Jennifer Psaki, Obama’s new traveling press secretary, called Fox News’ Brett Baier "a lunatic" and threatened to put "dead fish in the fox cubby" during a spat between the White House and Fox News in October 2009.
CBS reports:
Emails released by Judicial Watch, obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request, show Deputy White House Communications Director Jennifer Psaki writing in reference to the dustup, "brett baier just did a stupid piece on it---but he is a lunatic." Another email from Psaki reads in part, "I am putting some dead fish in the fox cubby--just cause."
An earlier email shows Dag Vega, Director of Broadcast Media on the White House staff, saying in reference to the Feinberg interviews, "...we'd prefer if you skip Fox please." In another email, Deputy White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest writes, "We've demonstrated our willingness and ability to exclude Fox News from significant interviews..."
Psaki joins the Obama campaign after working for Priorities USA Action, the pro-Obama SuperPAC.
Buzzfeed reports:
The move raises questions about coordination between the campaign and the SuperPAC, which are legally barred from discussing strategy and media buying. Staffers are also barred from shuttling directly between the two, and typically observe a "cooling off" period of 120 days.