Thune: White House Should Release Records of Contacts With Abramoff
Thune: White House Should Release Records of Contacts With Abramoff
On Fox News Sunday, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) said that the White House should release all records of contacts with Jack Abramoff:
WALLACE: Would you like to see the White House release records of all contacts, correspondence, phone calls, meetings, that Jack Abramoff had with people in the White House?
THUNE: Well, I’m one who believes that more is better, Chris, when it comes to disclosure and transparency. I’d be a big advocate for making records out there available.
Mike Pence (R-IN), appearing on Fox with Thune, agreed:
WALLACE: Congressman Pence, the same question I asked Senator Thune. Do you think that the White House should release all records? You talk about a crisis of confidence in Republican leadership. Should the White House release all records of contacts with Jack Abramoff?
PENCE: Absolutely. I think this president is a man of unimpeachable integrity. The American people have profound confidence in him, and as Abraham Lincoln said, give the people the facts.
Meanwhile, the White House describes people who want to these records released as “engage[d] in partisan attacks.” In fact, there is a growing, bipartisan consensus that this information should be released.
UPDATE: Crooks and Liars has the video.
UPDATE 2: On ABC’s This Week Sen Chuck Hagel (R-NE) added his name to the growing bipartisan call for disclosure.
HAGEL: [M]y personal opinion on these things is just get it out. If you’ve got pictures, get the pictures out. My guess is, George, those pictures are going to come out. Why give — if you want to talk about it in strict political terms, why give the Democrats an opportunity, or the press to keep this story going? There are pictures of the president, and so on, and so on. Just release it. Disclose…
STEPHANOPOULOS: And meetings. Not just the pictures.
HAGEL: Get it out. Get it out. Come on. I mean, disclosure is the real issue. Whether it’s campaign finance issues, whether it’s ethics issues, whether it’s lobbying issues, disclosure is the best and most effective way to deal with all of these things.
Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date
44 Responses to “Thune: White House Should Release Records of Contacts With Abramoff”
Register
RSSLogin
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog RollAbout Think ProgressContact Us
Donate
Thune is a liar. Something here is not adding up. And I want it noted that that’s 2 politicians appearing on a cable station that advocates the murder of Supreme Court Justices.
January 29th, 2006 at 9:53 amIF I HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE
January 29th, 2006 at 9:58 amTHEN WHY DO I HIDE WHAT I
DON’T WANT YOU TO SEE????
Correction. Coulter did not say make the Steven’s rat poisen remark on Fox. My mistake. But who would Coulter be without Fox?
January 29th, 2006 at 9:59 am“Unimpeachable” is a poor choice of words by Pence.
There’s nothing about Bush that can’t (or won’t) be impeached, soon.
January 29th, 2006 at 10:02 amSomeone should inform Pence that Bush has failed miserably in his promise to bring honor and integrity to the White House. Also, far from being unimpeachable, Bush deserves the dubious distinction of being impeached, if only the Republicans would remember that they took an oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution, instead of rushing to defend their lying leader in the White House.
January 29th, 2006 at 10:03 amNotice he said ‘wants’ the records. Lemme see you cant look at records related to Bush criminals, but Bushco looks at records of the Innocent and has them Tapped.
Makes sense to me, as usual everything is lies spin and cover. Come on the Guys speaking from FAUX News..
January 29th, 2006 at 10:04 amWhere is the outrage? I know this is off topic, but we should be emphatically denouncing Alito’s confirmation, and making it known that future political support and contributions will be contingent upon the senator’s opposition to Alito. In other words any senator who fails to vote “NO” on Alito will be opposed in future elections.
January 29th, 2006 at 10:05 amJudd - he’s from SD.
January 29th, 2006 at 10:11 amImpeachable integrity , my butt !
These people still live in rosy clouds , They are so pure so lilly white , they see no evil , hear no evil .
January 29th, 2006 at 10:12 amThey are evil.
Lisa, you beat me to it. He’s the Republican who beat Tom Daschle in South Dakota (not a blue state by any means).
