{"id":21856,"date":"2026-04-25T14:02:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T14:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/inside-tmzs-capitol-hill-playbook\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T14:02:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T14:02:41","slug":"inside-tmzs-capitol-hill-playbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/inside-tmzs-capitol-hill-playbook\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside TMZ\u2019s Capitol Hill playbook"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Heading into White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner weekend, Blue Light News caught up with the buzziest new celebrities in town: the TMZ guys.<\/p>\n

Since arriving in Washington last week, Jacob Wasserman, Charlie Cotton and Jakson Buhaj of the TMZ DC bureau have shaken up the D.C. media bubble, asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth what he feels in his mind and body<\/a> when dropping bombs or whether lawmakers know what Grindr<\/a> is.<\/p>\n

In an interview in front of the Capitol building Friday afternoon, the trio discussed their mission, tactics and whether they\u2019re really trying to troll us all.<\/p>\n

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Where are you guys from and how did you get into this job?<\/b><\/p>\n

Cotton:<\/b> I\u2019m from the capital of Australia \u2026 Canberra. I came to America and just got a job randomly at TMZ as a tour guide on our celebrity tours around Hollywood. And then I\u2019ve been there 13 years now, doing camera stuff, doing reporter stuff.<\/p>\n

Buhaj:<\/b> I was going to go to school, and then TMZ hired me out of an ice cream shop as a [production assistant]. I did a few things for them, and Harvey [Levin] just decided he wanted me on TMZ full time. And so he was like, \u201cDon\u2019t go to school, come here.\u201d And I just found myself in Capitol Hill with these guys. So it\u2019s been quite an adventure.<\/p>\n

Wasserman: <\/b>I went to Tulane, and TMZ was my first job out of college and then just slowly built up. I\u2019ve been there now for six and a half years. Before this I actually covered a lot of political stuff for TMZ, numerous campaign cycles. I also covered high-profile court cases, like the Sean Combs criminal trial.<\/p>\n

The <\/b>Call Your Mother<\/b><\/a> and <\/b>Tatte tweets<\/b><\/a> \u2014 are you trolling us?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Wasserman: <\/b>Yes. That was a total joke. I have to say, I didn\u2019t really tweet before I moved here a few days ago, and I was trying to be a little tongue-in-cheek.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m learning that that doesn\u2019t necessarily land always on Twitter. I\u2019d never been to Call Your Mother, but given the line there, I was like, Oh, of course, this is really a popular place. And since everyone was losing it, I just parlayed it to Tatte. That was it.<\/p>\n

Cotton:<\/b> We\u2019re discovering D.C. \u2026 We\u2019re so amazed to be here. Everything feels new and exciting, and look where we are. We\u2019re talking to you right now outside the capital, like it\u2019s crazy. I think that sort of energy of just excitement around politics and politicians is something that this place hasn\u2019t had for a long time, maybe, if ever.<\/p>\n

We want to talk to people who maybe someone from middle America has no idea who it is, but because they\u2019ve seen a few of our interactions, they know this is going to be interesting.<\/p>\n

And if we want informed voters, if we want people to know more, we want greater transparency, I think it\u2019s a good thing we\u2019re here and we\u2019re just excited about where this very fledgling sort of thing is going to go.<\/p>\n

Talk to me about your mission and what you would see as a dream TMZ DC story.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Buhaj: <\/b>A big story could be a bill that\u2019s being passed. A big story could be what an intern is saying about a fellow intern. A big story could be who clogged the toilet in one of the House office buildings. It could mean anything for us. So I would say, dream story? I don\u2019t think we have anything specific in mind. I think we\u2019re here just providing factual news to the people. That\u2019s at the forefront of our minds right now.<\/p>\n

Wasserman: <\/b>I think TMZ plays off emotion. I mean, that can be found in a soundbite. That could be found in court documents. That could be found in a 911 audio clip.<\/p>\n

So you guys are not officially credentialed [through the congressional press galleries]. Are you seeking credentials? What\u2019s happening there?<\/b><\/p>\n

Wasserman: <\/b>We\u2019ve applied. So we\u2019re just waiting.<\/p>\n

At the same time, even when you\u2019re not credentialed, there\u2019s plenty of opportunity to meet a lot of people. We\u2019ll speak to people when they walk from the House over there to the Capitol building and tunnels. What\u2019s been so amazing is how inviting people are and how willing they are to talk.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no chasing anyone down. If anything, people are coming up to us and they recognize us now. They say, \u201cHey, I want to talk about X, Y and Z,\u201d and what a great opportunity for that.<\/p>\n

Are you getting a lot of outreach from Hill staffers who want their boss to be talking to you guys?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Cotton: <\/b>Yes. It\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s amazing because we see them all, and we didn\u2019t expect everyone to be so down. There have been a few people, Lindsey Graham included<\/a>, who haven\u2019t wanted to speak to us when we\u2019ve given them the opportunity. And if they don\u2019t want to speak to us, I don\u2019t begrudge that one bit. I get it. This is new and scary.<\/p>\n

We want to be here. We want to ask interesting questions. If there\u2019s a direct question that needs to be asked, it just needs to be asked. But we don\u2019t want to be rude. We don\u2019t want to \u201cgotcha\u201d anyone. We just want to have conversations like this and have some laughs, some serious. \u2026 We\u2019re just out here to learn about D.C. and the people in it.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s some chatter about TMZ paying for stories or tips. Is that true? Is that something you guys will be doing here?<\/b><\/p>\n

