Valenti Draws White House Fire : Lobbying: The Motion Picture Assn. chief vigorously denies a report that he tried to influence White House policy on TV rerun rules.

Jack Valenti, the longtime Washington lobbyist for the major movie studios, may have made a political miscalculation last week when he tried to reverse a White House decision to endorse deregulation of syndication rules for television programming, government and industry officials said Tuesday.

His tactics angered some senior White House officials, including Chief of Staff John H. Sununu and chief presidential economist Michael J. Boskin, the sources said.

The Economic Report of the President issued by Boskin’s office Feb. 12 supported a controversial rule change opposed by the movie studios, calling for an easing of “financial interest and syndication rules” that govern the lucrative TV rerun market.

The Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to rule on the issue March 14, and both the networks and the movie studios have been lobbying heavily throughout Washington on the matter.

Valenti on Tuesday vigorously denied a report in The Times last week that he lobbied the White House or had his representatives do so on his behalf.

The Times story, Valenti said, “made me want to vomit. It looked like I was flinging a gauntlet down to John Sununu. . . . This story hurt me deeply.”

Boskin’s economic report represented the first time that the White House had publicly commented on the issue. Lobbyists for the movie studios quickly tried to persuade the White House to disavow the report and to deny that the Bush Administration was attempting to intervene in the regulatory battle.

After The Times reported on the lobbying campaign, Sununu publicly defended the report and Boskin. Many interpreted Sununu’s comments as a rebuke of Valenti.

Industry and government sources in Washington said Valenti made a critical mistake by publicizing to the media his initial success in getting the White House to back away from the economic report. That apparently angered the White House as being too heavy-handed and prompted Sununu’s rebuke.

“I think he (Valenti) miscalculated,” one senior White house official said. “This proves that Jack Valenti is not as influential at the White House as is Michael Boskin.”

Valenti, who is president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America and widely considered to be one of the most effective lobbyists in Washington, said media coverage of the issue was unfair.

He said he was advised by Craig Fuller, a former chief of staff for President Bush when he was vice president, that the White House “wanted to stay out” of the TV rerun debate.

Nonetheless, Valenti said he was able to make a presentation to Boskin before the economic report was released earlier this month.

“I wanted to go higher,” Valenti said, “but word came back the White House was not getting involved.” Valenti said he was surprised when the economic report was released and it favored relaxing the TV rerun rules.

“I asked my people to go and find out what happened,” Valenti said. “Word came back again that it did not change the White House position of not getting involved.”

One network official said Wednesday that Valenti was hurt by the flap, particularly by the Sununu rebuke.

“I wouldn’t want that aimed at me,” he said. “Jack overplayed his hand. My father used to tell me you can go broke playing a good hand poorly, and I think that is what Jack did.”

One Hollywood producer admitted to being “embarrassed” by the incident but defended Valenti. The producer said he thought some of the lobbyists acting on Valenti’s behalf may have come on too strong, and “now they’ve sandbagged us.”

Risen reported from Washington and Lippman from Los Angeles.