McClellan Offers Another Lame Excuse For Stonewalling Press Corps
McClellan Offers Another Lame Excuse For Stonewalling Press Corps
To escape accountability for its misstatements and inaccuracies about the White House’s involvement in the leak of an undercover CIA agent, press secretary Scott McClellan today offered a new argument for why he couldn’t answer any questions:
There is an ongoing investigation. And for months and months and months, we’ve said that we’re not going to comment on the investigation while it’s ongoing. And that goes back to mid-October of 2003 when the investigation was getting under way. We said, while it’s an ongoing investigation we’re not going to comment on it.
A few key questions and answers about this:
1) Didn’t Bush comment on the case even after October 2003?
Yes. Even after mid-October 2003, President Bush answered questions on the leak scandal that McClellan won’t answer today.
In response to a question about whether he would stand by his pledge to fire anyone found to have leaked the identity of Plame, Bush said: “Yes.†In response to whether he has spoken to the Cheney about the leak investigation, Bush said, “I haven’t talked to the Vice President about this matter…†[Bush remarks at G-8 Summit, 6/10/04]
2) Why did McClellan arbitrarily choose mid-October 2003 as his cut-off date?
Probably to escape quotes like this:
Q: You said this morning, “The President knows” that Karl Rove wasn’t involved. How does he know that?
McCLELLAN: Well, I’ve made it very clear that it was a ridiculous suggestion in the first place. I saw some comments this morning from the person who made that suggestion, backing away from that. And I said it is simply not true. So, I mean, it’s public knowledge. I’ve said that it’s not true. And I have spoken with Karl Rove. [White House briefing, 9/29/03]
3) But why mid-October specifically?
Time magazine revealed in mid-October 2003 that “the FBI has interviewed more than two dozen officials in several Washington offices, including White House press secretary Scott McClellan and Bush political adviser Karl Rove as well as other West Wing aides.â€
So basically, once the White House realized they were a target, they went from deception to silence.
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They had a sharp and sudden realization: “You mean the law applies to us too? Oh crap.”
October 17th, 2005 at 4:05 pmI can’t wait to see Scotty pee in his pants once the indictments hit
October 17th, 2005 at 4:05 pmWhy won’t the Press Corps call Scottie on it? They just keep taking the abuse. It’s sad.
October 17th, 2005 at 4:06 pmYeah, I don’t get why the WH press core doesn’t get more uppity. Do they not then get called on? What’s the punishment?
October 17th, 2005 at 4:15 pmThey get cranky sometimes but they have to walk a fine line because anybody that goes so far as to declare the emprorer is not wearing any clothes will be banned from future press conferences and cocktail parties.
October 17th, 2005 at 4:29 pmAndrew – I wish that were true. We could ban that terrorist sympathizing Arab Helen Thomas and her commie sidekick, Terry Moran.
If and when there are indictments, you will all get your wish. Of course, what do you people do if Rove is not indicted? Do you post an article clearing his name?
October 17th, 2005 at 4:33 pmsoon ol scotty will have to say: “I can’t comment on ANYTHING, due to an on going investigation.” or “I believe I’ve already answered that..in 21BC!”… He’s useless. Gee, I wonder what he’ll say tomorrow, and the next and the next…..yawnnnnnn.
October 17th, 2005 at 4:34 pmWhy do they even bother interviewing Scotty? Here is the PBTN version of any interview he’ll ever do for the rest of his life
October 17th, 2005 at 4:40 pm“I’m sorry, I can’t comment about that”
“But what about all of these comments that were just made during the investigation? And what about (insert a statement catching Scotty M. in a lie and making the White House look like lying incompetents).”
“No comment.”
He never says anything except “I’m sorry, I’m not permitted to say anything.” Why bother with this handjob anymore?
liar! Scotty adopted this “ongoing investigation” subterfuge in mid-July, after Rove was proven to be involved with the Plame leak after all… the investigation may go back to 2003, but this stonewalling begun in earnest just three months ago…
more: http://blogdebogs.blogspot.com/2005/09/ongoing-problems.html
October 17th, 2005 at 4:40 pmNortheast, it’s unlikely Rove will be unscathed in this whole affair… if and when he’s convicted of crimes, we’ll write about that mofo Bush who’ll be pardoning him…
October 17th, 2005 at 4:43 pmthe press corps did get in Scotty’s face when Rove was confirmed as a leak source back in July… which led Jon Stewart to say, “We’ve secretly replaced the White House Press Corps with actual reporters…” we don’t get enough of those Folger’s Crystals days, though…
October 17th, 2005 at 4:46 pmBush should have settled this by now, NED.
