White House Abramoff Stonewall, Day 18
White House Abramoff Stonewall, Day 18
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan was first asked about meetings between Jack Abramoff and White House staff on January 4. On January 5, McClellan said he would have a “thorough report†on staff level contacts “very soon.â€
18 days later, the stonewall continues. From today’s White House press gaggle.
Q On the Abramoff pictures. You had said last week that if we had something specific, that you would then explain further about the connections between the President and the White House and Mr. Abramoff. Can you talk about the specific circumstances surrounding these pictures, and exactly the range of contacts that Mr. Abramoff had?
MR. McCLELLAN: …Now in terms of the reports about some of these pictures, as we have previously indicated, the President did not have a personal relationship with Mr. Abramoff. But we also indicated that it should not be surprising that he might have taken some pictures with him at some of the widely attended events that we know both attended. What I indicated previously was, if you’ve got some specific issue that you need to bring to my attention, fine. But what we’re not going to do is engage in a fishing expedition that has nothing to do with the investigation.
Jack Abramoff, apparently, has a different view about his relationship with Bush. From the Washingtonian:
Abramoff would tell prosecutors, if asked, that not only did he know the President, but the President knew the names of Abramoff’s children and asked about them during their meetings. At one such photo session, Bush discussed the fact that both he and Abramoff were fathers of twins.
Also, the photographs in question include one from a personal meeting between Bush, Jack Abramoff and a group of Abramoff clients. If there is nothing to hide, why not release the photos and the list of White House contacts with Abramoff?
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Isn’t this a repeat?
January 23rd, 2006 at 3:45 pmIt only sounds like a repeat because Scotty keeps repeating the same speakign points whether they apply to the question or not.
Speaking of which…I have a suddent urge to plan a fishing expedition for this summer. Hmmmm.
January 23rd, 2006 at 3:46 pm36%
January 23rd, 2006 at 3:47 pmIs it me, or are there problems posting?
January 23rd, 2006 at 3:49 pmHe’s the grovel and beg and explain and justify president. Is it a wonder he pulls a steady 35-40%?
January 23rd, 2006 at 3:52 pmThere are some problem with the site, it’s running a little slowly. It has to do with our efforts to keep the site free of comment spam. We are working on the problem now.
January 23rd, 2006 at 3:56 pmFunny how he phrases it as a “fishing expedition” when there are dead bloated fish floating on the surface stinking up the country.
January 23rd, 2006 at 4:07 pmMy thoughts regarding bush’s “address” in Manhattan, Kansas
1. Bush is a good candidate for MTV: True Life – “I’m an Idiot”
January 23rd, 2006 at 4:14 pm2. Leaving out the fact that we bombed the HELL out of Japan to “obtain peace” with them was ridiculous.
3. LOVE those plants they had at the ready to PRRRRAAAAAIIIISE BUSHIE’S war!
4. The FACELESS woman who CONTINUALLY PRAISED him for removing Saddam FORGOT that bush simply took his place and now he’s doing the SAME THING. Bombing, torturing, oh yeah, and using Chemical Weapons!
5. AND HE RAMBLED ON and ON and ON like a drunk.
6. Nice way to dodge the question about education funding being cut!
7. Who cares about Laura and how she feels about her husband? I EFFING DON’T!
8. Who cares about his flippin dog barney? I DON’T
9. Them terrorist killers are gonna get you! Didja get that yet? It was repeated many times.
10. NO VIABLE SOCIAL SECURITY IN THE FUTURE
11. BUSH: “I HAVE NO “BEEF” WITH THE IRANIAN PEOPLE” LOLOLOL oh dear God.
12. BEEF IN KANSAS!!!!!!! WAH HOOOOOOO
13. Alito is…..”Very Smart. Very smart man”.
14. uh.. uh… uh … gahyeahhhhh….
Scotty is going to keep on making similar statements at each press conference hoping that the press will eventually tire of hearing the same story over and over again. He knows that if he gives any additional information about meetings with the President or additional pictures that this will be a feature on the evening news which is not something a President with a low approval rating needs.
There might be more luck trying to meet with Abramoff to get the information since he is likely interested in negotiating a deal for his memoirs. Since the Center does have scholars who have book deals, could the Progress Report obtain this information from Abramoff in exchange for putting him in touch with interested publishers?
