Aides to an incensed Vice President Joe Biden complained to the wrong press gallery about their boss being asked an uncomfortable question by Human Events editor Jason Mattera.
Mattera asked Biden last week whether he regretted saying rape and murder rates will go up if Republicans in Congress prevent passage of President Obama’s $447 billion second stimuluis jobs bill.
That question elicited from Biden a threatening warning: “Don’t screw with me, guy.” You can watch the confrontation on video here.
Afterwards, Biden aides contacted the Senate Press Gallery, according to The Hill, to complain about Mattera’s conduct, claiming he misled the vice president by posing as a mere photo seeker. In fact, Mattera was wearing a clearly visible congressional periodical press gallery credential.
Despite the clearly visible credential, the Biden aides “complained to the wrong gallery. We’re credentialed through periodicals. I violated nothing,” Mattera told The Washington Examiner.
There are multiple official press galleries managed by members of the mainstream media and subject to approval by Congress. Daily newspaper reporters covering Congress typically are members of the Senate and House galleries, while journalists, like Mattera, who work for weekly publications like Human Events, are credentialled through the Periodical Press Gallery.
Since Biden was a long-time senator from Delaware prior to becoming vice president, it is surprising that his aides would not know the distinctions among the various press galleries on Capitol Hill.
Mattera freely acknowledged asking Biden for a photo before putting the awkward question to him regarding his comments on Republican opposition to the Obama jobs bill. And his defense for using such tactics is equally straightforward:
“If I had said, ‘Hey, Mr. Vice President, a question regarding your rape comments,’ he would shrug it off. He’s not going to take questions hostile to his agenda. I want to get him in that honest moment when he doesn’t have his talking points and isn’t prepared to spin,” Mattera said.
Heather Rothman, a reporter for the Bureau of National Affairs, heads the Senate Press Gallery. She told The Hill earlier this week that the incident was being “discussed” by members of the gallery’s Standing Committee, which decides which applicants for press credentials are approved.
Rothman did not respond to an Examiner request for further comment. For more from the Examiner on this incident, go here.
RedState’s Moe Lane has more details here.
