Michelle Malkin scores coup #2 this afternoon with an interview of David Gergen, one of the forum moderators at Davos and the one who reportedly shut down the debate after Eason Jordan accused the US military of deliberately targeting journalists for assassination. Gergen verifies what Barney Frank, Rony Arbovitz, and Rebecca MacKinnon have already said about Jordan's comments:

First, Gergen confirmed that Eason Jordan did in fact initially assert that journalists in Iraq had been targeted by military "on both sides." Gergen, who has known Jordan for some 20 years, told me Jordan "realized as soon as the words had left his mouth that he had gone too far" and "walked himself back." Gergen said as soon as he heard the assertion that journalists had been deliberately targeted, "I was startled. It's contrary to history, which is so far the other way. Our troops have gone out of their way to protect and rescue journalists."

Gergen mentioned that Jordan had just returned from Iraq and was "caught up in the tension of what was happening there. It's a raw, emotional wound for him."

Gergen said he asked Jordan point blank whether he believed the policy of the U.S. military was to sanction the targeting of journalists. Gergen said Jordan answered no, but then proceeded to speculate about a few incidents involving journalists killed in the Middle East--a discussion which Gergen decided to close down because "the military and the government weren't there to defend themselves."

But the blockbuster news from David Gergen isn't so much the corroboration he gave Michelle about Jordan's remarks. He told Michelle that he had been interviewed by the Washington Post about Jordan's comments last week, who then apparently spiked the story.

The only way that the transcript and/or video of this event will come to light is to have it subpoenaed. The only coverage this will get from a media that has desperately kept the lid on Eason's Fables is for Congress to hold hearings on Jordan's allegations at Davos and Portugal last November. We have seen the response of the mainstream media, which has decided that it won't expose one of its own, especially executives that have the ability to hire and fire people. The corruption of our news media has been exposed to the blogosphere, and at this point only open hearings will finally blow the lid off for everyone to see.

UPDATE: Senator Chris Dodd hasn't directly spoken with Michelle Malkin, but she did get this response from his spokesman:

"Senator Dodd was not on the panel but was in the audience when Mr. Jordan spoke. He – like panelists Mr. Gergen and Mr. Frank – was outraged by the comments. Senator Dodd is tremendously proud of the sacrifice and service of our American military personnel."

That's four people who heard it the way Rony Arbovitz reported it, two of them liberal politicians who probably don't have much of an axe to grind against CNN or Eason Jordan.

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