The “real crime wave” in Washington: journalists accompanying Biden reprimanded for stealing objects from the presidential plane

The experience of boarding Air Force One or entering the West Wing of the White House can overwhelm any reporter and, therefore, it is natural to try to keep physical memories. But a photograph or an official ‘souvenir’ may not be enough: sometimes, the desire for refinement is only satisfied with a transgression on the most protected and most monitored plane in the world.

Thefts may seem tolerable – who wouldn’t brag about being part of the White House press corps? -, but the truth is that the considerable amount of small objects stolen by reporters is beginning to worry the association that manages the press that follows the President of the United States.

According to the Politicalthe president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, NBC journalist Kelly O’Donnell, sent an email to all journalists in which she left a harsh appeal for professional comrades to stop taking cutlery, plates, glasses and other items with the seal of the Presidency, as they give a bad image to the journalistic class.

The alert came after a trip in February, when Joe Biden went to California for a series of fundraising events, after which employees on the official plane of the US Presidency collected the inventory and reported the disappearance of many utensils in the area dedicated to the press.

The saga may be close to an end. After O’Donnell’s warning, the message was passed among journalists and, in another email, a White House assistant for press support left an escape: “If by chance they took something from the plane by mistake, we can facilitate a unsuspected return.”

All said and done, one of the individuals who admitted the theft of a cushion cover with the Air Force One seal arranged to meet at the “House of Cards”, in the shadow of the statue of Andrew Jackson, near the White House, where the devolution. Others will have done the same.

At newsletter on March 28, with the ironic title “DC’s real crime wave”, Politico explains that the practice is the best-known secret of the Washington press and that, besides bragging about the thefts, the journalists have no complex in recommending that colleagues do the same.

“The frantic robbery makes sense when we remember that Washington is a city occupied by ambitious, status-seeking geeks. Many people who fly with the President on Air Force One really want it to be known that they flew on Air Force One,” write Politico journalists.

Among the stories from several reporters collected by the site, in addition to confessions of stealing whiskey serving sets, wine glasses, porcelain plates and even pillow covers, include reports of a senator who “took everything that wasn’t attached ” at the Air Force One table; a private dinner between journalists where the food was all served on plates stolen from the plane; and the end of a penthouse at the Andrews military base where it was possible to hear the clinking of dishes in backpacks.

A former Biden administration official also commented that the thefts do not represent a particularly big hole in the White House’s accounts. It is, quite simply, a “petty fraud”.

In the email in which she challenged her colleagues, Kelly O’Donnell also recalled that Air Force One objects can be purchased legally. Something that even the former employee admits is not a good argument. “The cups sold on site are not the same as those used on Air Force One. The same applies to the blankets. That’s why the items on board are so appealing.”