And how sure are we that the secret service did know his real name, do we just belive them w/o any evidence?
more people than you think write under pen names, I often thought if I ever get a chance to write and get published I'd prefer to use a pen name, gives a degree of privacy, esp if you happened to stumble upon success, or you can think of your pen name as your alter ego
also I have a European last name, hard to spell hard to pronounce so yeah a nom du plume might have a nicer ring to it.
You think the Secret Service is lying?
If Guckert had not given them his real name, the Secret Service would not have been able to run a background check on him using his SSN and driver's license numbers. Hence he would never have been allowed into the White House. You can count on that. He may have tried to gain access to press briefings using his pen name, after which the Secret Service would have responded by asking "OK...what's your real legal name?"
I'm curious how an internet news service (which I think is now defunct) rec'd credentials for this guy, who was using an alias and is reportedly involved in other questionable activities.
A lot of journalist go by a pen name. It has never been a big deal until now. They make up a cool name or one that's less ethnic. Bill Clinton did, and he certainly got past the secret service guys.
I think its safe to take the SS word. They have nothing to gain or lose by not being truthful. They do a wonderful job protecting the president. We haven't lost one since 1963.
Was Mark Twain hiding or deceiving when he wrote with a different name? Come on...
Actually, I think we need to have the Secret Service do a deep investigation of the sex lives of ALL the journalists. They seem to think it should have been done in Gannon's case, so I'm sure they won't mind. After all, what they demand for Gannon must be what they really believe. I also think the results of that investigation of their sex lives should be available to the public under the FOI law. Don't you?