ABC's George Stephanopoulos Denies Having Conference Calls with White House Staff

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I met up with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos at the National Capital chapter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals’ Annual Professional Night this evening and asked if he had strategy session conference calls with aides in the White House as reported by Politico’s John F. Harris

 Politico's Michael Calderone recently reported that Kerry Smith, ABC News Sr.VP for editorial quality, wrote  that Stephanopoulos "speaks to Mr. Emanuel, a friend he has known for nearly two decades, as a source, just as he speaks to countless sources across the political spectrum each and every day. That is his job as an anchor and reporter and one that he does according to the highest standards."

Stephanopoulos seemed adamant that the conference calls between himself and White House aides have never happened. The video transcript of the exchange is below. Video

STEPHANOPOULOS: There are no strategy sessions at the White House.  None at all. Never had one.  Not once.

PICKET: So you haven’t called up Mr. Emanuel or Mr. Begala?

STEPHANOPOULOS: No conference calls never--not once...ever.

Stephanopoulos could very well be playing with semantics, but even his casual communications, as clarified by ABC's Smith, with high ranking White House personnel is not something one should feel comfortable with. So what's really going on here? From the side of the aisle that wants a truth commission and transparency in government, this is neither truthful nor transparent.

Cross Posted at Picketlines.org


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George is fair

George plays it right down the middle. No bias there. LMAO!!!!

Strategy Session. That depends on what the word is is?

Sounds like more Clintonian hairsplitting.

Unfair

Now I think we are being a little unfair to old George here. We need to rephrase the question for him in a language that he is used to and then he can answer accordingly:

Method #1 - George, old boy, have you EVER had "Conversational Relations" with these boys? Then old George can point a boney old finger at the camera and reply, "Let me make this clear. I have never had "Conversational Relations" with these boys, not once".

Method #2 - Goerge, old Boy, IS you having conference calls with these boys? Then old George can answer, "Now that depends upon what the meaning of the word IS, IS!!!!!!!!!!!

That should put old George back in his comfort zone. Lets be fair.

spin city

PICKET: So you haven’t called up Mr. Emanuel or Mr. Begala?

STEPHANOPOULOS: No conference calls never--not once...ever.

Notice how George did not answer the question. 

 

But one to one's, individual calls...

Yeah. sure.

"No conference calls"

Stephie might as well have said "We call 'em pajama parties.  'Conference call' sounds too masculine."

And so it goes

And so it goes. At this point, Mr. Stephanopoulos will begin to feel the daily pressure of having to explain himself. I do not know whether the story is true or not. In todays world it does not seem to matter. Mr. Stephanopoulos once worked for the Clinton Administration and was sure to have been privy to the character destruction that was the favorite weapon of Mr. and Mrs Clinton. He will feel the results, even if innocent, of questions being repeatedly asked and the allegations that are implied. I hope that somebody in the press keeps up the pressure if only to teach all the MSM a lesson. There is real damage done when reporters ask questions.

If indeed Mr. Stephanopoulos has been taking part in these calls, whether they are just daily calls between friends or they prove to be of a more political nature he will have lied directly. I hope that somehow someone can get phone records under the freedom of information act and can get to the bottom of this. It is more than unseemly if it is true and the investigation should continue.

Highest standards?

That is his job as an anchor and reporter and one that he does according to the highest standards."

What standards are those?  I'm not aware of any standards for journalists...none that they actually practice anyway.

Happy Trails...

Rich.. seems that George S

Rich.. seems that George S is turning into Bill Moyers. Moyers, the foul, dirty trickster and WH spokesperson in the LBJ administration who later became a leftist "commentator" on TV.

That's the exact career path of Stephie. Doesn't look good for Georgie now that his secret life of being Obama's puppet is fully revealed.

Will be fun to watch him refute it and do his little denial dance.

The Government cannot give to anybody anything which the government does not first take from somebody else.

Dr. Adrian Rogers

the meaning of is is

No conference calls huh.  How bout a direct one on one call.  No? Speaker phone? Collect call? Cell phone? Blackberry? Two cups with a string?  If you want a direct answer from these guys you need a lawyer to ask the questions. They use words like Rembrant used paint.

Denial

Who was that fella now? Oh yeh; Baghdad Bob, that was it!

BUSTED!

Steffi!

You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but you can't fool THE REST of US!

 

Keep in mind that this comment comes from a Clintonista. Just what is the definition of "is".

 Edit:

Tidy, Clear minds think along similar lines.

is is is

Listening to the left is like watching Sci-Fi. You must be able to willingly suspend your disbelief!

Exactly

I was startled when this story first arrived but not totally surprized. I have felt that the large numbers of Clintonistas in the Obama administration and the connections to the media could lend themselves to just such a coordinated effort.

