<em>National Journal</em> Party Has Potty Issues

By Eddie Scarry and Betsy Rothstein National Journal's pre-White House Correspondents' Dinner "Making News" party Friday could easily go down as one of this year's nicest, most well-planned parties in the coolest warehouse space we've seen in awhile. And maybe it will if attendees forget that for a large portion of it, the restroom for hundreds of guests was out of order. That's right. There was one toilet available for the entire warehouse full of partygoers, and the top floor, which contained the toilet, was for V.I.P.'s only. "That's hood," one attendee waiting outside the restroom remarked about the potty problem. "Poopgate, drink slowly," said another, explaining that one employee advised him to pace himself. When Fox News' Peter Doocy approached the first-floor restroom area, he was told he could not enter. "How long do you think?" he asked the woman standing guard. "Alright, I'll let it go." (We sincerely hope he held it in, not let it go.) Another partygoer cracked, "All these people are going to have to piss on themselves. This might be the shortest party ever." The attendant said she had people requesting buckets and cups. The party took place at the two-story bar in Georgetown called The Powerhouse. It was on the bottom floor where they stationed event workers in front of the hall leading to the restroom, alerting guests from about 10 p.m., when the party started, to about 11:30, that the toilets weren't working. Only that one VIP restroom upstairs was available. But without one of the exclusive red wristbands, how were most of the guests going to relieve themselves? "If it gets too bad we'll have to open up the VIP area," said NJ Communications Director Ben Fishel at the time. At one point a team of men carrying what looked like... a large leaf blower trekked into the out-of-commission restroom, presumably to extract fix the problem. Aside from that, the party was packed, champagne was flowing and the guests appeared to have a good time, drinking from the open bar (specialty drink: The Rose Garden, a vodka-based, strawberry-lemon drink which tasted like biting into a grapefruit after having brushed your teeth) and eating waffles with an incredibly elaborate display of toppings and a myriad of other hors d'oeuvres. Notables: ABC News' Ann Compton, NJ President and Publisher John Fox Sullivan, lefty radio host Bill Press, National Review's Robert Costa; NJ "The Hotline's" Reid Wilson, citizen journo Daniel Lippman, HuffPost's Paige Lavender and Mollie Reilly; Now This News' Sara Kenigsberg and Ashley Codianni; ABC News Deputy Political Director Michael Falcone; CQ Roll Call HOH columnists Neda Semnani and Warren Rojas; The Daily Beast's Eli Lake; BuzzFeed's Evan McMorris-Santoro and Benny Johnson; ABC7's Kris Van Cleave; newly married Kiki and Tim Burger, American Beverage Assoc.'s Chris Gindlesperger, Rep. Darrell Issa aide Kurt Bardella and The Free Beacon's Michael Goldfarb. Eddie Scarry and Neda Semnani

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National Journal Party Has Potty Issues

Eddie Scarry

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Eddie Scarry