Romney Colorado spox off-duty for prohibiting Akin, abortion questions

Source: Politico

Ciara Matthews, the Romney campaign's Colorado communications director, has been asked not to speak to the media after her decision to prohibit a reporter from asking Mitt Romney questions about abortion, sources tell POLITICO.

The restriction was made public yesterday when Shaun Boyd, a reporter for Denver's CBS affiliate, told viewers that the campaign had prohibited her from asking questions about abortion or Rep. Todd Akin during her interview with the candidate. The Obama campaign immediately blasted a video of Boyd's remarks, creating a small firestorm over campaign efforts to restrict the press and side-step discussion of Romney's stance on abortion.

A spokesperson with the Romney campaign told POLITICO yesterday that the campaign did not prohbit questions, and other networks said that their questions were not influenced by the campaign. "This is not how we operate," the spokesperson said. "The matter is being addressed."

The campaign has followed through on that promise: Matthews, a former spokesperson to both Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and one-time Senate candidate Sharron Angle, as well as a former Hooters girl, will remain on staff with the campaign but will no longer deal directly with reporters.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/08/romney-colorado-spox-offduty-for-prohibiting-akin-133120.html