It seemed awfully coincidental that the O's campaign flew in under the radar so effectively. This couldn't have happened unless there were partisans directing the landing. I wouldn't be surprized to find that this sort of coordination has been going on for the last 2 years.

Northcoaster...this is

Northcoaster...this is really intriguing politics.

The Obama White House is populated by not one, but two, political crime families--the Chicago creeps Obama brought with him, and the Clinton retreads.

You have to believe there will eventually be a huge war between both families as they compete for power, prestige, influence, all the nonsense politicians live for.

Tyrannies sow the seeds of their own destruction. Every time.

The Government cannot give to anybody anything which the government does not first take from somebody else.

Dr. Adrian Rogers

"Highest standards" and with

"Highest standards" and with a straight face?? Bwahahahahaha

Wait for the response...

Re-read Harris's original piece (linked above), it says this:

"Carville calls White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel calls ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent George Stephanopoulos. A bit later, CNN commentator Paul Begala, who is not quite the early bird that his friends are, will complete the circle with a rapid set of calls to all three."

So in Clintonian fashion, Stephie is truthful when he says 'no conference call', and 'no I didn't call so and so'. It's a daisy chain of calls where you put one party on hold, bring on another, and then release hold and link them.

And another quote: "Different versions of this round-robin chatter have been taking place, with few interruptions, every workday for nearly a generation."

Twenty years or so; that's pretty definitive. The credibility of Politico's John Harris has been directly challenged, and I'm sure he will respond. Watch for it!

Begala was questioned about

Begala was questioned about this too on Anderson Cooper I think it was, I wasn't paying that much attention to who was doing the interview as I was in the kitchen listening...and he hemmed and hawed all about this too, one of the few times with a sillier grin on his face than he usually has when I came back out and caught some of this...yes, this is getting very interesting indeed...

One thing about it all...they will stay protected, just go about a different way to communicate same daily messages.

Saw The Forehead too...

BT...saw Begala on AC360 last night.  In between vomiting over his odd appearance and his ultra left wing philosophy, I was actually amazed that Cooper asked him about the daily strategy calls with Gibbs.  Even a loon like Begala couldn't deny them.  He absolutely did not deny that these calls were occurring.  By doing this, he exposed Steffi as a complete liar.  Thank you Oh Great Forehead for diming out one of your Biased Brethern.

 PAC

That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends,
it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new government...

Same person

Has anyone ever seen Begala and the comic strip character "Tweetie Bird" together in the same place at the same time? HMMMMMM!!!!!

BS

Bleeping BS.....so tired of what's going on. It's crazy....we're weeks if not months from a tea party so much bigger and more necessary than ever before.

Notice how George's response doesn't refute the fact he talks to the White House daily.....just that he talks to many new sources daily....B freaking S.  I'm an independent, and wish at this point that Obama patterned his economics after Clinton....he at least understood and stoked the fire of capitalism.

BS

Bleeping BS.....so tired of what's going on. It's crazy....we're weeks if not months from a tea party so much bigger and more necessary than ever before.

Notice how George's response doesn't refute the fact he talks to the White House daily.....just that he talks to many new sources daily....B freaking S.  I'm an independent, and wish at this point that Obama patterned his economics after Clinton....he at least understood and stoked the fire of capitalism.

BS

Bleeping BS.....so tired of what's going on. It's crazy....we're weeks if not months away from a tea party so much bigger and more necessary than ever before.

Notice how George's response doesn't refute the fact he talks to the White House daily.....just that he talks to many new sources daily....B freaking S.  I'm an independent, and wish at this point that Obama patterned his economics after Clinton....he at least understood and stoked the fire of capitalism.

HEY

  I have a reputation to hold on to here, and if you are trying to beat it, you have 35 more posts just to TIE. 

SSS strikes again!

Sorry

I'm traveling at the Edon Roc hotel in Miami Beach for a business meeting and had a few shots....that plus the WIFI connection is, as Charles Barkley would say "just terrible"...and I hit send a few times....sorry folks.

  I blamed mine on my

  I blamed mine on my drunken computer.  (That I sent to rehab and replaced with my son's old computer).  I don't think anyone but me notices the double posts anymore.  I only notice because mine was HUGE!

Good stuff

3 is my max thus far.  Funny stuff.

