Discussing Obama's response to press questions about Blagojevich, MSNBC's Shuster, NY Times' Leibovich ignored Fitzgerald's reported request for delay

On the December 17 edition of MSNBC Live, anchor David Shuster said the scandal surrounding Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) "is providing a fresh test" for the press, which "politicians on the right have often accused ... of being soft on [President-elect] Barack Obama." Shuster went on to say that Obama and his staff decided "repeatedly" to "release virtually no information about the Blagojevich scandal." Later in the segment, New York Times national political correspondent Mark Leibovich said Obama's reference to the ongoing investigation in refusing to release information this week, while "probably appropriate," "does hearken to a kind of echo of what other White Houses in the past have said when they don't want to answer questions immediately." Though Shuster and Leibovich noted that Obama has cited the ongoing investigation to explain his silence, neither of them mentioned during the segment that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald reportedly requested that Obama "delay the release of a report" about an internal review of the contacts between Obama's aides and the Illinois governor's office, or that Obama cited Fitzgerald's request during a December 15 press conference. Further, neither Shuster nor Leibovich noted during the segment that Fitzgerald stated in his December 9 news conference that the complaint "makes no allegations about the president-elect whatsoever -- his conduct."

From the 9 a.m. ET hour of the December 17 edition of MSNBC Live:

TAMRON HALL (anchor): Is the press being tough enough on President-elect Barack Obama? That's the question David Shuster is exploring live from the politics desk in Washington. David.

SHUSTER: Yeah, Tamron, the press is often called the "Fourth Estate," and it's our duty, of course, to ask tough questions. But while politicians on the right have often accused the press of being soft on Barack Obama, the current Illinois governor scandal is providing a fresh test. Obama's transition team insists it's not releasing more information until next week because it doesn't want to impede the investigation into Blagojevich. And yesterday, here's what reporters heard when they tried to press the issue.

[begin video clip]

OBAMA: John, let me -- let me just cut you off, because I don't want you to waste your question.

[...]

OBAMA: I don't want to get into the details at this point, so do you have another question?

[end video clip]

SHUSTER: So how are journalists gonna handle Obama today, and what is the Obama strategy? Joining us is Mark Leibovich. He is the national political correspondent with The New York Times. He's got a great piece out this weekend in The New York Times Magazine focusing largely on Robert Gibbs, who is the new press secretary for the Obama White House and also served a crucial role during the campaign. First of all, Mark, on this piece, what surprised you about what you learned about Robert Gibbs?

LEIBOVICH: Well, I mean, Robert is someone that, you know, everyone in Washington has known for a very, very long time. I mean, he's been sort of a journeyman, you know, press guy in a number of Senate races, a number of Senate offices -- I mean, he's been around a lot. Robert is very, very combative; very, very loyal -- especially in defense of his boss, Barack Obama -- and, frankly, is the enforcer of an administration that by every indication, given how they were on the campaign, is going to try everything they can to be very, very, you know, tight and -- and disciplined with their message strategy and with their press strategy.

SHUSTER: Do you get the sense that combativeness and sometimes defiance perhaps bleeds off on others, perhaps even the president-elect, and maybe that explains --

LEIBOVICH: Right.

SHUSTER: -- the decision that we've seen repeatedly from the president-elect and his staff to release virtually no information about the Blagojevich scandal?

LEIBOVICH: Well, I mean, the Blagojevich scandal is sort of a classic example of the kind of events-overtaking-themselves, you know, issue that they didn't have to deal with on the campaign. I mean, you know, what they would often do on the campaign when issues would arrive is just say, "Well, you know, the American people don't care about this. We're focused on the economy. This is the same old politics of the past." But, frankly, you know, now President-elect Obama and the whole incoming administration has the stage to themself, and the Blagojevich issue is something that people are talking about, and there's something -- it's something that has new developments every day.

So, I mean, I think President-elect Obama's reaction yesterday to John McCormick of the Chicago Tribune was pretty telling. I mean, I think, you know, there was clearly -- I don't know if agitation is the right word -- but he clearly was, shall we say, dismissive of the question and kept invoking the ongoing investigation. And, frankly, that's probably appropriate on many levels, but it's also, you know, it does hearken to a kind of echo of what other White Houses in the past have said when they don't want to answer questions immediately.

SHUSTER: Want to play something that Joe Scarborough said this morning and then get your reaction on the other side. Watch.

SCARBOROUGH [video clip]: If the Obama people say there hasn't been a close relationship between Obama and Blagojevich, the press believes them. If Rahm Emanuel says, "Oh, I was wrong when I told [New Yorker writer] Ryan Lizza that Barack and I ran Blagojevich's campaign," the press believes them. There is this willing suspension of belief that I've never seen with any other candidate.

SHUSTER: Now, I know Joe's not talking about all the press, but to his larger point, does he have one there?

LEIBOVICH: I think, you know, clearly a critique has been levied on many, many fronts -- probably very legitimate through the campaign that the press might have gone easier on Obama than they did on Hillary Clinton and John McCain. I think in this case, I mean, the facts are still very much dynamic. I mean, they're still coming out. And I don't think, I mean, I think the notion that we in the press -- or I shouldn't say we -- that my colleagues in the press have not answered -- have not asked difficult questions and follow-up questions about this is frankly not true. You know, the fact is this is a moment in time, and it's -- and the Blagojevich story is not going away, so this is gonna play out over, you know, probably several days and not unlikely several weeks.

SHUSTER: Well, and I know that Robert Gibbs is sort of notorious with a lot of the people who cover this transition to -- when he's asked for information, he'll say, "Oh, I'll get back to you," and reporters never hear anything about what they asked. But in any case, great piece, Mark, in The New York Times Sunday Magazine. Also some intriguing stuff about the leaks about Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and Obama being infuriated about that. It's gonna make for a great read, and we appreciate you coming on this morning.