White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

Archives for February 2013

Senate Finally Goes -30- on Investigating Kathryn Bigelow's Film

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Now that Zero Dark Thirty has been shut out of the Academy Awards, the Senate Intelligence Committee has called off their investigation. In what can only be a move by the secret fans of Jennifer Lawrence and Silver Linings Playbook, Politico reports that the committee will “no longer pursue the contacts between the movie and the Central Intelligence Agency.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein released a statement yesterday explaining why she was satisfied with ending the inquiry:

“In December, Senators Levin, McCain and I wrote to Acting CIA Director Michael Morell seeking information provided to the filmmakers of ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ by the CIA. The CIA responded with information about its interaction with the filmmakers. I see no need to request further information. In a separate letter, Senators Levin, McCain and I requested the basis for CIA’s view that enhanced interrogation techniques provided some intelligence that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden. The CIA’s response to that letter is forthcoming.”

“Finally, Senators Levin, McCain and I wrote to Sony Pictures in December and outlined our view that scenes in the film which credit CIA’s interrogation techniques with leading directly to the takedown of bin Laden were inaccurate and misleading. The committee has not made any contact with the filmmakers, did not request documents from any individual associated with the film, and have not conducted any investigation into the film whatsoever. We have simply asked questions of the intelligence community pertinent to our oversight responsibilities.”

Now we just have to wait and see what Capitol Hill’s thoughts about Olympus Has Fallen.

Washington Filmmakers Sean and Andrea Fine Win at Oscars

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The Oscars had a few D.C. surprises last night ranging from the White House to Best Documentary Short. Michelle Obama came in from a remote shot to announce the Best Picture winner, Ben Affleck‘s snubbed-yet-beloved Argo. Keeping the presidency in spirit, Daniel Day-Lewis took home Best Actor for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. The full list of Oscar winners can be found here, but the other local surprise comes from a prominent Washington famil with a long film tradition. Sean and Andrea Fine won for Inocente taking Best Documentary Short.

Sean is the son of famed documentarians Paul and Holly Fine whose award-winning work was on 60 Minutes, Nightline and 20/20 as well as WJLA-TV. Paul Fine’s father Nate was the Washington Redskins photographer.

2008 White House News Photographers Dinner with Andrea Nix Fine, Sean Fine, Holly and Paul Fine, Bryce Fine

Co-directed by Sean Fine and his wife Andrea Nix Fine, the short follows a young undocumented girl struggling to become an artist in Los Angeles. They sourced funding through Kickstarter, making this the first project from the crowdfunding service to win an Academy Award. Fine truly rocked out his D.C. pride thanks to his RG3 socks. Fine tweeted out the photo at RG3 post-win:

And in case you thought social media wasn’t relevant, there were 8.9 million related Oscar tweets. As for how FLOTUS even became an idea as a presenter, it all goes back to–who else in Hollywood–Harvey Weinstein according to Deadline:

“The idea of getting the First Lady on the show first came from Lily Weinstein, who mentioned it to her big Obama contributor dad Harvey, who suggested it to the Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and Academy president Hawk Koch. The group flew to DC a week and a half ago to put the logistics together with the White House. The Oscar producers told Deadline’s Pete Hammond earlier this week that they “were being like the CIA” about a couple of surprises on the show, keeping things top secret. In towns like Hollywood and DC where people love to talk, they pulled it off. There was no indication on the show’s rundown and most of the people on the Oscars had no idea who the secret guest would be. ‘I knew we could do it and we did it,’ Koch told Deadline tonight about keeping Obama’s name under wraps.”

This came after FLOTUS and POTUS were at the National Governors Association’s Ball, complete with Chris Christie still recovering from his “hugfest.”

Nate Silver vs. The Academy

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Google Talk with Nate Silver

The Academy Awards have been as mysterious as the electoral college, but perhaps no more? Nate Silver, flexing his mighty 2012 election data, announced today that he’d take a third try at figuring out why little gold men go to certain people and not others.

“My track record? Nine correct picks in 12 tries, for a 75 percent success rate. Not bad, but also not good enough to suggest that there is any magic formula for this,” he wrote. Even a 75 percent standing is impressive when many self-proclaimed “oscar gurus” are on par with their politico cousins in D.C. Sure, saying a democrat will take California is just as easy as saying that a Steven Spielberg film could get Best Picture or Daniel Day-Lewis is convincing as Abraham Lincoln.

