White House Spokesman Criticizes Use of Anonymous Sources

White House spokesman Josh Earnest came under fire from the White House press corps Thursday when he dismissed the use of anonymous sources.

Earnest's criticism of an Associated Press story drew an exasperated response from reporters who noted that administration officials routinely demanded to be quoted without attribution.

The AP report said multiple U.S. officials used the phrase "not a slam dunk" to describe a U.S. intelligence assessment examining whether Syrian President Bashar Assad ordered a chemical weapons attack on a Damascus suburb. The alleged attack is being used by the U.S. to mount a possible military strike against Syria.

#Secrecy #Transparency #Media #Journalism #WhiteHouse