January 29th, 2006 at 10:19 amOh, c’mon. Does anyone really think the records of meetings, the photos are being carefully protected and stored away as opposed to being scrubbed, shredded and destroyed? Ooohhh, but they wouldn’t do that, it would be against the law. Yeah, right. That holds water.
I’ll bet the most damning evidence of all of this, from secret Energy task force meetings, all the way through coaching Alito has or will be destroyed…permanently. After all, they know they won’t be in office forever (they hope they will, but just might not). Why leave anything incriminating behind?
January 29th, 2006 at 10:34 amAnybody remembers good old Tricky Dick Nixon? he also had some problems with some tapes. So there’s still hope, I guess.
January 29th, 2006 at 10:40 am[…] Second, pushing back on the myth that calling for the release of the White House contacts with Abramoff is a “partisan attack,” Hagel added his name to the growing bipartisan call for disclosure. HAGEL: [M]y personal opinion on these things is just get it out. If you’ve got pictures, get the pictures out. My guess is, George, those pictures are going to come out. Why give — if you want to talk about it in strict political terms, why give the Democrats an opportunity, or the press to keep this story going? There are pictures of the president, and so on, and so on. Just release it. Disclose… […]
January 29th, 2006 at 10:49 am#5 Comment by Erroll
The job description of the President of the United States of America is clearly stated, when he takes the Oath of Office. It reads:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
The Contitution grants the title and job description as such:
The President of the United States, who “shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States”
WAKE UP AMERICA
Increasingly, we will be exposed to descriptive charges to the role of the president.
You may have already heard the term PROTECTOR & CHIEF.
NO WHERE IS THE TERM PROTECTOR AND CHIEF FOUND TOGEATHER to describe the president’s job.
WAKE UP AMERICA
America is the protectorate of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. That is what a protectorate is in US law. The United States of America IS NOT A TERRITORY. WE ARE A NATION OF FREE PEOPLES with rights granted to us by our Founders.
WAKE UP AMERICA
The job of the President of the United States of America is to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. No where does it say that the president is to protect his people. That is likened to a Lordship. A KING.
WAKE UP AMERICA
Commander in Chief is a military term. Not a term to be held over Congress, as the Constitution expressly says that the president cannot delare war without their consent. In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution, which requires the president to obtain either a declaration of war or a resolution authorizing the use of force from Congress within 60 days of initiating hostilities. Its constitutionality has never been tested as Congress has always passed the required authorization when requested by the president. Maybe the blank check needs to be challenged.
WAKE UP AMERICA
Are we at war?
With whom?
What nation/country/land/territory?
We are at war with an ideal.
Like the war on drugs, war on terrorism has no nation, ruler, or face. And like the war on drugs, this war we fight in Iraq is unconstitutional.
WAKE UP AMERICA
A REVOLUTION IS AT FOOT.
January 29th, 2006 at 11:02 amBE IT BY MAN OR BY LAW.
VIVE LA REVOLUTION !!!
“but when a long train of abuses and usurpations, persuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security.” T. Jefferson, Declaration of Independence
Revolution = Treason? or Revolution = Duty?
I guess that’s something each of us is left to decide.
January 29th, 2006 at 11:17 am#15 Comment by Lily
ENOUGH SAID
January 29th, 2006 at 11:30 amSen. Thune needs to also release his records of being a client of Jeff Gannon for paid sex!
Thune’s name is listed in Gannon’s escort services address book!
January 29th, 2006 at 11:34 am#15 Comment by Lily
I am in no way suggesting that the American people REMAKE government.
I am a proponent, however, of
a BushCo a GO-GO.
January 29th, 2006 at 11:37 amEt Tu Thune? No Air Force Base in South Dakota for you!
- White House
January 29th, 2006 at 11:49 amI am in no way suggesting that the American people REMAKE government.
Comment by Max-1 — January 29, 2006
Good point. I’m not suggesting throwing away the baby. I am saying that we have a duty to stand up for our country, our constitution, our people. Right wingers will say this is treason. If so, we’re in good company: Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Madison, Revere; obviously way too many to name. I probably should have used a different Jefferson quote: “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.”
