Mitt Romney's campaign said Saturday it will prohibit the news media from covering a Jerusalem fundraiser on Monday that will cap his visit to Israel, a decision that breaks the prior ground rules the campaign had negotiated with news organizations, The Washington Post reported.
After Romney clinched the GOP presidential nomination in April, he began opening fundraising events held in all public venues to a pool of wire service, print and television reporters. The Jerusalem event is being held at the King David Hotel.
Campaign spokesman Rick Gorka declined to explain the decision to violate protocol. Pressed for an explanation, Gorka said only that the fundraiser was “closed press.”
The Post noted that Romney has delivered different messages to his donors when reporters are not on hand. At a closed-press fundraiser in Florida this spring, reporters from NBC News and the Wall Street Journal overheard him outline new tax policy proposals and suggest that he might dramatically shrink the Department of Education and eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Some Jewish-American donors are attending the Jerusalem fundraiser, including Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.