As we told you yesterday, John Coale, Greta Van Susteren’s husband helped arrange a dinner with Herman Cain and several media bigwigs, including Van Susteren, in New York this weekend. But due to Cain’s personal issues, that dinner has been canceled. Reports then began to surface that Coale is advising Cain. (As for the dinner, Coale says Cain had called him up and asked him to phone his friend, New York gossip queen Cindy Adams who invited the guests.)
So, is it fair to say John Coale is a Cain adviser? And should Van Susteren mention this on her show, especially when she’s discussing the Cain campaign, as she did last night during a conversation with Brit Hume?
On the first question, both Coale and Greta say “no.” On GretaWire she writes that her husband has a lot of friends in Washington:
As friends, he gives them advice, and they give him advice….he tells them things and they tell him things. It is all part of living in Washington. Many in the media have spouses – unlike my husband – who actually WORK for politicians and or in government. Let me repeat, my husband does NOT WORK for any of them and NEVER HAS.
As for the second question, we asked Fox News and Bill Shine, who oversees primetime shows, including Van Susteren’s says Greta’s blog post is enough of a disclosure. Shine refused to answer why she didn’t mention the friendship, or advice-giving, or dinner-arranging, or whatever you call it, on air.
You’ll recall, Van Susteren got the first interview with Cain and his wife earlier this month following the sexual harassment allegations.
What do you think? Comments are open…