Breitbart News began the process to secure permanent and official Capitol Hill credentials in November. | Getty Images Breitbart's bid for congressional pass put off Standing committee members raise questions about its leadership, ties to the Mercers.

The congressional Standing Committee of Correspondents on Monday delayed a decision on whether to grant permanent credentials to Breitbart News, saying members were not satisfied with the information provided thus far regarding the right-wing website’s connections to the White House and the Republican mega-donor family the Mercers.

Breitbart News, the site once run by President Donald Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon, began the process to secure permanent and official Capitol Hill credentials in November. Within the process to secure credentials is a clause that states the person and organization holding the pass "must not be engaged in any lobbying or paid advocacy, advertising, publicity or promotion work for any individual, political party, corporation, organization, or agency of the U.S. government.”


As a result, the site, which is known to keep information about its funding and ownership quiet, revealed in a past meeting that the owners are Breitbart CEO Larry Solov, founder Andrew Breitbart's widow, Susie Breitbart, and the Republican megadonor family the Mercers, including patriarch Bob Mercer and his daughter Rebekah Mercer, who is close to Trump. Breitbart's family owns the largest stake.

Breitbart News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The congressional passes are often the first step to acquiring other important press passes, including for the White House and political events. Breitbart currently has temporary credentials, but permanent credentials would prevent them from having to go through a renewal process every few months.

In the previous meeting, the committee requested more information on Breitbart’s leadership, which is not readily available on its site, as well as more information on when and how Bannon left the site. In a letter to the committee that was shared with journalists attending the meeting, Solov said Bannon resigned from Breitbart “on or about” Nov. 13, 2016 and that he has “no editorial executive, financial or other role or interest” in the site. Solov, at the committee’s request, also provided a masthead of the site which is not available on its website.

Of concern to the committee was the presence on the masthead of at least two people, Senior Editor-at-large Peter Schweizer and Managing Editor Wynton Hall, who are both also both part of the Mercer-funded Government Accountability Institute founded by Bannon and Schweizer. The GAI and the work they produce, would not be in line with the committee’s guidelines for credentialing, the committee said.

“We can’t even get an exact date Bannon resigned, on or about Nov. 13, even so, some officers and top editors at Breitbart may or may not have continued relations directly with Bannon and another organizations, even being paid,” said the standing committee chairman, Billy House from Bloomberg News. “Even if Bannon is no longer involved in GAI, top editors are involved in this other group, an advocacy group.”

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“It’s not that unusual that an Arianna Huffington, or Michael Bloomberg, these people are engaged in political activities. But it’s when the editorial masthead is full of people with dual roles who are also doing advocacy, that is a problem,” said committee secretary Joseph Morton of the Omaha-World Herald.

The committee also expressed concerns over the Mercers, who are not listed on Breitbart’s masthead. The committee noted recent news reports including a New Yorker article which said that Rebekah Mercer does not "dictate a political line to the editors, but often points out areas of coverage that she thinks require more attention."

In the meeting on Monday, the committee, composed of five journalists, also expressed frustration that Breitbart submitted the requested information at the last minute and may have misled the committee on where their offices are located.

A Capitol Hill townhouse, known as the “Breitbart Embassy,” had been provided as the address of the company’s Washington office, and the committee was told Breitbart was leasing the space as a “mixed use” place for both corporate housing (often where Bannon stayed), events and office space. But the committee noted that the townhouse is not technically zoned for commercial use and that the owner of the house filed taxes as the sole occupant, meaning that a commercial lease would not even be legally possible. (Most Breitbart writers work remotely, and the site has said they are seeking new office space.)

Breitbart’s current credentials are temporary, though the committee agreed to extend their credentials for two more months while asking Breitbart to submit further information by April 18. That information includes further explanations on the two masthead members who are also part of GAI, further explanations into the Mercers role with the site, clarification on Breitbart’s office space and its past lease.