Team Obama Wunderkind Caught Dallying with Clinton Cutout
A key member of Barack Obama’s past and future team of aides has learned the hard way that “transparency” cuts both ways when it comes to the potential for evidence of one’s moments of private revelry — or tomfoolery — to travel far and wide on the Internet in a flash. This would be Jon Favreau, Obama’s 27-year-old superstar speechwriter, who was featured in photos that briefly surfaced on the Web that showed him dancing with and groping a cardboard cutout of Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton.
President-Elect Obama’s well-coordinated transition team raised eyebrows shortly after the election by requiring super-rigorous background checks from anyone considering coming close to joining their squad — and their long application, as The Washington Post points out, specifically asked about any potentially embarrassing information from their past and for links to their Facebook and MySpace pages.
Needless to say, the pictures of Favreau were hastily taken down, but not before various meddling news outlets got their grubby paws on them. For their part, Clinton’s team did a good job taking the episode in stride (see Clinton aide Phillippe Reines’ amusing response at the end of the Post piece).
Wait, before you go…The Washington Post:
For a while there this afternoon, President-elect Barack Obama’s immensely talented chief speechwriter, 27-year-old Jon Favreau, might have been pondering how to address that question.
That’s when some interesting photos of a recent party he attended — including one where he’s dancing with a life-sized cardboard cut-out of secretary of state-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and another where he’s placed his hand on the cardboard former first lady’s chest while a friend is offering her lips a beer — popped up on Facebook for about two hours. The photos were quickly taken down — along with every other photo Favreau had of himself on the popular social networking site, save for one profile headshot.
Asked about the photos, Favreau, who was recently appointed director of speechwriting for the White House, declined comment. A transition official said that Favreau had “reached out to Senator Clinton to offer an apology.”
If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.
Support Truthdig
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.