J.P. Freire, managing editor of the conservative American Spectator magazine, is outraged. Simply outraged that the New York Times would have the sheer audacity to run a questionable article about a possible tawdry affair between Sen. John McCain and lobbyist Vicki Iseman. That the so-called Paper of Record would dare hint at a sex scandal.

“If you want to have reliable journalism, or any sort of standards when it comes to reporting the right things, maybe what you should do is…avoid going to the New York Times,” Freire said last Thursday on Neil Cavuto’s FOX News program (YouTube below). “They can’t be relied on to tell a decent story, especially when it comes to John McCain.”

Freire went further. He wants people to boycott the publication. Cancel their subscriptions. Rip the paper to shreds.

“It’s sloppy work,” Freire insisted. “It’s not properly attributed.”

Stop the presses. Doesn’t Freire work for the same American Spectator that unabashedly pursued a story involving someone named Paula Jones (they only referred to her by first name in the beginning) and her allegations of an affair with President Bill Clinton? Didn’t the American Spectator rely on several unnamed sources in that situation? Didn’t employees of the American Spectator long pursue a whispering campaign, fostering rumors that President Clinton fathered a child out of wedlock with a young African American woman? Didn’t they leak that unfounded story to Matt Drudge in 1999?

The magazine, it turns out, is a verifiable glass house.

Still, we have no doubt that Freire’s outrage is real. But, perhaps, it stems from a source other than indignity over journalistic standards. After all, before working for the American Spectator, Freire did work at the New York Times. And he was forced to move on when his boss got demoted.

Now he’s throwing stones.

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Big Head DC has obtained a copy of a tax warrant for Bill Keller, the editor of the controversial New York Times Sen. John McCain / Vicki Iseman story:

The warrant indicates that as of early this month Keller owed almost $1,000 in unpaid taxes, according to the New York Tax Commissioner. h/t: webofdeception.com

Earlier: NY Times Editor Bill Keller Had an Affair, Too?

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Bill Keller, the New York Times’ top editor who bears responsibility for the publication of the Sen. John McCain / Vicki Iseman affair article, may have once had an extramarital affair himself — with his current wife Emma Gilbey, according to research dug up by Deceiver.com. Which would go far in partially explaining why Keller was pretty reticent to unload this piece in the first place. Guilty hearts, and all. FYI: Gilbey was once romantically involved with Sen. John Kerry.

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Just as they have done for Sen. Barack Obama’s accuser Larry Sinclair, WhiteHouse.com is now offering Vicki Iseman $100,000 if she will take a polygraph and it shows that she did not have an affair with Sen. John McCain.

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Bob Bennett, otherwise known as John McCain’s lawyer, happened to be scheduled to appear on Hannity & Colmes on Wednesdy evening — before anyone knew the New York Times McCain / Vicki Iseman would break:

From the program:

“You know, I’m in a pretty unique position to talk about John McCain. First, I should tell your listeners I’m a registered Democrat, so I’m not on his side of a lot of issues. But I investigated John McCain for a year and a half, at least, when I was special counsel to the Senate Ethics Committee in the Keating Five, which, by the way, this New York Times article goes back to and discusses, goes back years and years. And if there is one thing I am absolutely confident of, it is John McCain is an honest man. I recommended to the Senate Ethics Committee that he be cut out of the case, that there was no evidence against him, and I think for the “New York Times” to dig this up just shows that Senator McCain’s public statement about this is correct. It’s a smear job.”

“Ironically, you guys were kind enough to invite me on to talk about my book. This story broke, you know, an hour ago. And this was not my intention here, you know, to come on and defend John McCain. I think it’s the right thing to do. One thing I concluded, he is an honest man. This is a real hit job. “

“And after representing him the last few months, answering all the questions of the New York Times, looking into the allegations they wanted us to respond to, I cannot find, nor can they, a single instance where John McCain did something contrary to his beliefs.”

“I only began representing Senator McCain a couple of months ago in connection with some dirty tricks, which has now resulted in this article, I believe. I investigated John McCain. I was investigating him as counsel to the Senate Ethics Committee. It was after a year and a half year of investigating him, I decided that he was a very honest man and recommended to the Senate that they not go after him. So, you know, I didn’t ever represent him before. I don’t know, you know, John McCain is winning an awful lot. And just a repeat of South Carolina, if you ask me.”

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John Weaver, a former top campaign aide to John McCain, tells NBC News this morning (off-air) that he wasn’t the main source for the McCain / Vicki Iseman story. He says all of his quotes for the New York Times piece were on-record, and that he passed the information he provided to the newspaper on to the McCain camp.

From The New Republic on Weaver:

Update Feb 21: John Weaver emails insisting that he strongly supports and admires McCain and bears him no animus. He adds that the Times already knew about his meeting with Iseman when its reporters approached him, and that he was not going to lie to the paper. He adds that he talks with the McCain campaign every day, and that the campaign knew about his contact with the Times immediately after it happened. Weaver emphasizes that his only concern about Iseman was that she allegedly had been bragging around town about her influence with McCain (which is also how I read his quotes) and nothing more. Meanwhile, McCain at his press conference this morning McCain said that while he hasn’t spoken to Weaver recently, he considers him a “friend.”

