had just asked DeLay's relatives about a long-ago decision to cut off contact with them. "The next evening, I got a phone call at home from DeLay's press secretary, Emily Miller, who burst into a scathing tirade. 'You lied! . . . You betrayed him! You twisted his words! . . . We don't know you. You don't exist . . . You are dead to us . . .' I grabbed for a pencil to take notes, but she was speaking faster than I could transcribe. I was being shunned and cut off, with a sort of biblical finality. It was also the only time that Miller neglected to specify that her comments were for my background information, not for publication." Secretary Powell, fire that ho!!!

stalcup

Wed, 19 May 2004 02:14:37 -0500

Watch the video of Powell's off-camera moments here: http://www.cnnexposed.com/mtp.php Incredibly, this segment has now been edited out of MSNBC.com's Internet videos. From cnnEXPOSED.com: Slant Index: 4 (vote) Video of Powell's Meet the Press Blunder MSNBC.com's copy of the AP's story on a stunning moment during the May 16, 2004 "Meet the Press" (MTP) broadcast receives a slant rating of 4 because, the moment, upon which the story was based, was edited out of MSNBC's own Internet video segments. The strange segment did air, however, during the May 16, 2004 television broadcast. Find video here: http://www.cnnexposed.com/mtp.php

stereogum

Mon, 17 May 2004 18:24:12 -0500

Hi-larious.

franklin

Mon, 17 May 2004 15:21:18 -0500

This morning on WNYC, Brian (host) played a clip of Russert being interviewed on Friday. Tim was apparently slightly late for it and during the first few minutes a distinct beep was sounding frequently until Lerher commented on it and refused to proceed until it stopped. Russert seemed nonplussed by it. It stopped immediately. At the end, Russert's P.R. interrupted the interview to let Lerher know he had 8 seconds left of his allotted 10 minutes! Of course, Brian then played the clip of Russert chastising Powell's interruption. :)

RIck

Mon, 17 May 2004 15:20:10 -0500

What this illustrates to me is that the White House has Powell on such a short leash, and that he has no real power in the administration (as was expected).

aziz

Mon, 17 May 2004 15:14:01 -0500

What was hilarious was later on when Russert asked McCain about him running as Kerry's VP he said something like "Uh, can we cut the camera away to a palm tree please?" It was hilarious.

james

Mon, 17 May 2004 13:51:34 -0500

A press person does not interfere with the Secretary of State, which is why Powell promptly stepped in and finished the interview. But I'm sure "Emily" was acting under the direct orders of W. Rumsfeld was actually going to go over to Iraq a week earlier, but his shoeshine guy wouldn't let him out of the house.

Ron Mwangaguhunga

Mon, 17 May 2004 13:33:04 -0500

since when does a press person interfere with an interview between the NBC Washington Correspondent and the Secretary of State? Emily has power issues: http://ronmwangaguhunga.blogspot.com/2004/05/meet-press-cue-to-dead-sea-dead-air-or.html

jen h.

Mon, 17 May 2004 13:21:35 -0500

What's just as interesting is how Powell is becoming more and more talkative -- and distancing himself more and more from this administration. First his part in the Woodward book (he's the unnamed source for most of the juicy details); then his GQ interview (in which he allowed his aides and associates to badmouth the administration); then his on-the-record quotes in the Baltimore Sun, stating that he, Rumsfeld, and Rice kept Bush well-informed about the Red Cross human rights abuse allegations from the get-go (directly contradicting Rumsfeld's recent testimony that Bush knew nothing until those Abu Ghraib photos surfaced). And now Meet the Press.

Hoyt Pollard

Mon, 17 May 2004 13:19:14 -0500

Before her State Dept. gig, Emily Miller was a spokesperson for Tom Delay. That explains a lot.

R.

Mon, 17 May 2004 13:07:10 -0500

Apparently you can see the video clip here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/ (Though I can't verify this because MSNBC doesn't support streaming video for Macs)

flack malfunction

Mon, 17 May 2004 12:48:12 -0500

I'd like to hear the news camera operator's account of what happened. Can you imagine if some asshole publicist shoved you and your camera off your subject during a taping? It's suddenly Celebrities Uncensored tactics on the major news networks thanks to the State Department! If Powell doesn't fire Ms. Miller he'll look like a pushover in the eyes of the news media. His diplomacy and attempts at coalition building are already maligned as indecisive by the blood-thirsty hawks he works with. Now his press flack is unplugging NBC and calling the shots on camera? Embarrassing!

Jen

Mon, 17 May 2004 12:17:08 -0500

I think it makes the Bush administration look worse because it shows that the employees are not interested in giving their bosses time to speak to the public. Yes, Powell did come back to answer the question, but the fact that the press aide thought that pushing the camera out of the way (versus communicating with a producer), during an interview with Meet the Press, shows a lot of arrogance in my opinion. Also, the "strong-arm media tactics" bit was supposed to be a little sarcastic, while a reference to the way the press secretary manages the press corps.

james

Mon, 17 May 2004 12:06:04 -0500

How exactly does this make the Bush administration look worse? It makes an overzealous press aid look ridiculous. But Powell came back and answered the questions. In fact, he never tried to stop the interview. Let's be fair - this can hardly be considered "strong-arm media tactics."

jake

Mon, 17 May 2004 11:09:47 -0500

i was watching when it first aired, and i've never seen anything so weird in my entire life. at first, i thought someone had tripped and hit the camera or something- but a press aid moving the camera? that's just insane. it makes the bush administration look even worse than it is. and of course, that girl should be fired.

Keith

Mon, 17 May 2004 10:46:28 -0500

Link to the video here. http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/002135.php#002135