Briefingate

English

Etymology

From briefing +‎ -gate. Coined by American journalist and presidential speechwriter William Safire in 1983 (see quotation below).

Proper noun

Briefingate

1. (US politics, historical) Synonym of Debategate
   • 1983 June 30, William Safire, “Briefingate”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2015-05-24:

     As the President now knows, it is not midsummer media madness, or "much ado about nothing." Briefingate - the penetration of the Carter campaign by the Reagan campaign, in order to give the Republican candidate an edge in 1980's televised debate - raises a legitimate issue of right and wrong.

   • 1989, Dennis King, Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism, New York, N.Y. […]: Doubleday, →ISBN, page 126:

     The LaRouchians were anxious to stop the Briefingate probe, and put out a pamphlet calling it a Communist-liberal plot to undermine Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative.