Sunday, May 15, 2011

VIDEO: GA GOP Gov. Nathan Deal Retaliates For Critical Report By Locking Out Journalist From Bill Signing

This past week, Georgia TV station FOX 5 aired a report based on an investigation it conducted into the finances of the campaign of Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R). Fox 5 alleged that Deal’s campaign paid $90,000 to a fundraising firm without disclosing the fact that his daughter-in-law, Denise Deal, was actually married to a partner in the firm.

On Friday, Deal struck back against FOX 5 for its allegation of unethical behavior. As the governor sat down to sign into law HB87 — a radical anti-immigrant bill that bears some similarities to Arizona’s infamous law — reporters from FOX 5 began to filter into the room to cover the signing.


Yet FOX 5′s Justin Gray was blocked from entering the room by state police officers. Upon asking why he was being blocked from a routine signing of legislation, the police officers told the station that they had been ordered by the governor’s press people to block their entry. When Gray pressed on, one of Deal’s staffers said they’d be let into the room as soon as they apologized for “the lies you told about us.” As Gray continued to protest, the doors were shut. Unfortunately for Deal, FOX 5 captured the whole event on video. Watch it:



A spokesman for the news station gave the following statement to the local press: “The barring of FOX 5 cameras from the bill signing today was unacceptable and obviously an emotional reaction to our I-Team investigation. We’ve voiced out concerns to the Governor’s Office and hope that they will reconsider that decision.”

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