October 17th, 2005 at 4:47 pmSometimes I wonder why they don’t just choose
October 17th, 2005 at 4:47 pmone person to show up each day.
They could ask the questions that Scotty doesn’t
answer.
I suppose if there were a scoop there would be a problem,
but since that would never happen, it is just a hypothetical
problem.
I guess you would have to only have this arrangement
with real journalists since Fox would invariably lie
about what happened if someone else were not there
to keep them honest.
#10 – Don’t liberals believe in innocent until proven guilty? Oops – sorry, I forgot. You have to be a vicious murderer to get sympathy from this site. Being conservative is a far larger crime.
October 17th, 2005 at 4:48 pmLook how weak and divided your conservativism is, NED.
October 17th, 2005 at 4:51 pmDon’tcha wish Bush would have fould the leaker and exercised due diligence by now? What a shame.
Brian – I don’t see how he could settle anything. I am very proud of the way Bush has handled Fitzgerald. Unlike Clinton, they haven’t tried to smear Fitzgerald.
If he is indicted, I would guess it’s not political. However, I would guess it won’t be for outing Plame – Joe Wilson did that. It will be for obstruction of justice – the coverup gets ‘em every time.
October 17th, 2005 at 4:51 pmSo that’s the spin? Wilson outed Plame?
October 17th, 2005 at 4:54 pmBrian – Bush did his job, didn’t claim exec privelege, and didn’t smear Fitz. That’s more than Clinton ever did to people investigating him.
You’ll get what you want if it’s there. I’m not convinced that it is.
October 17th, 2005 at 4:55 pmPeople still smear Starr. He deserves it. Pervert.
October 17th, 2005 at 4:56 pm“I don’t see how he could settle anything. I am very proud of the way Bush has handled Fitzgerald. Unlike Clinton, they haven’t tried to smear Fitzgerald.”
Because the republicans know that these bastards have commited treason.
Clinton got a blow job.
There is absolutely no comparison you fvcking retard. Pull your head out of your a$$.
October 17th, 2005 at 4:56 pmBush and his cronies are running out of clout and bandwidth to smear anyone right now… they’re in no position to do anything but cooperate, lest they get into more trouble…
October 17th, 2005 at 4:56 pmI’m still waiting to see where it was that Wilson outed his own wife.
October 17th, 2005 at 4:56 pmBrian – there’s no spin. Rove didn’t out Plame – guarantee that is found. Where he might get in trouble is the alleged “coverup”. Judy Miller’s “I do not recall” bs is unconvincing. There are pieces of the puzzle missing and liberals are so blinded by hatred for Rove that they can’t wait til indictments are actually handed down. I guess I would hate Rove too if he spanked me in the last three elections.
October 17th, 2005 at 4:57 pmAs sure as the sun will rise
October 17th, 2005 at 4:59 pmpeople
who involve themselves in other people’s sex
are
perverts.
#25 – so are Democrats perverts for smearing Clarence Thomas over an alleged pubic hair? Are Democrats perverts for trolling Bob Bork’s video rental history.
Payback’s a b*tch people. As usual, liberals stoop low and then cry when conservatives get in the mud with them. Don’t start fights you can’t finish.
October 17th, 2005 at 5:02 pmI really like the way Time Magazine KNEW that Karl Rove was one of the White House CIA leakers before the 2004 election, YET sat on the information in a de facto cover-up for the Bush White House, to help aid Bush’s re-seletction.
