Monday, April 24, 2006
Rep. McKinney Disparages Staffer On-Mike
U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., who has been in the news since she scuffled with a Capitol Hill police officer last month, is in the news again after being heard bad-mouthing one of her staffers on tape.
The DeKalb County Democrat is running for re-election in the Fourth Congressional District. She was wearing a microphone during an interview with Georgia's WGCL-TV, CBS 46 on Saturday when a reporter asked her about the fallout from the scuffle with the officer. The reporter asked if the controversy over the confrontation with the police officer has been a distraction for her.
McKinney told the reporter, "You're a distraction because that seems to be all you want to talk about."
She then got up and walked out of the interview, still wearing the mike. She is heard saying, "You know what? They lied to Coz and Coz is a fool."
McKinney apparently realized her blunder and told the reporter that the comments about her communications director, Coz Carson, were off the record.
But the TV station aired the footage, and CNN later picked up the story. WGCL says it does not make "deals" with people being interviewed about what it can air.
McKinney, who is expected to qualify for her U.S. House race Monday, was not immediately available for comment.
Carson said he shares what he calls McKinney's "the media's insatiable appetite for controversy and unimportant issues."
A federal grand jury in Washington is considering whether McKinney should be charged in connection with the scuffle March 29th.
She first accused police of racial profiling and later apologized on the House floor, saying the confrontation should not have happened.
U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., who has been in the news since she scuffled with a Capitol Hill police officer last month, is in the news again after being heard bad-mouthing one of her staffers on tape.
The DeKalb County Democrat is running for re-election in the Fourth Congressional District. She was wearing a microphone during an interview with Georgia's WGCL-TV, CBS 46 on Saturday when a reporter asked her about the fallout from the scuffle with the officer. The reporter asked if the controversy over the confrontation with the police officer has been a distraction for her.
McKinney told the reporter, "You're a distraction because that seems to be all you want to talk about."
She then got up and walked out of the interview, still wearing the mike. She is heard saying, "You know what? They lied to Coz and Coz is a fool."
McKinney apparently realized her blunder and told the reporter that the comments about her communications director, Coz Carson, were off the record.
But the TV station aired the footage, and CNN later picked up the story. WGCL says it does not make "deals" with people being interviewed about what it can air.
McKinney, who is expected to qualify for her U.S. House race Monday, was not immediately available for comment.
Carson said he shares what he calls McKinney's "the media's insatiable appetite for controversy and unimportant issues."
A federal grand jury in Washington is considering whether McKinney should be charged in connection with the scuffle March 29th.
She first accused police of racial profiling and later apologized on the House floor, saying the confrontation should not have happened.
