Sen. Stevens Complains About Joe Johns

Sen. Ted Stevens “is furious with CNN correspondent Joe Johns for an interview conducted outside the weekly GOP policy luncheons, but far away from the usual bank of TV cameras set up for such interviews next to the storied Ohio Clock,” Roll Call reports.

The senator is filing a formal complaint about the “unethical” broadcast. “This was an ambush in the hallway,” Stevens spokeswoman Courtney Boone said. “He was asked to go on camera and declined.” (“It was not an ambush, the Senator knew he was on camera,” a CNN spokesperson replied.)

“The blow-up over the Johns report comes as TV journalists have launched
a campaign to secure greater access to the second-floor hallways,” Paul Kane notes, but “one Senate GOP aide said that this incident has ruined the TV journalists’ chances of getting more access…”