October 17th, 2005 at 5:03 pmBush would have been finished if this news that Time sat on had come out.
those of us who hate Rove do so purely on the “merits” he’s earned in his years of public disservice…
meaning, he’s earned our vitriol for all the crap he’s been up to over the last few years… he invented dirty, deceptive campaigning… we all like to see a villian go too far and get his comeuppance, whether it’s in a movie or in Washington, DC…
this “you’re still sore about losing the election” shit is tired, and is like so much schoolyard teasing… it’s no more sophisticated or mature, and says more about the person who says it than it does about the people it’s addressing…
October 17th, 2005 at 5:03 pmI don’t hate Rove. He’s small timey Texas-grade politics. Real gov’t is eating him alive. A sandwich could govern Texas, as a sandwich is doing now.
October 17th, 2005 at 5:04 pmMe? I just want representative Gov’t., which is not what we have now.
Northeast, get your head out of Rove’s ass… payback is a bitch, and that’s exactly what Bush & Co. are experiencing right now… it’s called karma, when all the shit you do comes back and hits you in the face…
October 17th, 2005 at 5:05 pm“he invented dirty, deceptive campaigning” – Pete, where the hell have you been your whole life. Dirty campaigning is a fact of life. That’s one thing I agree that Democrats are very good at. Republicans only problem is they are not ruthless enought.
The GOP should have lead a full blown investigation into Lockhart’s involvement with the CBS AWOL story during the 2004 election. Conservatives are slacking – it’s smear or be smeared.
October 17th, 2005 at 5:07 pmNED, I fail to understand how people such as yourself can keep supporting an administration that is clearly and blatantly breaking the law.
Can you list for me how many other administrations had as many scandals as the current administration has? Let’s not play the “you guys just don’t like us” card, I vote for the best person not a party.
This administration planned for this war before they were even in the WH, so it has nothing to do with terroism. Can you explain this? This has been documented, although I forget where I have read it from a credible person.
Look at Frist. He pulls a Martha Stewart and it’s not a problem. Even though he holds a position that directly conflicts with the stocks he holds.
Delay, well that’s another matter. It looks like he may get out of it, but with the money amounts matching dollar for dollar it’s a little difficult for me to swallow that this is just coincident.
How about Chaney, Rice, Bush, etc. They all had access to the document that had Plames name in it, so how can a reporter know this information if it was not told to them? Are you now stating that our media are smarter than our government and knows things that they don’t and informs our government of information?
Get a clue.
October 17th, 2005 at 5:08 pmNED is scared of anthrax and dirty muslims and shrapnel bombs under his train seat. He’ll accept alittle corruption and treason from Big Brother so he can lie to himself and get alittle extra sleep at night.
Watch out, NED! Jesus is watching you masterbate!
October 17th, 2005 at 5:12 pmYou’re still dodging the answer NeD- Why haven’t you joined the military? Do you acknowledge that there is an enlistment shortage? If you’re going to to go as far as to argue endlessly in favor of the Bush Administration’s policies in Iraq, you should go to defend them yourself.
Are you a coward, or do you believe your life is worth more than the guys who are there?
October 17th, 2005 at 5:16 pmRB, good call… where is the neocon shame? there is none, just this Machiavellian “if you want an omelet you have to break some eggs” attitude…
NED, that hurt… (PB takes own life)
October 17th, 2005 at 5:16 pmNED
October 17th, 2005 at 5:16 pmis
scared
of
death.
NeD, what are you doing back? Stealing more time from your employers? Do they know you post here? Don’t you have a date or something. I know, funny, of course not. Why go out with a woman when you can post here with us.
NeD the party crasher. I know, always a bridesmaid and never a bride, eh NeD?
October 17th, 2005 at 5:28 pmWhy isn’t the xtian right up in arms about McClellan? I mean, anyone who is willing to have that job MUST BE a HUGE masochist. Isn’t that right up there with adultery or homosexuality?
Ya’d think….
October 17th, 2005 at 5:28 pmNED…
Give me a break on this “innocent until proven guilty” BS. Clinton hadn’t been in office very long after the 1992 election when conservitives started impeachment rumblings.
October 17th, 2005 at 5:29 pmNeD’s all warm and fuzzy for criminals. He worships them and wants to be powerful and mean just like they are.
October 17th, 2005 at 5:34 pmMama always said, “If you always tell the truth, you never have to think about what lie you may have told in the past.”