But honestly, what damn country is this.  I'm a Romney guy, also liked Clinton fiscally, but voted for McCain and thought, well, ok, Obama seems to be going to the center....NOT!  Then with the so-called stimulus 'spending bill' I thought Pelosi ran wild with the social stuff without Obama's input....WRONG!  Then came the proof in his 3.7T...yes that's a T for Trillion budget...all deficit spending and debt spending owed to China for his Eurpoean social projects (welfare, healthcare, energy, or lack thereof)....he's a Eurpoean Socialist people..wake up!  Even France is saying what the heck are you doing???  Sarkozy is a capitalist and righted their 17% unemployment organized labor ship!  If Obama really wants to follow the EU lead, then we're several months from a much smaller GDP, deflated currenty, inflation, staflation rather, and riots in the streets and burning cars due to unemployment in the teens!  Obviously I hope I'm wrong, but we've seen this template before, and it doesn't work folks!  Capital Investment is saying NO THANK YOU as the market drops 20,30+% since inauguration. Why would anyone invest in an economy strangled and punished by gov't...it's precisely why the US grew int he 80's-90's. 

→ flip-flop

Isn't it embarrassing to admit the President of France is more capitalist than the American President?

But Obama's wife is way hotter than Sarkozy's, right?

And it don't rain in Indianapolis. 

We won the cold war!  Why did we surrender?

The Eden Roc?

Why don't you swing by the Fontainbleu and moon the Union thugs for us?

 

I hope he fails, too.

 

 

Multiple Posts are just evidence of a superior brain

Multiple Posts are just evidence of a superior brain and that the superior message needs as many posting as possible

"America is on the Short Bus to Socialism"

THE MEDIA DIED...

Hannity was spot on about the media dying. In the case of ABC, they died when Peter Jennings died.

The last bit of journalism at NBC was in the form of Tim Russert. At least he tried to be fair, & he was a likable guy. The NBCnews family has nobody I would want to end up paired with on the golf course.

CBS, has never been fair, between Uncle Walter & Dan Rather, I could care less about them.

As for CNN, Bernie Shaw retired after the 2000 election, & also got rid of "Crossfire", they have been an also-ran ever since.

 

"The Fairness Doctrine = Jim Crow laws for Conservatives".  Jim Quinn from "Quinn & Rose"

No, Earlier Than That

That was only 4 years ago. I date the demise of ABC to 2003, when David Brinkley left the building.

Remember David's classic remark in 1996 on Election Night re: Bill Clinton's re-election?

His answer was, "The next four years will be filled with pretty words, and pretty music, and a lot of goddamn nonsense!" One of his team pointed out that they were still on the air. Brinkley said, "Really? Well, I'm leaving anyway!"

George is a confirmed liar

Way back when Clinton was elected I was a middle aged, not very well read liberal.  Based on the movie War Room I admired George S.  But early in Clinton's administration George and a few other young Turks were called before a congressional committee.  I was very disappointed and angry as I watched him testify about some then recent event.  Time after time as he was asked direct questions about what had happened he repeatedly replied that he had no recollection.  He, of course, was lying. He was telling bald faced lies to save himself and his boss a few minor hassles.  The man has no respect for truth or decency.  There is never any reason to believe a thing he says unless some acceptable external source supports his account.  The low cur will lie at the drop of a hat.

As my old granny

used to say, "That damn boy would climb a tree to tell a lie rather than stay on the ground and tell the truth!"

Conference Call Semantics

Technically speaking, George Stephanopoulos is correct. A conference call, according to the Wikipedia definition is where the original caller can hear everyone else in the group but he is the only one who has audio input. What Stephanopouos probably participated in (according to reports of the "conference calls") was really "group calls." According to Wikipedia, group calls also involve multiple parties but ALL can participate with their audio inputs. 

So, yeah, Stephanopoulos was technically correct but he knew EXACTLY what you were talking about, Kerry. In fact, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he also looked up the "conference call" definition in Wikipedia in order to wiggle out of giving a direct answer via semantics.

No doubt about it.  I

No doubt about it.  I remember when he called the Clinton tax increases "contributions".

STEPHANOPOULOS

George's reply sounds a little bit too familiar to me. He says that there have been no conference calls. He's answering the question as asked. That doesn't mean that there haven't been individual calls or any type of contact with Carville, Begala, and the rest of these Clinton lowlifes, regarding "strategy". Before this is over, the current White House will set new lows in conduct. It's only been 6 weeks.....but the handwriting is on the wall. These people are reprehensible. That's what happens when you get PR types to run a campaign and subsequently a White House.

The munchkin has never

The munchkin has never stooped being a public relations officer for the left.  The only thing that changed was which leftists are signing his paycheck.

Of course they aren't conference calls. They are one on one

This guy was the chief liar for the Clintonistas for YEARS, yet we are somehow supposed to believe he is an "objective" journalist.

Right.

-Dave

Our clueless political leaders are about to drive us all over a cliff. The time to HITM is now-before we go over.

Weisel

 

Notice he said "No conference calls never--not once...ever" Has anyone ask him about one-on-one calls?