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The committee said Breitbart could re-apply for credentials if they address the concerns. Capitol Hill correspondents committee declines to credential Breitbart

The Capitol Hill Standing Committee of Correspondents has voted to table Breitbart News’ credential process and declined to extend the organization’s temporary credentials to cover Congress, which expire at the end of May.

The committee, which permits media access to the U.S. Capitol only to outlets it considers legitimate news organizations, not political advocacy or other groups, expressed frustration over Breitbart’s inconsistent answers to questions about its masthead and office space, among other problems.

Breitbart CEO Larry Solov, in correspondence with the committee since its most recent meeting, asserted that Republican megadonor Rebekah Mercer had no editorial input, that a managing editor who also had a role in an advocacy group was no longer on the masthead, and that the site was having trouble finding office space in part because of security issues.

The committee said Breitbart could reapply for credentials if it addresses the concerns. Otherwise, three staff members who currently have temporary credentials (which the site has had for more than two years) will no longer have access after May 31.

Breitbart reporters could still attend events on Capitol Hill that are open to the public without the credentials, but the lack of credentials would limit their access in the complex and hamper their ability to get other credentials, such as permanent White House passes.

“Breitbart News is unequivocally entitled to permanent Senate Press Gallery credentials and is determined to secure them,” Chad Wilkinson, a Breitbart spokesperson, said in a statement Tuesday.

Among the issues raised by the Capitol Hill committee were concerns that members of Breitbart’s masthead, provided last month by Solov, were also employed by the Mercer-funded Government Accountability Institute, which was co-founded by now-White House chief strategist (and former Breitbart chairman) Steve Bannon. The GAI and the work and advocacy it does would not be in line with the committee’s guidelines for credentialing.

In a letter to the committee, Solov said that although Managing Editor Wynton Hall was listed on the masthead as of last month, he actually resigned in February and the position “has remained vacant since then.”

“We have fully and fairly cooperated with your inquiries in good faith and believe that we have met and responded to the concerns you have raised,” Solov wrote. Breitbart “is an editorially independent news organization and is entitled to and deserves issuance of its permanent Senate Press Gallery credentials.”

The committee also noted that Bannon’s Office of Government Ethics financial disclosure had a different date for his separation from Breitbart than what Solov had indicated in their last meeting. Solov has asserted that Breitbart is completely editorially independent, without influence from Bannon or Mercer. But the committee expressed some doubts.

“I don’t know how we get Breitbart to prove that Bannon isn’t picking up the phone and talking to them,” said standing committee chairman Billy House, a reporter with Bloomberg News.

Last month, the committee, composed of five journalists, also expressed frustration that Breitbart may have misled them on where the site’s 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 that 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 last month 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.)

Solov told the committee that Breitbart has yet to find a new office space and likely would not for some time, partly because of security issues.

“I still want to give them the benefit of doubt on these things, that it’s misunderstandings or confusion [instead of] something more nefarious, but we still have these office space issues,” said committee secretary Joseph Morton, who works for the Omaha World-Herald. “The whole thing suggests to me that they’re just not ready for a credential.”

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In another letter to the committee, sent two days ago, Solov argued that individual members of Breitbart would and should qualify for credentials. But the committee said it doesn’t credential individuals but instead looks at the entire organization and leadership.

Solov also insinuated in the letter that there are other organizations that deserve the same scrutiny Breitbart is getting.

“Without limitation, is it the Standing Committee’s position that a news organization cannot be credentialed if it employs any editor and/or reporter who is also employed by or affiliated with any advocacy group or non-profit?” he asked. “Of course, we respectfully assert that any such rules, standards and/or criteria must be reasonable and realistic, and transparent — and applied equally and fairly to all news organizations.”

During the meeting on Tuesday, the committee said it would happily look into any credentialed reporter and potentially revoke their access if they were found to also be employed or affiliated with an advocacy or nonprofit group.

“This is not content driven, we aren’t singling out Breitbart either for extra scrutiny or special treatment,” House said. “This is our job as a board, and these rules have been in place long before any of us came to the board. Our job is to do the best we can and see whether the information they’ve provided meshes with the requirements.”