January 23rd, 2006 at 4:19 pm15.My dog Barney told me it was okay to invade Iraq.
January 23rd, 2006 at 4:21 pmMy Daddy said I would never amount to anything. Look at me now! Two country’s down, two more to go!
January 23rd, 2006 at 4:32 pm15.My dog Barney told me it was okay to invade Iraq.
Comment by bushsucks
My dog Bleu said the same thing. He also thinks it’s high time we quit pussy footing around with Iran. By the way, Bleu and Jack Abramoff are on a first name basis and Jack is quite taken with the notion that they both had twins. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Jack doesn’t publish the pictures he had taken with Bleu to make him seem more sympathetic to the judge.
January 23rd, 2006 at 4:38 pmNo one is releasing the photos yet — is Abramoff in control – is he using them to add weight to a plea deal – if they are released too soon, they won’t have blackmail value. If the Bush White House were able to make a good case explaining the phhotos wouldn’t they have done so – there must be something more out there.
January 23rd, 2006 at 4:38 pmIf the Bush White House were able to make a good case explaining the phhotos wouldn’t they have done so – there must be something more out there.
Comment by Marie
I have pictures of Donks kissing Saddam and Fidel. I think there must be something more to it.
January 23rd, 2006 at 4:40 pmWe saw an absense of Scott because he experienced some form of conscience break through the meds, so he was institutionalized, and re-stabilized on various medications. He’s back now, doing the job he was medicated to do.
January 23rd, 2006 at 4:42 pmI don’t care if the President had a personal relationship with Abramoff, I want to know if he had a professional relationship. Mr. Abramoff’s criminal behavior was all on a professional level.
January 23rd, 2006 at 4:58 pmBush will stall on Abramoff forever, so I hope Time magazine prints the 5 pics of George with Jack at the White House! They were pals, so Bush needs to admit it!
Judd we are OK to whatever you are doing to improve the thread posts.
January 23rd, 2006 at 5:47 pm#14, and then there is Donald Rumsfeld shaking Saddam’s hand as he sells him those nasty chemicals to use on the Kurds and Iranians. Come to think of it, do you think selling Saddam chemical weapons to use on the Iranians may actually be part of why the Iranians seem a bit pissed off with the US? Say it ain’t so…
January 23rd, 2006 at 5:55 pmStop talking and post them. POst the pictures. You have been given the technical capabilities by Think Progress, unless you are too stupid to figure out how to do it.
January 23rd, 2006 at 6:03 pm#18 Jon Stewart used that photo on air tonight, musta made alo of people who secretly watch in the pentagon to turn off the TV real quick, woulda made for a real embarrassing stiuation if Rummy walked in to discuss the talking points for all the progress in Iraq that no-one else sees.
January 24th, 2006 at 1:55 amI just want to see that photo of Abramoff in the stained blue dress. Oh no, wait, that was Scottie McC when he was hooking up with that hot Bulldog “Marine,” JimmyJeff GannonGuckert. Scottie and Jimmy Jeff playing in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. Maybe King Katrina let Laura and Jack-off listen in as he eavesdropped on the two lovebirds.
January 24th, 2006 at 3:09 am#14 – There’s also a picture of the “maharaja hemorrhoid†Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam during the 80’s when Pres. Reagan sold him weapons of mass destruction.
Too bad that the so-called party of “personal responsibility†won’t take personal responsibility for their actions, and admit they enabled Iraq and Saddam in killing their own citizens.
January 24th, 2006 at 8:29 amScotty’s job is to cover the administration’s ass. The problem is that his hands are either way too small or the administration’s ass is way too large.
January 24th, 2006 at 11:06 am“If there is nothing to hide, why not release the photos and the list of White House contacts with Abramoff?”
January 24th, 2006 at 3:02 pmThe “nothing to hide” test only applies to American citizens, as in: if they have nothing to hide, then why should they mind us spying on them? But when it is BushCo, the “nothing to hide” axiom vanishes and they maintain a need for secrecy in every aspect of their government of us. So, in effect, we (the citizens) do not have a right to privacy and they (the Neo-Cons) do not have the requirement to disclose anything.
