Take it from me, Paul Ryan’s spox has a history of playing hardball with reporters

A local Michigan ABC reporter’s interview with Rep. Paul Ryan ended abruptly yesterday, when Ryan traveling press aide Michael Steel interrupted the interview, saying “Thank you very much, sir.”

As Politico notes, “After that exchange — as Ryan is still speaking — the camera is covered by a Ryan staffer, first with a white piece of paper, and later by a different campaign staffer standing in front of the camera.”

To be sure, Republicans will surely take Ryan’s side against the media, but the abrupt ending seemed bristly (though not nearly as bad as this.)

This isn’t surprising. I can personally attest to Steel’s philosophy regarding recalcitrant journalists — which is to simply cut them off.

A few years ago, when Steel was serving as John Boehner’s spokesman, I wrote a tough column about Boehner’s penchant for public crying. (It was timely; Boehner had just been elected Speaker, and his public weeping was a hot topic).

For obvious reasons, this displeased Steel. Still, one would think they would be interested in building a relationship with arguably the most conservative writer at AOL’s Politics Daily.

And so, just as Boehner was about to be sworn in as Speaker, I reached out to Steel with this email:

I am a fan of Maximilian Kolbe, and am writing a quick profile of him. I know Speaker Boehner attends a St. Maximilian Kolbe church in Liberty Township, Ohio.

Any chance I could get a quote or two about Maximilian from the Speaker?

This could have been a terrific story for Boehner. Kolbe was a real hero, but very few Americans know who he is.

As I ultimately wrote in the post (which I penned without any support from Team Boehner):

As a priest living in Poland during World War II, Kolbe helped hide thousands of Jews from the Nazis. In 1941, he was arrested by the Gestapo, and ultimately transferred to Auschwitz.

When three men disappeared from the camp, it was decided that 10 prisoners must be put to death. When one of the men cried out, mentioning his family, Kolbe volunteered to replace him. Surprisingly, the guard allowed the swap to take place.

Kolbe was a truly remarkable man. He’s also the patron saint of the Pro-Life movement. Boehner should have been excited to say something about this heroic man.

Based on the fact that I wanted to write a positive story about Steel’s boss, you might assume that Steel would help me get a quote — right?

Instead Steel emailed this response to me:

“We have a lot of requests – and, frankly, you’re not going to the top of the list after that silly and irresponsible ‘crying’ piece. You blamed your editors at the time, but your name was on the piece, and actions have consequences.”

Actions have consequences?

… To which I replied: “I’m sorry that you hold grudges. Saint Maximilian would not be pleased.”