Silver instead relied on the same formula from the election: taking a variety of data from insider (e.g. The Directors Guild of America, Screen Actors Guild) and outsider (e.g. Chicago Film Critics Association, Golden Globes) sources that’ve chosen their favorites. The data does appear to be skewing heavily for Argo to take Best Picture while Lincoln sweeps up the rest. But it’s the Best Supporting Actress category that will make or break Silver’s future chances at Oscar:

“There is considerably less reason for last-minute campaigning in this category: Anne Hathaway as about as safe a bet to win for “Les Misérables” as Mitt Romney was to win Utah. If Sally Field or Amy Adams wins instead, it will probably be time for me to retire from the Oscar-forecasting business.”

We’ll find out on Sunday whether Nate Silver can ever show his face in Hollywood ever again.

Kid President Announces This Year's White House Easter Egg Roll

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If the Obama administration ever had a clear challenge, it may be overcoming the charm and charisma of Kid President. A part of the Soul Pancake Channel, this time Kid President is bringing word of the 2013 White House Easter Egg Roll to us through a somewhat more official channel:

The lottery to get a ticket for the annual roll, being held on April 1, starts today and closes on Monday, February 25. The theme this year, chosen by First Lady Michelle Obama, is “Be Healthy, Be Active, Be You!”

This year’s souvenir eggs come in four bold colors – purple, blue, yellow, pink – and include the stamped signatures of the President and First Lady. A commemorative teal “Bo” egg featuring the First Dog’s paw print is included only in the 2013 5-pack Collector’s Egg Set.

The White House also invites all elementary and middle school students to submit poster designs for the 2013 Easter Egg Roll. Designs should reflect this year’s theme, “Be Healthy, Be Active, Be You!” The First Lady will select the winning design, which will be used as part of the White House 2013 Easter Egg Roll program. Submissions are due by March 5 and can be sent here.

We have to admit, even Robert Frost would probably be allowed to think this is cool.

The First Super #Seriously White House Correspondents Dinner Request of 2013

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Forget the upcoming sequester/spendopocalypse. 2013 is officially the year it’s ok to ask out potential dates to Nerd Prom.

Daily Inteligencer caught the first awkward advances through Twitter earlier this morning. Buzzfeed was standing on the other side of the Internet, fiddling with their cat-laden Trapper folder filled with notes about 15 things from 15 years ago, rumors about Bobby Jindal and a list of 42 people you won’t believe exist copied on every page of their Trapper Keeper. And then he came in.

A legendary figure on the sports team. A titan of self-promotion and popularity, able to disappear and reappear without a second thought. Jose Canseco showed up on the Internet. So Buzzfeed–rather their press director–asked the jock out. And in true Buzzfeed fashion it worked (except when it didn’t but it probably did). While Canseco did say he has “always wanted to go to that dinner” he also “bet I could track dick lugar down there. set it up!”

Canseco went further when Buzzfeed political reporter Andrew Kaczynski stressed the former baseball star should show. “wouldnt [sic] miss it buddy. while there point out some super committee members so I can kick their ass for this damn sequester,”Canseco tweeted.

Shockingly this marks the first public semi-confirmation for an organization’s guest list to this year’s Correspondents Dinner. While Conan O’Brien was announced yesterday via White House Correspondents Chairman Ed Henry’s Twitter to take another crack at hosting, this marks the first time a media organization reached out so publicly to a potential guest. Even more interesting: does this mean Buzzfeed has a table at this year’s dinner, or just the usual set of tickets a group can purchase? If so, it seems like the cancelation of Reuters TV freed up a ton of space after all.

A Look Back At Conan O'Brien and the White House Correspondents Dinner

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We’re hoping the jokes get updated when Conan O’Brien comes back to D.C. in April. The newly announced host for this year’s White House Correspondents Dinner is no stranger to Beltway politics. He first showed up here in 1995 to toast then-President Bill Clinton along with WHC Chairman and former Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau Chief/current columnist Carl Leubsdorf.

“For God’s sake, it’s Saturday night,” O’Brien said in his earlier monologue. “Go outside! Meet a woman! There are things you can do. I want to say though I am–higher ratings tan mine–very honored to be apart of this event tonight. When I got this invitation, I was thrilled to be speaking in the same room as the most powerful man in the country. But then I heard Judge Ito canceled, but you move on!”

