I got a callback from a spokeswoman for Mrs. Gregoire, in response to my questions about the death threat against Gregoire and her implication that talk radio was somehow responsible. To recap my questions, which I emailed to the spokeswoman on Tuesday:

Could you clarify Mrs. Gregoire's statement regarding talk radio and send me her exact words from the transcript? Can you also find out what specific talk radio program she had in mind when she made this statement and what specific comments she was referring to? Is there any indication that the one person confirmed by the WSP as making a death threat had been inspired by a talk radio program? Are there any other specific indications of emerging threats to Mrs. Gregoire's safety from talk radio listeners?

Finally, why was an announcement regarding death threats made on February 3 when, according to reports, the only confirmed threat was made more than two weeks earlier, on January 19?

* they know of only one death threat, the one made on Jan. 19 by a psychiatric patient.
* they did not make a recording or transcript of the Q&A period from the press conference, so they can't reproduce Gregoire's exact words, but it was to the effect that Gregoire "understands that a lot of anger has been expressed about the election on talk radio programs, based on what she's been told".
* Gregoire did not have any specific talk radio program in mind when she made her comment.
* Gregoire was instructed by the chief of the Washington State Patrol to stop publishing her schedule because of the death threat.
* It was Gregoire who decided on a six month period for withholding her schedule.
[Why six months as opposed to some other time period, I asked. The spokeswoman didn't know]
* The death threat/talk radio item wasn't scheduled to be announced on Feb. 3, it came out as the answer when a reporter at the press conference specifically asked about Gregoire's schedule.

Although the spokeswoman had my written questions in advance of our conversation and time to research the answers, she did not have answers to my other questions and did not offer any other information to tie talk radio programs and their listeners to the one identified threat or to any other threats of violence against Mrs. Gregoire.

Conclusion: The Gregoire people have presented absolutely no information to show that talk radio is in any way connected to death threats against the former Attorney General. It's about as pathetic of a political stunt that there is for her to insinuate such a connection.

I've also left word for a WSP spokesperson to call me. There are some more open questions that Mrs. Gregoire's spokeswoman punted over to the WSP.