Sanford E-Mail Fallout: Mediaite Names Jenkins, Tapper Carries Water

What happens when a couple of poor saps at the South Carolina State slog through more than 600 e-mails and phone messages to/from Mark Sanford’s staff and curious outsiders looking for a scoop?  They get a story or two, naturally. As many are now re-reporting, much of this correspondence was with members of the media (including S.C. native Stephen Colbert, Larry King and The Washington Times) who, the State alleges (and the e-mails seem to indicate), were willing to spin the story favorably in exchange for exclusive access to the missing governor.

We first came across the odd little story on The Kicker, which wondered about the identity of an unnamed “Fox News Channel correspondent” who sent the following note of concern to Sanford’s communication’s director:

“Having known the Governor for years and even worked with him when he would host radio shows for me — I find this story and the media frenzy surrounding it to be absolutely ridiculous! Please give him my best.”

Hmm.  We didn’t give it all that much thought, but Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer did, and he dug up an answer:  It’s Griff Jenkins, a features reporter and producer at FNC who got himself pushed around the DNC protests last summer.

If outing Jenkins isn’t exactly major news, we’re encouraged by the fact that folks over at Mediaite are reporting out stories. If they aren’t careful they’re going to make people think that media bloggers actually do real work.

The State has followed up yesterday’s piece with this story.  Sure, it’s a little self-congratulatory, but they did come across one surprising name:  ABC’s Jake Tapper.  According to the story:

Tapper e-mailed Sawyer twice on June 23, both to note coverage of competitor NBC. With a subject line of “NBC spot was slimy,” Tapper e-mailed Sawyer a “Today” show transcript of Sanford coverage, calling it “insulting.” Later, Tapper forwarded Sawyer a Twitter post by “Meet The Press” host David Gregory.

Jeff Schneider, a vice president at ABC News, said Tapper was “carrying some water for producers who knew he had a relationship with the governor’s office.”