BUSTED! – GOP makes sudden changes to Congressional hallway interviews, but no one got the memo – PB/TK
Democrats beat back Republicans’ anti-First Amendment crackdown on press interviews in the Capitol – By Kerry Eleveld / June 13 2017
Make no mistake about it, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his caucus tried to launch an all-out assault Tuesday on the First Amendment freedoms of the press. Apparently pushing a health care repeal bill through without a single public hearing or really anyone knowing what’s in it wasn’t enough cover for McConnell, so Republicans suddenly started telling reporters that in order to record interviews in the halls of the Capitol, they would first have to clear it with the senator and then the Senate Rules Committee—at that point, you may as well have arranged for a formal sit-down interview. In other words, such a restriction would completely choke off access for broadcast reporters and, if the GOP succeeded, no doubt clamping down on print reporters would be next.
What became immediately obvious is that the change wasn’t intended to protect Democrats, just Republicans.