You can watch the full video below from C-Span and relive Coco’s old mop top:

Conan O'Brien Returns as Host of White House Correspondents Dinner

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Late night comes back to the White House Correspondents Dinner with Conan O’Brien. The TBS host that once called NBC home is coming to D.C. to preside over the 2013 WHC Dinner on April 27th according to–of all places–Ed Henry‘s Twitter.

The 2013 Chairman went on the social media platform rather than the origination’s own website, which still hasn’t been updated. Henry followed up on his Twitter, citing that O’Brien “was terrific at ’95 correspondents dinner w/[sic]Clinton[.]”

This will mark the second time that the self-described “Basic Cable” host will stand at the Hinckley Hilton dais. Unfortunately, he still has two more times to go until he ties the current record holder for most performances (Jay Leno). Over on O’Brien’s official site, Henry gave a more formal remark:

“Conan is one of televisions most innovative and influential talents and I am absolutely thrilled that he has agreed to be this year’s featured act,” said Henry. “As social media has changed all aspects of the media business, Conan has embraced this shifting landscape to become a creative force both online as well as in the traditional television model. We are grateful that Conan will be also be using that creativity to bring more attention to the WHCA’s commitment to helping needy journalism students.”

Gavin Newsom's Citizenville in D.C. [PHOTOS]

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2/15/13 - Book Party for Gavin Newsom's "Citizenvillie"

California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom felt right at home at Washington’s Jefferson Hotel on February 16th to discuss his new book, “Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government.” While WHCInsider provided live coverage of the program C-SPAN’s Book TV covered all the action from the Gallatin Room for an upcoming segment (scheduled for next weekend or so). Newsom mingled among the select crowd of reporters and government officials keen to hear how Farmville can become legitimate models for politicos. Among the crowd were Newsom’s old friend Hilda Solis, the former Secretary of Labor, and former California Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher, who paid tribute to Newsom as a strong leader for California and in technology. The book party was co-hosted by Constance Milstein and JC de la Haye St. Hilarie, Tammy Haddad and Ellen Tauscher. Top Obamaites Evan Ryan and her husband Tony Blinken, Jeremy and Robyn Bash, Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley, Jane Oates, joined journalists Kate Boulduan Jim Fallows, who recently moved back to Washington, Jane Mayer, from the New Yorker,Michael Falcone from ABC News, David Chalian and Jonathan Martin from Politico, Betsy Fischer Martin of Meet the Press and Rob Saliterman from Google. Eve O’Toole, whom Newsom called his “best friend and trusted adviser” and her husband Peter O’Toole, joined Holly Page, Mandy Grunwald, Martha Slagle , Jonathan Capehart, Judy Kurtz, Heather Podesta, Melissa Moss, and “get excited” chairman Marc Adelman.

After Newsom signed copies of his new book and gave a few brief interviews, the crowd retreated for a closed door dinner and more than a few verses from some popular songs. While that remains a secret, check out some photos from the event to see what you missed when gaming change comes to Washington:

Gavin Newsom Toasts 'Citizenville' at the Jefferson [VIDEO]

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Citizenvillie
Join us tonight as California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom stops into the Jefferson Hotel in Washington, D.C. to discuss “Citizenville: How To Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government.” The Current TV host will be introduced by Ellen Tauscher at 7:00 p.m. est and give brief remarks about his newest release.

We’ll be talking with Newsom along with our livestream of the event starting tonight at 6:30 p.m. est and then have a copy of the event afterwards. You can also catch it on C-SPAN-2’s Book TV at a later date.

PAC Away Your Marco Rubio Water Bottle

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The speed at which Internet memes evolve works laterally to how D.C. can interpret them.

Marco Rubio’s meme has officially been bottled. The senator’s dry mouth took over the media after the State of the Union on Tuesday, now it’s coming for you. Since then it’s turned into a reflection of the media’s repetition of a drinking problem and has caused The Daily Caller to become arithmomanic. The Reclaim America PAC has gone one step farther:

The official Marco Rubio water bottle: for a $25 contribution you can “(s)end the liberal detractors a message that not only does Marco Rubio inspire you…he hydrates you too.” The product became available on Wednesday afternoon from Reclaim America, a PAC which Rubio started in 2009 while entertaining a potential 2012 run for office. No telling whether they’ll come out with other swag related to the senator’s recent decisions, such as his opposition to the Violence Against Women Act or the end of minimum wage laws.

Which is unfortunate since you can only get the Rubio water bottle by spending the minimum donation–technically not a wage, but who keeps tracks when it comes to PACs?