KSFO's Rodgers baselessly claimed Pritzker is “throwing a fancy reception” for Ahmadinejad

Lee Rodgers baselessly claimed that Penny Pritzker, the national finance chair of Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, is “throwing a fancy reception” for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “at one of the Hyatt hotels in New York,” owned by Pritzker's family. Rodgers offered no evidence for the claim, and Rush Limbaugh has said, “I'm told there's no evidence that Penny Pritzker knew about” the dinner.

On the September 23 edition of KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show, host Lee Rodgers baselessly claimed that Penny Pritzker, the national finance chair of Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, is “throwing a fancy reception” for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “at one of the Hyatt hotels in New York,” owned by Pritzker's family. Rodgers offered no evidence for the claim, and Rush Limbaugh has said, “I'm told there's no evidence that Penny Pritzker knew about” the dinner.

During the broadcast, Rodgers asserted: "[Pritzker] is the head of Barack Obama's campaign finance committee, and, you know, the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is in New York this week. He's going to make a speech to the U.N. Head of the main terrorist nation in the world. Guess who is throwing a fancy reception for him? I believe it's at one of the Hyatt hotels in New York. Penny Pritzker." Rodgers continued: “Yes, big reception for big terrorist, being thrown, paid for by the chairperson of the Obama campaign's finance committee. No, I'm not making it up. You little lefties, you're gonna -- Ahmadinejad, no, no, it can't be true. Look it up, research it yourself. ... These people are in bed -- they're up to their asses in terrorists and left-wing crazies.”

In fact, while the Pritzker family owns the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the location of a September 25 dinner where Ahmadinejad reportedly will be a guest, the charge that she is personally involved with the selection or planning of any “fancy reception” for Ahmadinejad is baseless. A September 17 article in published on the website of the Forward said the event is “sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee, the Quaker United Nations Office, the World Council of Churches, Religions for Peace and the American Friends Service Committee.” According to a Hyatt corporate biography, Penny Pritzker serves as the chair of Classic Residence by Hyatt and sits on the board of the Global Hyatt Corp. The site gives no indication that she has any direct involvement in the operations of hotels such as the Grand Hyatt.

Limbaugh, after discussing the same claim at length on his September 19 broadcast, said:

Now, this is the fourth bit of information I've had on this reception for Ahmadinejad at the Grand Hyatt in New York later this month when Ahmadinejad is here for the UN -- now I'm being told there's no evidence that Penny Pritzker knew about this, but she does own the Grand Hyatt. Apparently there's no that evidence Penny Pritzker knew about it. The invitation to this reception is called, “Has not one God created us?” and Quakers and Mennonites are the ones who have invited Ahmadinejad to the meeting, is what I am now hearing. Penny Pritzker did not, or no evidence that she knew about this.

From the September 23 broadcast of KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show:

RODGERS: From the Obama campaign, we have this item: Penny Pritzker is part of a very wealthy, ultra-left-wing Chicago family. I know a little bit about the Pritzker family and their operations from inside, because the lovely Mrs. Rodgers once worked for them -- in the headquarters office, for the Pritzkers themselves.

OFFICER VIC (co-host Tom Benner): Well.

RODGERS: Very wealthy Chicago family. They own, well, Hyatt hotels. That's the Pritzker family. Marmon Industries is -- not Mormon, Marmon Industries -- is another Pritzker family. Penny -- and, oh, the stories I could tell you about what a bunch of a-holes they are, generally speaking, in that family, my God.

OFFICER VIC: Well, we've got around three more hours.

RODGERS: Yeah, well, Penny Pritzker is one of them. She is so knowledgeable about financial matters she was president of a bank the family owned that collapsed.

OFFICER VIC: Yeah. Uh-huh.

RODGERS: She is the head of Barack Obama's campaign finance committee, and, you know, the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is in New York this week. He's going to make a speech to the U.N. Head of the main terrorist nation in the world. Guess who is throwing a fancy reception for him? I believe it's at one of the Hyatt hotels in New York. Penny Pritzker. Yes, big reception for big terrorist, being thrown, paid for by --

OFFICER VIC: Very --

RODGERS: -- the chairperson of the Obama campaign's finance committee. No, I'm not making it up. You little lefties, you're gonna -- Ahmadinejad, no, no, it can't be true. Look it up, research it yourself.

OFFICER VIC: That's very interesting.

RODGERS: These people are in bed -- they're up to their asses in terrorists and left-wing crazies.