Wasserman:<\/b> Absolutely not. That\u2019s just complete misinformation. I think people like to use that as a way to maybe sometimes discredit us.<\/p>\n

The way that TMZ really operates is we work super hard. And although it\u2019s just us three here, our engine is in Los Angeles and we have an incredible team of producers who work incredibly hard. Harvey Levin, Charles [Latibeaudiere], these are guys who have been working in journalism for decades. And we conduct ourselves the way that journalists go about reporting on stories, whether it be getting police reports, FOIA requests, searching through court documents. We take it really seriously.<\/p>\n

How does covering politicians compare to covering celebrities?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Cotton:<\/b> It\u2019s the same. We\u2019re just doing the same thing.<\/p>\n

We know everything about, say, \u201cThe Real Housewives.\u201d Yet we know nothing about the members of Congress who control our lives. You know what I mean? And we pay their salaries. They\u2019re our public servants. So why is there more scrutiny on a private citizen rather than our public servants? And we just wanted to come over here, kind of flip it on its head and do the exact same thing we\u2019ve been doing in LA, which is cover the news fairly, truthfully, factually.<\/p>\n

And we want people to trust us. We want people to trust that when they talk to us on camera, we\u2019re not going to be all weird. We want people who consume our media to know that this is accurate.<\/p>\n

Charlie, you talked about fairness. I saw some of your posts on social media from years prior.<\/b> One <\/b>called Lindsey Graham<\/b><\/a> a \u201cbozo.\u201d One <\/b>praised Chuck Schumer.<\/b><\/a> Talk to me a little bit about that. Can you cover these people fairly?<\/b><\/p>\n

Cotton: <\/b>Absolutely. I mean, I use that expression very liberally. If you know me, I\u2019m Australian. You know what I mean? So, yeah, absolutely I can, and I\u2019m also not afraid to express my opinion, either.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m here and I\u2019m going to cover the news how I want. I\u2019m going to ask the questions I want to ask. That\u2019s just that.<\/p>\n

The ultimate merger of celebrity and politics is happening this weekend, the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner. How are you guys tackling that? Where can people see you guys?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Wasserman:<\/b> We are going to the Grindr party tonight. We\u2019re going to the Substack party tomorrow.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re pretty tired. We\u2019re working pretty hard. And even this morning, we were at the Pentagon. It was an early morning. So we\u2019ll definitely pop out and show face but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to get too crazy. TBD.<\/p>\n

Most standout interaction so far?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Cotton: <\/b>AOC hanging out of the side of a car saying, \u201cHey TMZ DC, hi, how are you guys?\u201d<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re like, \u201cWhat? Like she knows us?\u201d<\/p>\n

People here know us and respect us and appreciate that we\u2019re here. And sometimes in LA I haven\u2019t felt that, but here I felt it so much. And it\u2019s been a breath of fresh air. And I really hope that we can deliver on people\u2019s faith.<\/p>\n

Buhaj: <\/b>I can\u2019t talk about it yet because it\u2019s not out, but you\u2019re gonna have to stay tuned. \u2026 But to give you guys a hint, there are congressmen here that are very hospitable.<\/p>\n

Wasserman:<\/b> Jonathan Jackson was a great interaction I had the other day. I ran into him again at the airport, and he came up to me and he was like, \u201cHey, how\u2019s it going?\u201d We were just kind of joshing around. So that was great. And I\u2019m happy that he feels like he could do that with me. And it\u2019s not going to be a weird thing.<\/p>\n

Which members have surprised you?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Buhaj: <\/b>Tim Burchett.<\/p>\n

The stuff that we talked about in an interview was crazy. It\u2019s just you\u2019re sitting there in that office and you\u2019re like, \u201cI can\u2019t believe these words are coming out of the congressman\u2019s mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nothing bad, but he\u2019s just so open about, \u201cThere\u2019s blatant corruption here on Capitol Hill.\u201d It\u2019s something he wants to weed out. It was very refreshing to have an interview with a public representative who was just so open about everything.<\/p>\n

Cotton: <\/b>Two words: Shomari Figures.<\/p>\n

I actually interviewed him for the first time yesterday, but we\u2019re just trying to meet everyone. And he\u2019s just so cool. He obviously looks like a dreamboat. He told me yesterday that he\u2019s the pound for pound best athlete in Congress and I believe it.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know Shomari Figures existed until like a few days ago. And now I do. And now I am punishing myself because I should have known because here\u2019s this amazing guy doing amazing things.<\/p>\n

What is the best food that you\u2019ve encountered in Washington so far?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Cotton:<\/b> There\u2019s this coffee place called Cameo. It\u2019s really good. \u2026 The coffee in D.C. hits.<\/p>\n

Buhaj:<\/b> I\u2019m a coffee snob. I can name like 50 coffee spots in LA. I can name probably five or 10 across the city that I\u2019ve been through already. Right off the bat, I\u2019m not saying you guys don\u2019t do it right, but LA just does it better.<\/p>\n

Wasserman: <\/b>The Peruvian chicken in Longworth.<\/p>\n

Cotton:<\/b> I want them to serve Peruvian chicken at my wake one day.<\/p>\n

Buhaj:<\/b> Honorable mention is the Barcelona Wine Bar. There\u2019s actually some pretty good food over there. I was pretty impressed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Heading into White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner weekend, Blue Light News caught up with the buzziest new celebrities in town: the TMZ guys. Since arriving in Washington last week, Jacob Wasserman, Charlie Cotton and Jakson Buhaj of the TMZ DC bureau have shaken up the D.C. media bubble, asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth what he feels […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21856\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}