According to a new report, an online gamer successfully pretended to be a White House reporter and even posed questions to President Biden’s press secretary. A person who created an online profile as “Kacey ‘Lego’ Montagu” and presented herself as a correspondent for the fictitious “White House News” duped legitimate members of the White House press corps into asking her questions at briefings at least four times, according to a report from Politico. The imposter is believed to be active in the online global gaming platform, ROBLOX, where users jokingly call themselves “Legos.” When reached by Politico, the person didn’t reveal their true identity but expressed frustration with how the actual press asks questions.
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“I love journalism, and I think the press corps is doing a pretty bad job at the moment, so I decided I would ensure some transparency and ask some questions me and some friends wanted the answer to,” Montagu told the outlet. Access to the White House press briefing room is limited to credentialed reporters. Due to social distancing guidelines, capacity at the daily briefings has been further restricted during the coronavirus pandemic.
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White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Monday, March 22, 2021, in Washington. Montagu contacted the credentialed press to pose her questions in the briefing room, and reporters at outlets including The Plain Dealer, CQ Roll Call, and the Washington Blade relayed them to Psaki. So, it’s been relatively common for reporters to ask additional questions to Press Secretary Jen Psaki on behalf of fellow journalists who couldn’t attend the briefing due to coronavirus restrictions. Questions were on Covid-19 travel bans, ambassadorships, Biden’s reaction to Microsoft being hacked, and most recently, Biden’s relationship with former President Obama.
Another question “Montagu” wanted to be asked was about transparency in the Biden administration. That question was never posed by the reporter who received the request. “Recently, the White House has had read outs of calls and has the name of the people saying ‘Senior Administration official,’ so why isn’t the White House releasing the names of people in the calls, making these comments so that they can be held accountable to the American people?” Montagu wrote to a journalist in the briefing room. The White House Correspondents’ Association is responsible for seating and access to the White House briefing room and workspaces. The members-only group did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment about the fake reporter.