January 29th, 2006 at 11:56 amI LOVE IT WHEN FOX NEWS INVITES REPUBLICANS IN TO PARROT THE ADMINISTRATION LINE, AND THEY END UP STICKING IT TO BUSH.
“CUT TO COMMERCIAL…QUICK”
January 29th, 2006 at 11:57 amActually it would be a lot better if those same repugs were to say the same things on the floors of their respective houses so the debate could begin where it really matters, sound bites on MSM without backup on the job makes for good re-election commercials but do not actually lead to the solutions necessary
January 29th, 2006 at 12:02 pmWashington - The investigation of Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Republican lobbyist, took a surprising new turn on Thursday when the Justice Department said the chief prosecutor in the inquiry would step down next week because he had been nominated to a federal judgeship by President Bush.
http://www.truthout.org/ docs_2006/ printer_012706J.shtml
Coincidence?
Acting U.S. Attorney in Guam Frederick A. Black was unexpectedly demoted and removed (http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/08/bush_removal_ended_guam_investigation/) on November 19, 2002, by President George W. Bush from the office he had held since 1991. The federal grand jury criminal investigation Black had been conducting regarding Jack Abramoff was shut down and Black was given “a subsequent order barring him from pursuing public corruption cases.”
http://www.sourcewatch.org/ index.php?title=Frederick_A._Black
Coincidence?
How about 13 coincidences? Keith Olbermann’s Nexus of Politics and Terror
January 29th, 2006 at 12:48 pmhttp://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/10/12.html
Judd, fix the typo please - Thune is R-SD (not R-SC). I don’t want to give anything to Republican trolls or bloggers - after all, they never make a human error.
January 29th, 2006 at 12:56 pm“Unimpeachable integrity?” I like “impeachable disingenuousness” better.
January 29th, 2006 at 1:03 pmI don’t watch Faux, so I don’t know but were these questions asked of any democratic senator or congressperson? Or was this all one sided as is usually the case with Faux? As for Pence’s comment about Bush’s “unimpeachable integrity” I have a question for Pence, “Congressman just how much of that WH Kool-aid did you drink?” and “what solar system have you been visiting for the last five years?” What a perfect example of what White House brainwashing in this administration looks like. And to think that their are people out there who could put someone like this in office. Sad to say the least.
January 29th, 2006 at 1:05 pmJudd - you left out the part of the interview in which Thune noted the left’s use of any “grip and grin” photos. I know this was merely a lazy oversight on your part and was in no way intended to convey incorrectly what was said.
January 29th, 2006 at 2:45 pmmighty aphrodite,
And how would posting Thune talking about the “grip and grin photos” change the fact that Thune thinks Abramoff/White House records change the information in this post.
We don’t need photos, I just think it would be fun and give us something else to Fark. But, we don’t NEED them.
January 29th, 2006 at 3:04 pmNote the careful spin in the wording:
PENCE: Absolutely. I think this president is a man of unimpeachable integrity. The American people have profound confidence in him, and as Abraham Lincoln said, give the people the facts.
We will see that phrase used a lot by the rigth wing, hopint to make some headway with neurolinguistic programing of the public. If you stick the work “Unimpeachable” in people mindfs alonog with Bush’s name, they might be less likely to want to IMPEACH THE CRIMINAL!
January 29th, 2006 at 3:06 pm#32, HH,
January 29th, 2006 at 3:31 pmThat was my first thought too, when I read Pence’s comment.
I have a plan to stop the confirmation of Samuel Alito.
For Tennessee residents:
Tell the people of Tennessee who want to stop the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court to get on the phone right away
and call Senator Frist at
1-877-851-6437 or 1-888-355-3588
1-888-818-6641 or 1-800-426-8073
and tell him to stop the confirmation of Samuel Alito or Dominos pizza, the company that contributes exclusively to the Republican Party and the pro life until birth movement, will suffer a boycott.
Then call Dominos Pizza at 800 468 4726 and demand the employee get the CEO of Dominos Pizza, a hardcore Republican, to get Senator Frist to stop the confirmation of Samuel Alito or you will never do business with Dominos Pizza again. You can also call a local Dominos Pizza and tell the store owner this too.You can also do this with Wendy’s Hamburgers Restaurants and Outback Steakhouse too if you like, as these two companies contribute exclusively to the Republican Party.
