Associated Press Quoted Head Of "Firefighters For Rudy" -- Without Mentioning He's A Rudy Aide

TPM

The Associated Press got completely snookered today in its coverage of the flap between Rudy Giuliani and the firefighters — the news org actually quoted someone and identified them as the head of an independent group called “Firefighters for Rudy,” without mentioning that he is actually a Rudy aide….

he AP treated Brown and his group as if they comprise a genuinely independent organization.

Unfortunately for the AP, however, a cursory bit of checking reveals that Tim Brown is actually an aide to Rudy, and it’s unclear whether the group even has a membership larger than just Tim Brown. The phone number the campaign offered for the group is actually the same as that of the Rudy campaign’s press office.