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Times Reporter June 9, 2006 Under pressure, Ney lashes out at press coverage
By George E. Condon Jr. In two rambling e-mails sent from his Blackberry device to Copley News Service reporter Paul Krawzak, the Republican congressman from Ohio ridiculed the veteran reporter, challenging his ethics and mocking the 5-foot-7-inch Krawzak as “big man.” The trigger for Ney’s rage was Krawzak’s coverage, carried in The Times-Reporter and its sister Copley Ohio newspapers, The Repository and The Independent, of the trial of White House procurement official David H. Safavian. Safavian is accused of lying and obstructing the criminal investigation of the once-powerful and now-discredited Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Testimony by Ney’s former chief of staff, Neil Volz, on May 30 provided some new details on the 2002 Scotland golfing trip that has been the cause of much of Ney’s difficulties. That trip was paid for by Abramoff and included Volz, Ney and several other political insiders. That story was written by Krawzak late in the evening and the reporter did not call Ney for his reaction to the testimony. The next day, when Ney’s office complained about that, Krawzak explained the lateness and press of deadline but acknowledged it would have been better to have sought Ney’s comment. That acknowledgment was not enough for Ney, who four days later – on June 3 – had his thumbs flying over the tiny keyboard of his Blackberry, with punctuation and spelling often yielding to his evident anger. “Let me tell you paul-last week you did not call us for comment ‘you were under deadline,’” began Ney, who then reflected his belief that his critics just keep recycling the same story about the golf trip. “Print the same story-change it to reprint the same story-people in new philly – d’s and r’s call it ‘elk’s politics.’” He concluded his message with “Go for it – harass my wife and daughter a little bit more big man – maybe I will take out an add talking about your ethics.” The reference to his wife and daughter reflected his continuing anger that earlier this year another Copley News Service reporter, based in Ohio, interviewed his neighbors and knocked on his door seeking comment from his wife. Lest there be any doubt about either his anger or his desire to vent that anger, the congressman sent a separate note from his Blackberry later in the day. “Please-please-print this paul-you don’t care about ohio-i am sick of your crap. You are a d c person who couldn’t find ohio unless we gave you a map. You don’t give two shoots about our people.” Increasingly, Ney has complained that reporters based in Washington do not understand the dynamics of Ney’s district, explaining his jab at Krawzak as “a d c person.” Brian J. Walsh, Ney’s communications director, acknowledged Thursday that the congressman is frustrated at the news coverage he has received. Walsh said that Ney continues to work hard on issues such as housing and immigration and energy. “Yet that is rarely reported by the media,” he said. Instead, Walsh cited what he called “seven different stories in 12 days” written by Krawzak “on the trial of an obscure Bush Administration official who has no ties to the State of Ohio but who happened to be on the trip to Scotland with the congressman four years ago, and not a single story on anything that the congressman is actually working on in Congress.” Again, he complained about the other reporter going to Ney’s neighborhood in Heath. “I think anyone else in his shoes would be just as frustrated,” said Walsh, adding that Ney is not going to back down from further criticisms of the coverage. Ney, he said, “is going to be direct with certain reporters in expressing that, even if it means even more negative news coverage as a result.” Ney is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department as part of a wide-ranging probe of fraud and corruption in government. He has not been charged and insists he is innocent of any wrongdoing.
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