Discussion: Photographer Files Complaint With IG After Fired For Leaking Photos Of Perry

I think the issue is more that he’s aware other people have shame.

According to WaPa the Energy Department made him use his personal Google drive account and then demanded access to it to delete the pictures after he took them. When he refused they escorted him from the building.

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He’s not a leaker! He’s not a leaker! You’re the leaker!

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The real crime appears to be trying to allow transparency into how this government actually works. That is a big no-no.

I’ve heard the Trump White House is a great place to take a leak.

Well if he’s aware of and willing to testify to ‘wheeling and dealing’ beyond the scope of Perry’s official capacity then he’s much more than a photographer trying to maverick some snapshots. I say go get em.

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This is from the WaPo article that @isepick referenced above:

[quote]In a Jan 4. complaint, Edelman, the department’s chief creative officer, said that he had given official photos to The Washington Post and In These Times magazine of a March 29 meeting between coal mining executive Robert Murray and Energy Secretary Rick Perry. The photos show the two men hugging and discussing an “action plan” for overhauling federal energy regulations.

Edelman said in the complaint filed with the department’s inspector general that he felt there was something improper about the close similarity between Perry’s proposed changes to electricity regulations to prop up coal and nuclear plants in September and the plan Murray presented months earlier, and decided to make the photos available to both publications. [/quote]

(my emphasis)

FWIW. Whether he has a case or not remains to be seen. Frankly, I wouldn’t put it past Perry…

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No, I wouldn’t put much of anything past Perry. He’s a shameless self-promoter. And he’s a crummy dancer.

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Technically, the Federal Government, which has fiduciary authority. The details are sketchy but the photographer could have gone to the IG’s office with concerns. It does professional photographers no good to not be trustworthy.

So…if the meeting were really no big deal, why the opposition to the photographer sharing the photo? After all, there’s nothing to hide, right? Objecting to the photo’s publication in In These Times smells like a flimsy pretext to me.

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It’s where he shared it that was a problem. He was not an independent photojournalist, he was acting as an agent of DOE. If Pete Souza sent offensive pictures of Obama to Fox News without his knowledge, I think we would all think that was wrong. Yes? If he had concerns there were better ways of dealing with them.

hoping Mueller repeats the Senate question:

“In questioning Donald Trump Jr. at a closed-door hearing in mid-December, investigators for the Senate Intelligence Committee asked about his encounter with Torshin at the NRA convention, according to a source familiar with the hearing.”

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But this implies that DOE and Perry do indeed find these pictures offensive. Why, if the meeting were truly innocent? I’m not taking any position on who owns the photo, I’m talking about the actions taken by the DoE. If it was harmless, why not just give a slap on the wrist? The response is over the top, not commensurate with the alleged wrongdoing.

Yes. After all the “war on coal” propaganda, wouldn’t this be something to promote if that was sincere?

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The actions were because the photographer violated professional practice. I believe that, as much as I sympathize with his intentions. He wasn’t working for the National enquire, but for DOE.

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Proud to be a fellow Edelman today. No known relation.

I understand that consideration, but I still question the magnitude of DoE’s response. Why was a warning and slap on the wrist not enough?

These are dire times -
If “Agency officials” had swiftly executed Photographer Simon Edelman after he published photos of Perry meeting with Robert Murray of Murray Energy

  • over half of all Trump supporters would either say nothing - or say ‘yeah- OK … he had it coming to him - got what he deserved’
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Best way to draw attention to the surreptitious. Fire the guy who exposes it.

Perry continues his streak for being the apex of the inept.

Well, Rick Perry works for the citizens of the United States. In meeting with Murray, if he was acting in his official capacity as Secretary of Energy, then his meeting is public information. Including any pictures taken. If Secretary Perry thinks that he owns those pictures, he is mistaken.

WE own those pictures.

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