Blitzer interviewed Domenici, but failed to ask about attorney firings

[NNN0LHI]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200707120012?f=h_latest

On the July 11 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer hosted Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) to discuss the Senate debate on the Iraq war. But during the interview, Blitzer failed to ask Domenici about his role in the Bush administration's controversial firings of nine U.S. attorneys despite the fact that, minutes earlier, Blitzer had reported on the Senate Judiciary Committee's well-publicized hearing on the issue that day. During interviews with other prominent Republicans -- including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (TX) -- Blitzer similarly failed to ask them about relevant issues -- in Bloomberg's case, about allegations that the New York Police Department engaged in surveillance of protestors at the 2004 Republican National Convention, and in DeLay's case, his indictment on money laundering and conspiracy charges.

Prior to the November 2006 elections, Domenici phoned then-U.S. attorney for New Mexico David Iglesias to discuss the speed with which Iglesias was investigating a corruption case involving a local Democrat. Iglesias, who was fired in December 2006, alleged that Domenici tried to pressure him into filing indictments against the New Mexico Democrat. A March 5 Washington Post article reported that "{l}egal experts say it violates congressional ethics rules for a senator or House member to communicate with a federal prosecutor regarding an ongoing criminal investigation." Indeed, the Post reported on March 8 that Domenici is the subject of a preliminary Senate ethics investigation of his actions regarding Iglesias. Further, on June 21, former Deputy Attorney General Patrick McNulty said that Domenici's complaints about Iglesias played a part in Iglesias' dismissal. On July 11-- the same day Domenici appeared on The Situation Room -- former White House political director Sara Taylor testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about political influence in the firings of nine U.S. attorneys last year.

During the same hour that Blitzer aired his interview with Domenici, he reported on Taylor's testimony before the Senate, aired a clip of an exchange between Taylor and Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and went on to say, "The controversy will continue." But when interviewing Domenici, Blitzer made no mention of the senator's own alleged role in the controversy.

The interview with Domenici was at least the third time recently that Blitzer neglected to challenge a guest on a relevant topic:

[spanone]

1. Unfair and Imbalanced.

the news americans receive to make their judgements is more than pathetic, it's skewed.

[mod mom]

2. CNN=* Propaganda, as Michael Moore so aptly pointed out.

[Hubert Flottz]

3. Wolf = Tool

[givemebackmycountry]

4. Hence the Bartcop nickname -

"Wolf the Whore"