White House Correspondents Insider

The annual White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch brings together Hollywood stars, politicians, and of course, the brightest lights of Washington media, and this year’s 25th anniversary was no different.

Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti was spotted at the brunch as well as celebrities like HBO Ballers star Richard Schiff, Gloria Calderon Kellett showrunner Netflix’s One Day at a Time, and The View co-host Sunny Hostin.

Among the Trump administration and White House officials in attendance were Senior Advisor to the President Kellyanne Conway, Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley, and former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

Pollster Frank Luntz, political advisor Bill Knapp, Heather Podesta, and American Conservative Union head Matt Schlapp and his wife, White House Director of Strategic Communication Mercedes Schlapp were among the politicos seen at the brunch.

The bipartisan crowd featured members of Congress from both sides of the aisle including Representatives Darrell Issa, Debbie Dingell, Don Beyer, Joaquin Castro, and John Delaney.

Government officials included Virginia Lieutenant Gov. Justin Fairfax, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, DC Councilman Jack Evans, DC Senator Paul Strauss, and Dr. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress.

Comedians Jordan Klepper, the host of Comedy Central’s “The Opposition”, and RJ Fried, the executive producer of “Our Cartoon President”, a segment of which made it into the program at the White House Correspondents Dinner, were also in attendance.

News Leaders included Fred Ryan, publisher of the Washington Post, Craig Gordon, Bloomberg DC Bureau Chief, Sam Feist, CNN Bureau Chief, and Andrew Morse, President of CNN Digital.

A handful of TV hosts including ABC Correspondents Bob Woodruff and Juju Chang, Brian Stelter, Don Lemon, MSNBC analyst Heidi Przybyla, Washington Post reporter and host of PBS Washington Week Robert Costa, and MSNBC hosts Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle joined the fun.

Making the rounds were media stars Margaret Talev, the veteran Bloomberg White House Correspondent and WHCA President, MSNBC’s Peter Alexander and his wife Alison Starling, CNN Political Director David Chalian and CNN reporters Jeff Zeleny and Jim Acosta, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist from the Washington Post Philip Rucker, ABC White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, The Atlantic’s Steve Clemons, Politico’s Daniel Lippman and Anna Palmer, MSNBC national security analyst Jeremy Bash, Fresh FM Tommy McFly, and Defense One’s Kevin Baron.

Notables included MPAA President Charles Rivkin, President of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Patricia Harrison, Ted Olson and Lady Booth Olson, General John Campbell, Abbe Lowell, Valerie Jarrett, Ambassador Lloyd and Ann Hand, Sally Quinn, The Wing co-founder Audrey Gelman, Executive Director of Wikimedia Katherine Marler, David Adler, Robert & Elena Allbritton, Ryan Williams, Facebook’s Erin Egan and Rachel Whetstone, Zach Leonsis, co-owner Monumental Sports, Washington Wizards and Ed and Deborah Lerner Cohen, co-owners of the Washington Nationals, and Tina Tchen of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.

This year’s Brunch co-hosts were Mark and Sally Ein, who own the Beall-Washington House where the brunch took place, Greta Van Susteren and John Coale, Tammy Haddad, Hilary Rosen and Megan Murphy, Kevin Sheekey, Fred Humphries, Franco Nuschese, and Fritz Brogan.