Reporter running around claiming that Biden staffers locked him in closet

[47of74]

This will probably be the next teabagger line of attack;

The White House website proudly says ‘President Obama is committed to creating the most open and accessible administration in American history.’

But try telling Vice President Joe Biden’s staff that, after they held a local reporter in a closet for hours after he was invited to cover a Florida political fundraiser because they did not want him talking with the guests.

As the unaware $500-a-head invitees dined on caprese crostini with oven-dried mozzarella and basil, rosemary flatbread with grapes honey and gorgonzola cheese, grilled chicken Caesar and garden vegetable wraps, veteran reporter Scott Powers was locked away.

My bullcrap detector is going off here on this story. Seems really fishy that only a couple right wing rags have picked up on this story, none of which were Faux News.

[varkam]

1. It's the Daily Mail -- even less reputable than Fox news. eom

[Historic NY]

2. How did he know what the menu was?

[ellie]

13. They yelled it through the door?

[plumbob]

3. The Orlando Sentinel online has nothing about this, and since it was

supposedly their reporter, you'd think they'd want to.

I call bullshit.

[krispos42]

4. So... reporter opens wrong door, locks himself in a closet.

Sounds like the reporter needs to carry a swiss army knife around. Or, perhaps, a cell phone to call for help!

[icnorth]

9. I thought I read this story several years ago...

[fishwax]

17. .

:rofl:

[SoCalDem]

5. Were there keys missing from his laptop too?

were any babies thrown out of incubators?

:rofl:

[Loudmxr]

6. He is complaining about getting better access than a Joe Miller event??

And Joe Biden is a duly elected Constitutional official.

My laugh-o meter just broke.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :spray:

[Ramulux]

7. This is weird

If this is true, that is fucked up.

[RickFromMN]

8. What? The report couldn't call for help? He didn't have a cell phone on him?

[Cass]

10. I am thinking the reporter was simply asked to wait in another room until the lunch was over when he

could then come in and listen to the speeches. Evidently the lunch was not open to the press but the speeches were.

Judging by the photo of the house at the link that "closet" was probably the size of a condo.

[47of74]

15. That's probably closer to the truth

And he found a closet nearby, took a picture of it, and said he was stuck in there.

[Historic NY]

19. Cheney would have put him in his man safe.

[lynne]

11. Orlando Sentinel blogged about incident several days ago -

- link here > http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2011/03/waiting-for-joe-and-bill.html

[zbdent]

12. I remember a "photo" of all the damage that was done to the White House

by exiting Clinton/Gore staffers ... which, by the way, was not "investigated" by the incoming Bush White House (despite the amazing amount of venom directed at the previous administration, and attempts to smear it in any way, shape or form).

Turns out, there really wasn't any damage, since they didn't feel like they needed to investigate it, I guess ...

[SoulSearcher]

14. Great link - found this in comments

When I heard about this, like others I wondered what the heck??!!
And if true - where was Scott Power's explanation of all this??

Thanks to the link you posted, I found this in the comments, which I
thought was worth sharing: (from deep in blog-comments, knocking out
the kidnapping theory. and a few others)

========Reply Posted by: Scott Power | Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 4:56 PM
Wow, is my time in the closet getting legs on the blogosphere. I had no idea.
Let me clarify a few points.
1. It was frustrating and annoying that I was not given a chance to do my job fully and properly. I was allowed to come out long enough to listen to the remarks, but not to talk with anyone, a point reported a couple times later on this blog.
2. I wasn’t kidnapped. I was confined, but the situation was: If I wanted to hear the remarks, I was to wait there. If I wanted to leave, I’m sure I could have left the house. I just wasn’t free to join the party to talk with anyone. (See point 1.)
3. While this was an extreme, and extremely inappropriate way of handling the press, it’s unfortunately not unusual for event organizers to put reporters in a spot where they cannot wander freely and talk with people at the event. Politicians of all stripes adopt this policy. More typically, when this happens, we’re roped off in a corner of the event area. Besides the practical problem of this preventing me from doing my job (see point 1,) it was essentially a rude and uncomfortable way to treat a reporter. But that’s it.
4. I have since spoken with the home owner Alan Ginsburg. He called and very graciously apologized, and assured me that he had no idea that the Veep’s team had put me in his closet, and he was upset that it had happened. I’m sure that’s true and I accepted his apology.
5. One of the Veep’s staffers e-mailed an apology, though I found it far less satisfying than Ginsburg’s.
6. We (the Sentinel) didn’t make a big deal out of it because we figured – and I personally believe – that the way politicians treat reporters may be amusing to ghe general public, yet rude and uncomfortable treatment of a reporter is hardly unusual or shocking.

[Overseas]

16. Thanks for finding this.

Looks like another one of the GOP propaganda squad's moves-- if your candidates have dodged reporters and avoided open Q&A sessions, be sure to highlight Democratic examples and trumpet them on your 24-hour GOP PR channel as though they are uniquely horrible situations.

They may be laying the groundwork for their next campaign so that if Democrats complain about their shielding their next cruel candidate from open questions about how they can recommend tax cuts for corporations that have already been hoarding their profits and shipping more jobs overseas while cutting low income heating assistance or community health clinics they can yell BUT DEMOCRATS LOCK REPORTERS IN THE CLOSET!!

[lynne]

18. Great comment, thanks for pointing it out. It confirms the -

- situation as the OP article presents it. Not the best way to foster a relationship with the press but certainly far from kidnapping.