Lobbyist Denies McCain Affair

Iseman settles with no payment or retraction; article implied affair

(NEWSER) - Vicki Iseman, the lobbyist whose relationship with John McCain was the subject of an explosive New York Times article during the 2008 campaign, has settled her lawsuit against the paper. Iseman will receive no payment, and the Times has not retracted the article, which seemed to imply that she and McCain had an affair. But in an uncommon move, the paper has published a letter from Iseman's lawyers on its website. More»

Maybe shielding Palin from the media was a bad idea

(NEWSER) - John McCain and Sarah Palin sat down for a joint interview with Katie Couric last night, and it was hard to avoid the impression that McCain was chaperoning his running mate “to keep her out of trouble” writes Time TV critic James Poniewozik. McCain accused Couric of “gotcha journalism,” when she confronted Palin with a statement the would-be veep made at a pizza parlor contradicting his stance on Pakistan. More»

Response to editorial swift and sharp

(NEWSER) - The New York Times lambasted President Bush in an editorial today for opposing the new GI Bill, and the White House swiftly fired back, the Hill reports. The paper “irresponsibly distorted” Bush's opposition to the bill, said a statement from press secretary Dana Perino, who said the editorial "could not be farther from the truth about the president’s record of leadership on this issue." More»

Some didn't run McCain bombshell; Times ' own ombudsman bashed it

(NEWSER) - The New York Times’ bombshell story about John McCain’s ethics problems—and his allegedly inappropriate relationship with a lobbyist—is nearly a week old, but the media world is still reacting:

• The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s ombudsman explains that his paper’s editor was too uncomfortable with the romantic angle to run the Times piece—which he accuses of “unsubstantiated innuendo”—and decided to run the unsexed Washington Post story instead. But they drew criticism from readers anyway.

Calls female lobbyist a 'friend,' denies any 'unwarranted access or influence'

(NEWSER) - A subdued John McCain, flanked by his wife, held a press conference today to deny all charges in a New York Times story alleging improprieties involving a female lobbyist. Saying he is "disappointed" in the Times, and that the story alleging a romantic relationship is "not true," McCain said that he and Vicki Iseman are just friends, and that he did not do favors for her as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. He said no former staffer ever spoke to him about an appearance of impropriety in his relationship with Iseman, as several claimed to the Times. More»