Ten years ago, the people on the right were the ones who proudly flew the “don’t tread on me” flag. They cared about governmental intrusion, right to privacy, taxes, big government spending, corruption, special interest influences. What happened? Now all they seem to care about is protecting the flagship, BushCo. Every other principle seems to have flown the coop! I would expect those individuals to be the first in line to condemn an American King. But no. If he breaks the law, then there must be something wrong with the law! If he lies, there must be a good reason we just don’t know about. If he spies, what should a good citizen have to hide anyway? IT’s almost as if every commie in the country shaved their beards, joined the Republican party, and pursue their “common purpose” under another banner… but it’s still sitting in the political spectrum where ultra fascist meets communist dictatorship… so far to the Right, it’s Left. What is left behind is our democratic institutions.
January 24th, 2006 at 3:22 pmBush says he doesn’t know Jack… we’ve been saying that all along. Then Jack Repubsoff drags out his stained blue dress, soiled by a Presidential money shot, so George says it all depends on what your definition of “know” is… it’s a hauntingly familiar story, but there’s something missing. Oh yeah, now I remember… by this point in the story there’s supposed to be IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS!
January 25th, 2006 at 3:09 amIf Bush knew the names of Abramoff’s (five) kids, that’s a smoking gun. It takes away the argument, “The president meets thousands of people at White House functions, and Abramoff was just a face in the crowd.”
The White House has admitted that Abramoff attended “staff meetings.” What’s a “staff meeting” in this context? Bush’s staff, as in Card and McLellan? If not, whose staff? Are lobbyists freely admitted to White House staff meetings? Doesn’t that require Secret Service clearance?
The photos are important. But Scottie McLellan isn’t going to come clean here, any more than he’ll come clean about why Jeff Gannon had free rein in the White House. An investigation by Democrats, with subpoena power, is the only way to get at the truth.
January 25th, 2006 at 5:15 amTuesday, January 24, 2006
Damage Control for Tribal Members – who is repping the rez?
Thoughts on: “Indian Tribes ‘hurt’ by Abramoff scandal – MSNBC’ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10824532/ and the “Damage Control” behind it
I posted the link above a couple of weeks ago about the victims of the Abramoff scandal. Nancy Conrad, who was the Marketing Director of the Cabazon Mission Indians in Cabazon, California is now spokesperson for Richard Milanovich of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians (my client while under GT Laws/Team Abramoff’s charge),spoke for Richard to MSNBC. She is now doing a great job in meeting the press for Richard re: aftermath, and moving forward. Richard & Company were quick to pick up another high-powered lobbying firm (Akin Gump)* early on, in 2004, as were many others (the Hopi even hired back Kevin Ring after he left GT Law, I believe, who is at Barnes & Thornburg, LLP).
http://www.indianz.com/News/2006/011992.asp
Indian leader offers apologies (AP 1/12)
Agua Caliente’s Chief Richard Milanovich did the right thing by going right to his public and saying I am responsible, too, although I am also a victim of good works that mainly went unrealized for several reasons. My question remains what about all of the other tribes, tribal officers and tribal management that are left in the dust? EXPLANATION: They hired law firms in Washington for the betterment of their tribes, or did they? And if they did (and I worked for several since 2000, and can vouch for them for some, having worked in the Old Exceutive Office Building and several agencies for GT LAW) who is fairly representing them, strategizing their “damage control” (not for the dollar) and watching their interests now?
Abbe Buck, Spokesperson/Representative
(((PS – Michael Scanlon made things pretty bad for me to do MY JOB, too – you should see my W-4’s for 2004!)))
*(from The Hill, in 2004: INDIAN TRIBES. As federal prosecutors and a congressional panel scrutinize its former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the Agua Caliente tribe has hired Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to help guide the tribe through the investigation and continue its lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. Leading Akin Gump’s team is Partner Steven R.Ross, who was seen accompanying one of the tribe’s leaders at a Senate hearing last week. Ross was general counsel to the House of Representatives under Speakers Tip O’Neill (D-Mass.) and Jim Wright (D-Texas).
posted by HighViz PR at 6:36 AM | 1 comments
January 25th, 2006 at 9:29 amIs I-RIGHT-I out there in the blogisphere what you bloggers refer to as a troll?
January 25th, 2006 at 11:55 amgee guys dont yall gotta clue ??? its all about national security . w makin sure his secrets are secure from the nation
January 25th, 2006 at 5:28 pm[...] It’s day 22 of the White House stonewall. It’s time to come clean. [...]
January 27th, 2006 at 9:35 am