posted on February 16, 2004 03:39:37 PM new
Feb 16, 6:26 PM EST
Woman Denies Rumors of Kerry Affair
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Associated Press Writer
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- A woman who has been the subject of rumors linking her to Sen. John Kerry denied Monday that she ever had an affair with the Democratic presidential candidate.
Breaking her silence four days after the allegations surfaced on the Internet, Alexandra Polier issued a statement to The Associated Press, saying, "I have never had a relationship with Senator Kerry, and the rumors in the press are completely false."
Kerry already has denied reports that he had an extramarital affair. On Monday, his campaign said he would have no further comment.
Polier's statement was released to the AP in Nairobi, where the 27-year-old freelance journalist is visiting the parents of her fiance, Yaron Schwartzman, an Israeli who was raised in Kenya. She previously worked as an editorial assistant for the AP in New York.
"Whoever is spreading these rumors and allegations does not know me," Polier said, appealing to the media to respect her privacy and the privacy of her fiance and his family.
Polier also took issue with reports that referred to her as a former Kerry intern.
"I never interned or worked for John Kerry," she told AP over the phone.
In a separate statement, Polier's parents, Terry and Donna Polier of Malvern, Pa., dismissed the "completely false and unsubstantiated" allegations about their daughter.
"We love and support her 100 percent and these unfounded rumors are hurtful to our entire family," the statement said. "We appreciate the way Senator Kerry has handled the situation, and intend on voting for him for president of the United States."
The statement did not address purported quotes by Polier's parents in the British tabloid The Sun that were harshly critical of Kerry.
Kerry has won 14 of 16 Democratic primaries and caucuses, and is expected to be the Democratic challenger to President Bush in November.
Rumors of a relationship between Kerry and Polier first appeared Thursday on the Internet and were picked up by newspapers in several countries outside the United States. Few U.S. publications printed her name, however.
Asked Friday about the reports, Kerry told reporters: "I just deny it categorically. It's rumor. It's untrue. And that's the last time I intend" to respond to questions about it.
Regarding her silence until now, Polier said, "Because these stories were false, I assumed the media would ignore them. It seems that efforts to peddle these lies continue, so I feel compelled to address them."
By Monday, reporters and photographers were camped outside the Schwartzmans' Nairobi home, and at one point pursued the car of Yaron's mother, Hannah Schwartzman, as she left the walled compound.
Polier and Yaron Schwartzman met at Clark University, in Worcester, Mass. Polier graduated from Clark in 1999. She received her master's in journalism from Columbia in 2002. They arrived in Kenya last October.
posted on February 16, 2004 03:57:57 PM new
Well, of course you would believe Matt Drudge as opposed to the actual people involved, Linda.
I'm sure there'll soon be a new round of doctored photographs to titillate you...
FLASHBACK: MEDIA GRILLED BUSH OVER 'ADULTERY' CLAIMS
As main press players blast the DRUDGE REPORT and foreign outlets for revealing details of a behind-the-scenes campaign drama surrounding candidate Kerry and the nature of his relationship with a mystery woman -- just 12 years ago the same players peppered former President George Bush with questions surrounding an infidelity rumor!
In 1992 top reporters swiftly reacted to a footnote in a book quoting a long dead ambassador.
CNN rushed to get the rumor into the media stream as White House correspondent Mary Tillotson confronted President Bush as he hosted Israel Prime Minister Rabin in the Oval Office.
"There is an extensive series of reports in today's New York Post alleging that a former U.S. ambassador, a man now deceased, had told several persons that he arranged for a sexual tryst involving you and one of your female staffers in Geneva in 1984."
Asked NBC's Stone Phillips to the president's face at the height of the "rumor mongering":
"Have you ever had an affair?"
CBS' Harry Smith then confronted Bush spokesperson Mary Matalin over on-air morning coffee:
"Let me ask you about something else. There's a book out, or a book that's just about out that in a footnote names that then-Vice President Bush had an affair with an assistant when he was on a mission in Geneva.
Well, that footnote has turned into frontpage news (holding up N.Y.POST), at least in New York, in the N.Y. POST. Albeit a tabloid, it is usually a conservative newspaper. Are you ready to say that accusation is a flat out lie?"
NEWSWEEK's Jonathan Alter defended the aggressive adultery rumor line-of-questioning of the first President Bush on ABC's NIGHTLINE on August 12, 1992, on a broadcast titled: "The Media Charges George Bush With Adultery."
"In this situation, the Oval Office isn't a temple," Alter explained. "The President is a candidate and he has to be asked tough, often distasteful, but nonetheless important kinds of questions."
UPI's Helen Thomas also defended the Bush affair reportage:
"Some people might have felt that it wasn't appropriate. But when you have the President there, I think it's very legitimate to ask him any question."
CUT TO 2004:
NEWSWEEK'S Alter blasted any and all coverage of the Kerry infidelity probe last week on a New York City talkradio outlet -- calling the investigation "sleazy."
The media outrage over an erupting story of possible infidelity of a presidential candidate -- 2004 -- peaked with Joe Conason's cover story in SALON late last week ["There he goes again! Matt Drudge and the GOP smear machine are back in the Democrats' pants"]
Conason lamented:
"But the kind of proof usually required by national news organizations isn't what Drudge needs in order to put innuendo into circulation."
But is this really the same Joe Conason who in the Summer of 1992 wrote a magazine cover story entitled "1,000 REASONS NOT TO VOTE FOR GEORGE BUSH?"
Consaon's reason #1:
"He cheats on his wife."
The rumor of President Bush having an affair was never proved by the media.
-------
It's all politics!!!
The developing Kerry drama may or may not join it on the shelf./end
It's real easy to see the difference between how the media handled a RUMOR then and how it is being handled this time.
Maybe it's because the media learned it's lesson. Maybe it's because it's only reported when it's the opposing party.
Re-elect President Bush!!
[ edited by Linda_K on Feb 16, 2004 04:22 PM ]