October 17th, 2005 at 5:42 pmThe love here is just too much…. Please don’t cry when the GOP goes on the offensive. Enjoy this time – it won’t last…
October 17th, 2005 at 5:49 pmThe problem is if you don’t have the big bucks behind you. You don’t have a chance to win. We are having a special election in our county. We have the big bucks Republican running which Sensenbrenner is endorsing. The other candidate will not have a chance. I hope I am wrong. I have gotten about four pamphlets and three phone calls from the Republicans. I will not vote for this bigshot Republican. We need to take our America back from this corrupt adminstration.
October 17th, 2005 at 5:56 pm#43 – then stop running against them and start running for something. Problem with the corruption charge – Democrats are just as corrupt, if not, more so. It’s a joke that liberals think they can win on corruption. What happens in NJ will be very interesting. Cor-slime is one corrupt bastard and if it’s even close in blue NJ, I think you people may have to re-evalutate slander as a strategy for winning.
October 17th, 2005 at 5:59 pmSlander as a strategy for winning worked just fine for GW. He didn’t have any new ideas coming into office, and he doesn’t now.
October 17th, 2005 at 6:18 pm#45 – no, actually it was Gore and his minions who went down the dirty path in 2000. AND Bush ran on ideas – you just opposed them. Tax cuts – we got them. AND in 2004, it was Kerry who started slinging mud and then cried foul and we slammed him right back. So no, cynical ex – it didn’t work that way. AND until you accept that, you won’t move forward.
October 17th, 2005 at 6:21 pm#46 It was tax cuts for the rich not the middle class person. The Republican are the most corrupt party around. I would not vote for this guy if he was the last person on earth. Sensenbrenner is another one we have to get out of office. Believe me I will help the Democrat that is running against him in 2006. Old Bushie was awol from the National Guard.
October 17th, 2005 at 6:31 pmMary Poppin – keep spewing that nonsense, it worked very well in 2004. Tax cuts for those who pay taxes – please stop using class warfare to attack the President. IT’s disgusting…
October 17th, 2005 at 6:33 pm“You can take the other guy down but it doesn’t ultimately inure to your political benefit.”
October 17th, 2005 at 6:33 pmJohn Podesta
#48 You are totally disgusting. I paid taxes and I did not get anything back. This President is going down along with his corrupt adminstration. We will win in 2006 & 2008. Than you can cry in your beer. Bushie put us in an illegal war which cost us over 2000 soldiers and many Iraqis are dead. We only went into Iraq for oil and to make Old Bushies friends richer like Halliburton.
#49 I know the other candidate is the better choice.
October 17th, 2005 at 6:49 pmMary Poppin – you need to pay taxes to get them back. Please stop propogating lies against Bush. You are just mad because you can’t beat him.
October 17th, 2005 at 6:51 pm#50, the words of your almighty leader:
“We must stop the politics of personal destruction. We must get rid of the poisonous venom of excessive partisanship, obsessive animosity, and uncontrolled anger. That is not what America deserves. That is not what America is about.”
October 17th, 2005 at 6:57 pmBill Clinton
#51 You assh**e I did pay taxes. Bush is the biggest liar around . He is an embarrassment to our country. He had three failed businesses. His old man had bail him out. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. All the Bushie are corrupt starting with his grandfather Prescott.
October 17th, 2005 at 7:01 pmNED,
You Delusional whackjob. The ATM means middle class people pay MORE taxes under bush. What are you 12? You must not pay taxes, or either be too poor or too rich or too stupid to not have noticed? What are you disabled physically as well – as you clearly are mentally?
October 17th, 2005 at 7:12 pm#52 Yes I have alot of respect for former President Clinton. The Republicans are so brainwashed that they think they are better than everyone else. I thought the President was suppose to be for all the american even if you did not vote for him. I know Sensenbrenner is so rude if you do not agree with him. I have got some interesting letters from him. I just got a letter from Senator Feingold letting me know how he vote on the Supreme Court Justice. I think he is a great Senator.
October 17th, 2005 at 7:19 pmNED (Dead) states enjoy this time “before the GOP goes on the offensive.”
Hahahahahahahaha
The GOP is always offensive. The GOP nevers stops being offensive.
And that is why they will die. Bye bye.
October 17th, 2005 at 7:27 pmYou’re speaking for a lot of us, Mary Poppins.
