Salon: The Operative (Robert Novak)

[kskiska]

Conservative commentator Robert Novak, who has energetically promoted the bestselling book "Unfit to Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry," published an unusual addendum to his syndicated column on Sept. 6. It read: "In response to queries: My son, Alex Novak, is director of marketing for Regnery Publishing Inc., publisher of 'Unfit for Command.' He is 36 and has been employed at Regnery for six years, since receiving his MBA from the University of Maryland. He has had no connection with my reporting about 'Unfit for Command,' a bestselling book dealing with Kerry's war record whose news value is obvious. I plan to continue to pursue this story as developments warrant."

But Novak's son's employment at Regnery, revealed by the New York Times on Aug. 30, isn't Novak's only tie to the Washington publisher of conservative polemics. Novak also has a long-standing professional and personal relationship that he did not reveal -- with Regnery's owner, newsletter magnate Tom Phillips. Phillips owns Eagle Publishing, whose subsidiaries include Regnery; Human Events, a 60-year-old conservative newsweekly; and the Evans-Novak Political Report, Novak's subscription-based newsletter ($297 a year). In addition, Novak is an unpaid member of the board of Phillips' private foundation, the Phillips Foundation, which awards journalism fellowships to young conservatives.

At Morton's Steakhouse in downtown Washington on Sept. 21, Robert and Alex Novak joined Phillips and several dozen other cogs in the right-wing propaganda machine to celebrate the success of "Unfit to Command," which boasts 850,000 copies in print and sits at No. 2 on the New York Times bestseller list. ("Unfit" was knocked from the top spot recently by Kitty Kelley's exposé "The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty.")

(snip)

In a brief interview with Salon by telephone Thursday, Novak declined to comment on whether his service on the Phillips Foundation board and his personal and professional relationship with the owner of Regnery should have been disclosed in the columns he wrote promoting the Swift Boat Veterans group. "You want me to draw conclusions," he said, "and you can draw your own conclusions."

more…
http://salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/01/novak/index.html

[freetobegay]

1. And I have drawn a conclusion

You lying piece of shit!

[Maat]

2. Thanks for the link.

n/t