Original item follows. An interesting footnote to the Times bombshell and the Post’s lesser but interesting version is John Weaver’s role in both stories. For years Weaver was among McCain’s very closest advisors, second perhaps only to chief of staff Mark Salter. But during his campaign’s near-death experience last summer, McCain summarily dumped Weaver after a reportedly angry confrontation. Weaver’s departure was stunning, something akin to George Bush throwing Karl Rove overboard. Weaver denied that he had been fired by McCain, however, and publicly continued to support his former boss.

Now Weaver is an important source in both the Times and Post pieces. From the Times:

Separately, a top McCain aide met with Ms. Iseman at Union Station in Washington to ask her to stay away from the senator. John Weaver, a former top strategist and now an informal campaign adviser, said in an e-mail message that he arranged the meeting after “a discussion among the campaign leadership” about her.

“Our political messaging during that time period centered around taking on the special interests and placing the nation’s interests before either personal or special interest,” Mr. Weaver continued. “Ms. Iseman’s involvement in the campaign, it was felt by us, could undermine that effort.”

Mr. Weaver added that the brief conversation was only about “her conduct and what she allegedly had told people, which made its way back to us.” He declined to elaborate.

It’s noteworthy that Weaver doesn’t specifically support any of the worst charges against McCain–i.e. that McCain was having an affair, or that the senator did any legislative favors for Iseman. His aim may be to depict Iseman as having tried to cultivate a relationship with McCain that she could trade on professionally. Four sources did, after all, tell the Post that “Iseman spoke up regularly at meetings of telecom lobbyists in Washington, extolling her connections to McCain and his office.” This could be seen as a variant of the Monica-was-a-stalker line, I suppose (though I have no idea in this case whether or not it might be true).

Still, Weaver’s on-the-record contributions do bolster both the juicyness and credibility of both stories. (Unless I missed it, no one else is on the record saying that Iseman was a headache for the McCain team.) Which makes me wonder whether this reflects a deeper fissure between the two men than they ever let on publicly.

Update: A commenter points out that Weaver recently helped to broker Mitt Romney’s endorsement of McCain (something that in my monomania about the Democratic race I had not noticed). That would imply no lingering hard feelings. But it’s notable to me from the story linked above that Weaver was contacted not by his old confidante, McCain, but by campaign strategist Charlie Black. Maybe I’m over-parsing that. In any event, my take is that, intentionally or not, Weaver’s contributions boosted the stories rather than deflating them. At least one of my colleagues seems to agree.

More: Based on another indication that Weaver was not trying to make trouble for McCain I’ve revised the headline and may update later.

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If editors at the New York Times believe that John McCain has ethical issues and may have had an affair with lobbyist Vicki Iseman — enough so to run a lengthy article on these topics — then why did the publication recently endorse McCain? From the January 25, 2008 issue of the paper:

Still, there is a choice to be made, and it is an easy one. Senator John McCain of Arizona is the only Republican who promises to end the George Bush style of governing from and on behalf of a small, angry fringe. With a record of working across the aisle to develop sound bipartisan legislation, he would offer a choice to a broader range of Americans than the rest of the Republican field.

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Has John McCain strongly enough denied the report by The New York Times that he may have had an affair with lobbyist Vicki Iseman? And who is she? Big Head DC has retrieved the lobbyist’s bio, which has been removed from the Alcalde & Faye Web site:

Vicki Iseman, Partner, represents corporate and public clients on issues as diverse as government contracting and regulatory reform. Her experience includes representation of clients before Congress, Federal government agencies and local opinion leaders.

She has extensive experience in telecommunications, representing corporations before the House and Senate Commerce Committees. Her work on the landmark 1992 and 1996 communications bills helped secure cable access for broadcast television stations. Her experience in the communications field includes digital television conversion, satellite regulations and telecommunications ownership provisions.She has been active in grassroots communications campaigns for clients, building community based support for legislative initiatives. Among others, she participated in the “Keep America Moving” campaign that educated community leaders on the allocation of Federal highway trust funds.

In addition, she has consulted for clients who are interested in government contracting opportunities. She has assisted corporations through the authorization and appropriation process. An active fundraiser, she has organized and participated in many political fundraising events.

A native of Pennsylvania, she holds a B.A. degree in Education from Indiana University in Pennsylvania.

Earlier: McCain Responds to Tawdry NY Times Story

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The John McCain campaign has responded to a New York Times article, published online Wednesday evening, which raises several ethical concerns about the senator from Arizona. The piece alludes to a possible recent affair between McCain and a lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, although McCain denies having had a sexual relationship with her. The campaign’s statement follows:

“It is a shame that The New York Times has lowered its standards to engage in a hit-and-run smear campaign. John McCain has a 24-year record of serving our country with honor and integrity. He has never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists, and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the issues at stake in this election.

“Americans are sick and tired of this kind of gutter politics, and there is nothing in this story to suggest that John McCain has ever violated the principles that have guided his career.”

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