Axios political reporter’s relationship with top Biden staffer raises ethics concerns

A political reporter's romantic relationship with one of President Biden’s top communications staffers is raising ethics concerns, since she continues to cover the administration and Vice President Kamala Harris.  

Axios reporter Alexi McCammond, also an MSNBC contributor, asked to be taken off then-candidate Joe Biden’s beat because she began dating his then-press secretary TJ Ducklo and the political website obliged.

The couple shared their story in a People magazine feature that came out on Monday night -- only a week after the same magazine’s glowing cover story on the latter’s boss, President Biden.

The People feature raised eyebrows when it was discovered that Axios took her off Biden’s specific beat, but moved her to cover Harris, where she still reports on the Biden administration.

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An Axios spokesperson told People that McCammond "asked to be taken off of the Biden beat" in November but doesn’t clarify if she was still covering her boyfriend’s boss on Election Day.

Axios has since reassigned her to "covering progressive lawmakers in Congress" and Harris.

"Alexi disclosed her relationship with TJ to her editors in November and asked to be taken off of the Biden beat. We reassigned her to cover progressives in Congress, the progressive movement, and Vice President Kamala Harris. Alexi is a valued member of the Axios team, and we stand behind her and her coverage," an Axios spokesperson told Fox News.

However, McCammond covered Biden as recently as Feb. 3 with a story headlined, "Progressives relish Biden's tweet in support of minimum wage policy."

Axios declined a request for additional comment.

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Once the relationship news hit, media critics immediately questioned the decision by Axios to allow her to cover Harris. National Review senior writer Dan McLaughlin called it a "metaphor for the entire relationship between Democrats and the Beltway media," while The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway said it’s a reminder why the media often roots for Democrats.

"The media and their Democrat sources are always extremely close. Sometimes the level of intimacy is figurative, sometimes it's literal. It explains some of why political media work so hard to get Republicans out of power -- so their friends/lovers/spouses, etc. are back in," Hemingway wrote.

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Politico Playbook called McCammond’s relationship with Ducklo an "open secret" and noted that "some of her reporting has been more specific to Biden and his administration" despite supposedly switching beats. It first said she had been taken off the beat but then told Politico she was on the "backseat" on coverage.

"One story billed as a scoop reported that Atlanta Mayor KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS turned down Biden’s offer to head the Small Business Administration. Another said GINA MCCARTHY of California was a leading candidate to become Biden’s climate czar," Politico reported, adding that she recently said we’ve seen "compassion and empathy and a focus on unity" from Biden on a recent podcast.

University of North Carolina associate professor Lois Boynton teaches journalism ethics classes and is a fellow at the Parr Center for Ethics. She feels relationships between sources or potential sources, and reporters "open the door for conflicts of interest, no matter how diligent the two parties are."

Boynton noted that McCammond technically followed Axios’ guidelines but there could still be a perception of potential bias which could impact the way readers view her work. 

"Per what’s reported in the People article, Alexi McCammond followed the Axios ethics policy regarding conflicts of interest by reporting the relationship to her superiors and accepting a shift in what beat she covers," Boynton told Fox News, noting that Axios’ website states any reporter with a conflict of interest "are required to disclose this to their manager, the editor in chief and the standards editor" and "efforts will be made to remove this possible conflict but if a conflict is unavoidable, this will be disclosed at the bottom of the story."

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While McCammond was removed from Biden’s beat, she’s still covering Harris – who obviously reports directly to Biden and can still be seen as a potential conflict of interest.

Boynton said that the Axios code, as well as other professional journalism codes, are "clear in identifying the potential not only for actual conflicts of interest but also perceived conflicts" of interest.

"Perceptions are crucial, particularly if they affect how much trust readers, viewers and other potential sources have in the reporter’s ability to maintain independence."

— Lois Boynton

"Perceptions are crucial, particularly if they affect how much trust readers, viewers and other potential sources have in the reporter’s ability to maintain independence. Across the board, trust in news media has fallen," Boynton said. "Trust is a delicate thing; if compromised, it takes yeoman’s effort to rebuild."

McCammond told the magazine that "TJ has not been a source for any story I've worked on or in any capacity since we began dating."

Ducklo’s boss, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, it appears Ducklo - who was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer in December 2019 - and McCammond were forced to open up about their relationship because the news was going to emerge either way.

Politico reported that it "first contacted the White House in late January with questions about Ducklo and McCammond" and informed the White House their "open secret" would be revealed in Playbook.

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"Hours later, a glowing profile of McCammond and Ducklo’s relationship was published by People," Politico reported.

Back in September, Ducklo -- who was the campaign press secretary -- famously attempted to deflect a question about whether Biden used a teleprompter to answer questions from regular Americans, claiming President Trump's campaign was trying to use the issue as a "distraction" during a viral interview with "Special Report" host Bret Baier.

"We are not going to -- this is straight from the Trump campaign talking points," Ducklo said.

Fox News’ Sam Dorman contributed to this report