EDITOR'S NOTE:Raw Story writer Matt Laslo's congressional bureau, The LCB, has been credentialed by the Radio-Television Correspondents' Association (RTCA) since 2012.
WASHINGTON — America's most powerful TV networks have been handing out coveted congressional press credentials to people Congress has strictly barred from eligibility. They include a man arrested by the FBI on child pornography charges, Trump's own lawyer, Turning Point USA operatives, political activists and press secretaries — all in apparent violation of congressional statute.
That's the finding of a Raw Story investigation into the Radio-Television Correspondents' Association (RTCA), the little-known, congressionally-empowered body that plays an outsized role over who in Washington gets access to the halls of power — and who doesn't.
Under the Standing Rules of the Senate, only people whose chief work — and at least half their income — comes from gathering or reporting broadcast news qualify for an RTCA credential. Applicants must also declare they're not employed by any government agency.
The names of those approved for admission are then printed in the official Congressional Directory; the latest available version is for the 118th Congress (2023-2024).
Besides those broad regulations, Congress largely lets the press write its own rules and police itself — and the cops have apparently been asleep.
The stakes are real: when Congress-issued press credentials go to political operatives, lobbyists and activists instead of being reserved for journalists, it corrupts the pipeline of information flowing to the public — and hands partisan actors the same privileged access as reporters tasked with holding power to account.
Let's start with the incomprehensible. After the FBI raided reporter James Meek's home in 2022, he resigned in disgrace from ABC News.
The following year, two months before new credentials are issued each spring, FBI agents arrested Meek "for transporting images of child sexual abuse," according to the Justice Department. He was later convicted and imprisoned.
RTCA — run by a small committee of network broadcasters and a handful of permanent staffers — approved a 2023–2024 congressional press credential for him anyway.
ABC News’ representative at the Capitol has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
Christina Bobb didn't just leave journalism — she became one of the most politically active figures in Trump's orbit.
In April 2021, Bobb and OAN White House Correspondent Chanel Rion raised upwards of $600,000 through a personal nonprofit aimed at overturning the 2020 election, according to the Arizona Mirror — an open violation of RTCA's anti-activism rules. She was on Trump's legal team after the 2020 election.
Despite having left OAN in March 2022, RTCA approved her for a 2023–2024 OAN congressional press credential. In the lead-up to the 2024 election, Bobb was tapped to lead the Republican National Committee's election integrity program, which critics called a voter suppression effort.
In April 2024 — while approved for an official congressional hard pass — a grand jury indicted Bobb and 17 others on nine counts of forgery, fraud and conspiracy.
One America News is in a league of its own. Six of the 22 credentials OAN was approved for — 27.3 percent — appear to violate RTCA bylaws.
Pizzagate conspiracy peddler Jack Posobiec left OAN in May 2021 to join Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, yet was still approved for RTCA credentials for the 118th Congress.
Caitlin Sinclair left OAN December 2023 to become TPUSA's spokeswoman before running social media for the pro-Trump MAGA INC Super-PAC during the election. She’s listed as approved for credentials, too, despite RTCA having until April 25, 2024 to correct the official Congressional Directory.
Separately, Fox News requested — and RTCA approved — a credential for Turning Point USA Chief Marketing Officer Marina Minas after she left the network, according to her LinkedIn.
After she departed OAN for Newsmax in 2021, RTCA also okayed OAN credentials for Jennifer Pellegrino throughout the last Congress. She has since left media entirely and is now chief spokesperson for the America First Policy Institute.
The RTCA Executive Committee — the body that approves credentials — is made up of broadcasters elected by their credentialed peers. They’re the gatekeepers.
Lilly Broadcasting submitted just two credential requests for 2023–2024. One of them went to Matthew Knoedler, who left journalism in 2021 to become press secretary for Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA).
During the 2024 election, Knoedler served as communications director for Kelly's Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump — all while approved for a credential he was categorically ineligible for.
Fox News also credentialed Tucker Carlson throughout the same period — even though the network's own lawyers had already convinced a federal court that Carlson is "a commentator prone to rhetorical hyperbole," not a journalist.
Mike Mastrian has been director of the Senate Radio-Television Gallery since 2005. He reports to the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, but he's also tasked with administering the will of the RTCA Executive Committee.
Currently, Nate Reed of Scripps chairs the committee and also served on it in 2023-2024. He's joined by Vice Chair Frank Thorp V of NBC, Kevin Frey of MS Now and Rachel Knapp of Lilly Broadcasting.
Throughout the 118th Congress, it was led by Fox Radio's Jared Halpern (2023) and NBC's Ryan Nobles (2024). Last year, it was led by Allie Pecorin of Disney-owned ABC.
Multiple requests for comment to each current RTCA Executive Committee member and several former chairs have gone unanswered.
RTCA conducts its business largely in secret. Member meetings are off the record. Credentialing criteria is rarely written down, thus ever-evolving depending on who’s applying.
RTCA maintains four separate public websites — Senate, House, RTCA Cap Hill and RTCA Capitol Hill — that flatly contradict each other at points, including on membership requirements and its own governing constitution.
Across those four sites, RTCA claims to have "over 3,000," "over 3,600," "over 3,700" and "more than 4,000" members. At $40 per credential, the difference between 3,000 and 4,000 members is $40,000 in annual dues.
While the House site lists three membership tiers — “Active,” “Temporary” and “Non-Voting Gallery Membership“ — rtcacaphill.org claims RTCA’s Constitution established an “Honorary” tier reserved for those who “have rendered outstanding service to the objects of this Association.”
Those listed in the Congressional Directory aren’t differentiated by membership tier.
RTCA credentialing data for the 119th Congress isn't publicly available yet and likely won't be until after this year's midterms.
RTCA didn't respond to Raw Story's questions.
