Politics

Wendy Rieger cavorts with Van Jones

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NBC’s very own Wendy Rieger, WRC News 4 anchor in Washington, D.C., will be emceeing a green event honoring President Barack Obama’s disgraced former special advisor for green jobs Anthony “Van” Jones Tuesday night.

Van Jones, it will be remembered, resigned in September 2009 after numerous disturbing facts surfaced about his past affiliations and current political views.

In 2004, Van Jones signed a petition from 911Truth.org which alleged that the Bush administration “may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war.” A month prior to his appointment in the Obama administration, during a speech in Berkeley, Calif., Van Jones called congressional Republicans “a-holes.”

His controversial activities do not stop there. He was a self-described communist during the 1990s, working with a group propagating Marxist/Leninist ideology, an advocate for cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, and he has blamed white people for environmental pollution.

“The white polluters and the white environmentalists are essentially steering poison into the people of color communities because they don’t have a racial justice frame,” he told The Ecological Options Network.

Green DMV, a nonprofit group which promotes environmentalism and green jobs as a way to escape poverty, will be hosting the event, titled “Green Night Out.” Sponsors for the event include Honest Tea, Foster’s Wine, Grassfed Media, and Peak Organics Beer. The purported reason for the event is to raise money to fight poverty and environmental degradation.

The event will feature live musical entertainment, organic food, an open bar, and a celebration of Van Jones.

A spokesman for WRC News 4 attempted to explain away the affiliation to The Daily Caller.

“Wendy was asked to emcee an event called ‘Green Night Out’ for an organization that promotes green jobs and clean energy to low-income communities,” he said. “Her involvement is simply to help support the organization, and she had no involvement in choosing the attendees or award recipients.”

Wendy Reiger did not respond to The Daily Caller’s request for comment

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Caroline May