Just a day after 10 rapid-fire questions from the White House press corps about reports an Obama group was selling meetings with the president for $500,000 drove spokesman Jay Carney from the podium, the same press corps on Tuesday acted like they never heard of the controversy.
While members of the press corps on Monday felt the White House didn't answer its questions about the controversial donation-for-meetings issue, nobody on the Air Force One press pool who gaggled with Carney Tuesday raised the story first reported by the New York Times.
The Times reported that the former Obama campaign operation, now named Organizing for Action and transformed into a grassroots lobbying group for the president, will let big donors join a board that will meet with the president four times a year. According to the Times:
Giving or raising $500,000 or more puts donors on a national advisory board for Mr. Obama's group and the privilege of attending quarterly meetings with the president, along with other meetings at the White House. Moreover, the new cash demands on Mr. Obama's top donors and bundlers come as many of them are angling for appointments to administration jobs or ambassadorships.
On Monday, after facing repeated questions, Carney simply left the press secretary's podium.
Tuesday, as the president traveled to Newport News, Va., to talk about the sequester, the issue wasn't raised in 12 questions to Carney.
