CLAIM vs. FACT: Condi Rice on Media Control

CLAIM:
"U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday called the Kremlin's tight grip on power and the media 'very worrying.'"
- Reuters, 4/19/05

FACT:
The UK Guardian reported that "the Bush administration was confronted with fresh evidence of a far-reaching clandestine campaign to influence public opinion yesterday after a third conservative commentator admitted receiving payments for championing its policies...a report issued by Democratic members of the House of Representatives suggested the Bush administration may rely far more heavily on pay-per-view columnists than had been previously thought." Though the White House has denied knowledge of the matters, the LA Times today reports "a White House aide was told about potential problems with the Education Department paying a conservative commentator to promote an administration policy, but did nothing to prevent the contract from being renewed." Meanwhile, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) revealed that the Bush administration is considering "invok[ing] executive privilege [to] prevent its staff members from cooperating" with investigations into the matters.