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- A Twitter and Roblox user posing as a correspondent snuck 4 questions into White House briefings.
- The individual emailed questions to White House pool reporters using an array of invented journalist titles.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
A Twitter and Roblox user who posed as a White House Correspondents Association member managed to land four questions in recent Biden administration briefings, Politico reported.
Politico's Christopher Cadelago found that the individual – who goes by the name Kacey Montagu – successfully snuck in questions to press secretary Jen Psaki by emailing White House pool reporters using an array of invented journalist titles.
Some reporters declined to pass along Montagu's inquiries. But correspondents at publications like the The Plain Dealer and CQ Roll Call followed through on the requests, asking Psaki questions on topics like COVID-19 travel bans and the president's reaction to Microsoft being hacked.
Montagu used various aliases in emails to pool reporters, Cadelago reported. Sometimes the aliases identified as a White House correspondent at an outlet called "WHN." Other times they named themselves as a political correspondent at an entity called "WHSG." And in at least one instance, they claimed they were a reporter at The Daily Mail.
Montagu, whose true identity is unknown to Insider, built credibility among White House reporters and staff by starting two political news accounts on Twitter, @WHschedule and @WHpoolreport. Montagu has had several exchanges with White House officials, Cadelago reported.
The internet-savvy user appears to have a general interest in politics. In addition to running two White House-focused Twitter accounts, acquaintances of Montagu told Cadelago that they would spend time in a section of the virtual world Roblox where users role-play as US government officials.
"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," the person Cadelago identified as Montagu wrote in an email to Politico.
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