October 17th, 2005 at 7:42 pmMaybe NeD dont knonw this so I guess I had better tell him.
His Bush Buddie is a crook now, and has always been one.
He ran an oil trading business at one time. His business card had him in a nice big suite in a big office building. I tried to contact him there, in person, but no one had ever seen him there. One person gave me a lead address, I checked it out.
Bush was operating his business out of a single wide small camping trailer he had parked on a used car parking lot.
This was your big time lying business man with a very unsuccesful business. He shut down after my clients filed a law suit charging non-delivery of a product.
October 17th, 2005 at 7:59 pmI meant the AMT and not the ATM.
Here’s a whole writeup on this. The republicans ‘claim’ they lowered taxes, but that is only true if you’re actually wealthy. Here’s a link from the VERY nonpartisan turbo tax folks. Are they too partisan for you MissNED the whackjob tinfoil looney toon?
http://www.turbotax.com/articles/FAQontheAlternativeMinimumTax.html
October 17th, 2005 at 8:07 pmcan’t wait to see the McScottie AFTER Fitz goes to D.C. to play round ‘em up with the boys…what the hell will he have to say after all this goes down?! he is a loyal bush-freak… scottie you should have bailed ages ago! no lifeboats left on the U.S. Titanic! get under the covers, now!
October 17th, 2005 at 8:14 pmLyin Scottie can duck and dodge all he wants. The entire country (except the mentally impaired) knows that the Bushie regime is going down.
On my internet radio show I make sure that people from all over the world know that the regime is weak and going down.
October 17th, 2005 at 9:16 pmI encourage everybody to do the same. SPEAK TO THE WORLD, BE HEARD, LET THE WORLD KNOW THAT AMERICANS ARE GOOD PEOPLE EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE A DICTATOR RUNNING OUR COUNTRY!
Neddie… I’m currious. Are you important enough to get the talking points directly from the RNC, or do you get them from a handler? Or do you just spout whatever the drug addict on the radio says?
October 18th, 2005 at 9:24 am.
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October 18th, 2005 at 9:24 am.
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I would hardly call stocking all public offices with cronies, giving the lawbooks away to corporations and giving them sweetheart no-bid contracts “ideas…”
October 18th, 2005 at 9:41 amNED’s taking the “GOP as victim” approach when he says they’ll be going on the offensive soon… they’ve been nothing but offensive in recent history… Frist, DeLay, Rove, et al are not guilty of anything at all – these are just vast liberal conspiracies to bring them down, right?
October 18th, 2005 at 9:44 am#64 – Pete – “giving them sweetheart no-bid contracts “ideas…— – am I to assume you are referring to Halliburton (You lack specifics.) Two companies exist with the capital and resources to build or re-build on such a large scale – Halliburton and Bechtel. Who did you want them to call for a large operation – the well known mega-corp, BOGS BUILDERS? Why do you guys always sound so…..so…..wimpy and whiny????
“On my internet radio show I make sure that people from all over the world know that the regime is weak and going down.
I encourage everybody to do the same. SPEAK TO THE WORLD, BE HEARD, LET THE WORLD KNOW THAT AMERICANS ARE GOOD PEOPLE EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE A DICTATOR RUNNING OUR COUNTRY!” – Susan
Susan, funny how the “dictator” hasn’t seen fit to throw your fat ass in jail – seeing how you’re whipping up the masses to bring down the regime!!! Oh, we have a Constitution to protect your 1st Amendment rights?? Wow, I would have thought the “dictator” would have suspended that by now!!!
October 18th, 2005 at 12:54 pmHe’s too busy defending suspending habeas corpus and promoting torture and war to go after the First Amendment.
October 18th, 2005 at 2:10 pm… The neocons are exploding with impotent rage ! And it’s just SOOO funny !!! Merry Fitz-mas , Everyone ! Can you hear the neocons balls jingling – from fear !?! … ;)
October 18th, 2005 at 7:35 pmThese guys always stonewall when the news is bad, and crow with propaganda. There’s nothing new with these propagandists. They’re truly fascists morons.
We just need to concentrate on getting the voting machines fixed, and educating people to the reichwing fascist movement to destroy the constitution and our constitutional freedoms!
October 18th, 2005 at 7:51 pm