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Clinton campaign denies access to pool reporter

The Hillary Clinton campaign denied access to the print pool reporter on Monday, reigniting reporters' longstanding concerns about the campaign's commitment to running an open and transparent campaign.

David Martosko, the U.S. political editor for London's Daily Mail, reported showing up at the campaign's breakfast stop in New Hampshire only to be told that he would not be allowed to pool the day's events. Pool reporters are responsible for sending reports from the trail to the rest of the press corps.

"Your pooler showed up at the Puritan Backroom in Manchester on a rainy New Hampshire morning at 7:45 and was greeted in the parking lot by Meredith Thatcher, a press staffer with the New Hampshire Democratic Party. Thatcher told your pooler that he wasn’t the approved print pool reporter for today’s pooled events," Martosko reported in his first pool report. (Note: Thatcher is actually a press staffer for "Hillary for New Hampshire," not the state's Democratic Party.)

"Asked to call her boss, Harrell Kirstein, she did so and then reported: 'So I'm afraid it's a no. You're not on the list.' She said [campaign press secretary] Nick Merrill should be phoned with questions," Martosko continued. "Asked if the print pooler was being prohibited from getting on either of the pool vans, Thatcher replied: 'I'm afraid that's right.' Asked why, she responded: 'All I know is what Harrell has told me. I got an email saying the print pooler would be changed for today. Sorry.'"

Denied a ride in the pool van, Martosko told Thatcher that he would drive to the first campaign stop in Rochester on his own, "in the hope that things would be sorted out during the 75-minute drive."

Reached via email, Martosko declined to comment. He apologized for any typos, noting, "I'm dictating to phone as I drive." Daily Mail spokesperson Sean Walsh said the organization is "seeking an explanation from the Clinton campaign as to why this occurred as Mr. Martosko was scheduled to be the designated print pool reporter in New Hampshire this morning."

Merrill, the campaign's traveling press secretary, did not respond to a request for comment. However, he did provide an additional explanation to Martosko, which Martosko relayed in a report on The Daily Mail's website:

Merrill said that the campaign’s position is that the Daily Mail does not qualify because it has not yet been added to the White House’s regular print pool – something Martosko informed him was a timing issue, not a White House choice, since Francesca Chambers, the Mail's White House correspondent, has been vetted and has a hard pass. ... 'We’re just trying to follow the same process and system the White House has,' said Merrill. ... Merrill then insisted that the decision had 'nothing to do' with the campaign considering the Daily Mail foreign press. ... 'We don’t consider you foreign press,' he said. ... Merrill then added; 'This isn’t about you. It’s about a larger...' and did not continue his sentence. ... Merrill later insisted that his reasons were not based on the foreign-press question, but that the campaign simply wanted a day to 'have a conversation' about how to proceed.

UPDATE (9:50 a.m.): Merrill emails:

"We want a happy press corps as much as the press corps does. And we work very hard to achieve that in tandem with them. It's a long campaign, and we are going to do our best to find equilibrium and best accommodate interest from as many news outlets as possible, given the space limitations of our events."

UPDATE (11:01 a.m.): Martosko files the following pool report:

After some confusion about the location of the morning's early childhood education summit in Rochester, NH, your pooled determined that it was at the YMCA of Strafford County and arrived at about 10:20. ... Secret Service at the main entrance refused to let your pooler in and advised to go in through another entrance near a playground. ... Visiting that doorway, another agent asked for your pooler’s name and outlet, to which the pool replied “David Martosko with The Daily Mail.” A voice from behind the door, whom your pool later learned was the head of Mrs. Clinton's Secret Service detail, was heard saying “Oh. No.” ... The first agent sent your pooler back to the front door, advising that the head of the detail insisted. At the front door again, your pooler was asked to wait while the first agent on duty checked to see if the pool would be admitted. ... The answer: "No. You can't come in."

Pooler was advised by that Secret Service agent that he had contacted someone “with the campaign” named “Pollard,” who personally said no, your pooler could not come in. It’s unclear who Pollard is. ... Your pooler asked if he could come inside to use the restroom. The Secret Service agent advised that the area had been swept already, so he should “hit the woods.” ... Pool saw a WMUR-TV truck outside and confirmed with a reporter from a competing local station that there were indeed pool journalist inside from photo and video. ... With a light rain falling, your pooler went back to his rental car to file this report, after counting about 210 cars in the parking lots and on the street. ... Both press pool vans from Manchester were visible outside, along with the now-famous black “Scooby” van and a contingent of New Hampshire state trooper vehicles.

UPDATE (11:27 a.m.): Merrill emails:

"We have been working to create an equitable system, and have had some concerns expressed by foreign outlets about not being a part of the rotation. The journalists who coordinate the pool are in touch with them as are we, and we simply asked that until we can work all of that out that we send an outlet in keeping with previous precedents."