Himes bill would force White House to hold on-camera press briefings

The increasingly camerashy White House press operation — no longer the daily Sean Spicer soap opera and “Saturday Night Live” muse — would be forced to hold at least two weekly on-air briefings for the media under a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Jim Himes.

It’s called the Free Press Act, which the Fairfield County Democrat said is needed to prevent the Trump administration from continuing to clamp down on media coverage of the president.

Himes noted that there have been only one or no televised press briefings in six of the past nine weeks, with Trump’s White House lagging behind the three previous administration in the number of briefings held.

Monday’s 2 p.m. briefing with Sean Spicer, his first since the end of June, was an audio-only event. It was be the third off-camera press briefing the White House has held this month.

The proposed legislation comes amid the deepening probe into the ties of Trump and his associates to Russia during the presidential campaign, including the revelation that Donald Trump Jr. met with a Kremlin-linked lawyer to try to collect dirt on Hillary Clinton.

“This is the first administration in history that has explicitly sort of targeted the media as purveyors of fake news and enemies of the American people,” Himes told Hearst Connecticut Media. “That’s a very dangerous thing. As a politician I understand the media can be annoying from time to time. (But) the media plays an essential role holding people like me and the president our feet to the fire.”

Multiple requests for comment were left Friday with the White House press office.

The former White House director of television news for President George W. Bush, Rowayton-based political consultant Katie Burke, lamented the climate at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

“I’m not sure which is worse, a White House that places little to no value on transparency or the accuracy it information it relays to the public, or for one branch of government to devote taxpayer resources to an effort to legally require a specific number of video briefings by another branch of government,” Burke said. “To quote the Grateful Dead, ‘what a long strange trip it has been.’”

Bob MacGuffie, a tea party stalwart from Fairfield, panned setting quotas for televised briefings.

“You’re so brave Jim. Ever hear of Nero fiddling while Rome burned?” MacGuffie tweeted Friday. “Have you learned anything in political wilderness? Stay there.”

The once-daily briefings have dramatically evolved from infancy of Trump’s presidency, when Spicer’s repartee with the White House press corps proved to be a ratings bonanza and was parodied by Melissa McCarthy.

Spicer hasn’t conducted a briefing since June 20, with deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders mostly taking over the duties. The White House has increasingly held briefings off-camera in recent months.

According to Himes’ office, the average number of weekly briefings for Bill Clinton was 4.38, 3.42 for George W. Bush and 3.75 for Barack Obama. It’s 2.7 for Trump, a number that includes off-camera briefings.

“You see they’re trying to kick cameras out of the room, not making people available,” Himes said. “I remember the very first press briefing by Sean Spicer — he came out outraged that it wasn’t the largest inaugural crowd ever. This administration has not just been at war with the media, but at war with the facts since Inauguration Day.”

The nontraditional media gatekeepers of the Trump administration have taken questions from reporters outside Washington via Skype, including from Hearst Connecticut Media in February. The Spicer initiative has received mixed reviews, with critics saying the White House has avoided tough questions from the D.C. press corps largely in favor of alternative media outlets and defenders saying the program brings unique perspectives and issues to the briefings. Hearst asked Spicer about Connecticut’s defiance of the White House’s deportation rules.

Richard Hanley, an associate journalism professor at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, said it’s sad that it’s reached the point where a member of Congress must introduce legislation to have the briefings televised.

“There’s no rational explanation for why they don’t do it, other than to show they’re in control,” Hanley said. “That’s shows how little respect the White House has for democracy. It is in the 21st Century the same as trying to outlaw pens and papers in the previous century. It reveals a profound insecurity.”

Himes acknowledged his bill faces long odds in the Republican-controlled Congress.

“Well, probably close to zero,” Himes said. “If they’re not willing to stand up to the administration on things like the president’s son on meeting with Russians in order to get dirt on Hillary Clinton, I don’t see them standing up for the free press.”