Then go and buy a roast beef sandwhich at Arby’s or get some Boars Head Brand Roast Beef as these two companies give money to the Democrats.
Do well and work fast.
For residents in other states:
“A Demand without a boycott will most likely fail†: Mighty Maximus
URGENT: Call your senators NOW at
1-877-851-6437 or 1-888-355-3588
1-888-818-6641 or 1-800-426-8073
and tell them “Vote NO on confirmation of Alito or I boycott GOP contributor and antiabortion supporter Dominos Pizza.†Then call and tell that to Senator Frist. Then call Dominos Pizza and tell the employee that unless the CEO of Dominos to get the Republican Party to withdraw the nomination of Samuel Alito or get the Senators to reject Alito, you will never do business with Dominos Pizza again. No CEO wants 50 percent of his customer base to disappear.
Dominos Pizza 800-468-4726 gyselk@dominos.com
http://www.dominos.com
Spread the word on the net and post this at libraries and supermarket bulletin boards. A demand without a boycott will not work.
Join the revolution for progressive legislation.
boycott-republicans.com
Get your “Mean, Abusive people vote Republican†bumper sticker here.
http://www.cafepress.com/revolution09.45584186
Read the Liberal America Forum
http://www.network54.com/Forum/259017/
WHO NEEDS IMPEACHMENT WHEN THE CITIZENRY CAN DEMAND BUSH AND CHENEY RESIGN OR A FULL SET OF REPUBLICAN CONTRIBUTORS WILL GO BROKE UNDER A CITIZENS BOYCOTT/REFERENDUM.
February 12, 2006 do not use Google, protest their support for censorship !
Send Google a message that you don’t want them to cooperate with the censorship of Chinese people in Red China. Google should not set up a search engine for China with built in censorship.
Do not use Google on February 12, 2006. Spread the word.
Tell the world.
January 29th, 2006 at 3:39 pmHardy and Marie,
That is why we need to use the term Impeach Bush, constantly. I try to work it into most conversations I have with people. Oddly enough, I haven’t had one person disagree. And for the trolls, I am the International Marketing Manager of a global technology country and speak with hundreds of people from around the world everyweek.
I’m probably spied on by the NSA. What a waste of their time.
“You want me to send you the high resolution version of that image on a CD or can your e-mail accept a 4.36MB file?”
“I shipped you a CD with the XXXX Flash demo on it yesterday, it should arrive tomorrow or the next day.”
“Yes, I know George W. Bush is crazy. Please tell your government to not attack us.”
January 29th, 2006 at 3:44 pmNote the careful spin in the wording:
PENCE: Absolutely. I think this president is a man of unimpeachable integrity. The American people have profound confidence in him, and as Abraham Lincoln said, give the people the facts.
We will see that phrase used a lot by the rigth wing, hopint to make some headway with neurolinguistic programing of the public. If you stick the work “Unimpeachable†in people mindfs alonog with Bush’s name, they might be less likely to want to IMPEACH THE CRIMINAL!
Comment by Hardy Haberman
Not to mention sticking Lincoln’s name in there too. Actually, I think that would have more effect on brainwashing people.
January 29th, 2006 at 3:48 pm[…] If the Government wants to know everything about certain people (the NSA thingy), they it would be a great idea to everyone see what they’ve been doing. It would only be fair, unless if that emboldened their enemies? Comments » […]
January 29th, 2006 at 4:01 pm#34–Freakin’ brilliant… I did not know we could provide such a body blow to the evil forces by boycotting Domino’s, Wendy’s and Outback. Those are extremely attackable entities; they have huge presence, and centrist/left-of-centrist folks can knock 10% off their gross in nothing flat.
And 10% is enough to make them worship another god.
Well done; thx a million!
Portland, OR
January 29th, 2006 at 4:20 pmwas it just me or was Fox asking tough questions…Or are my expectations for Fox just so low?
January 29th, 2006 at 4:31 pmBUSH AND ABRAMOFF ARE IN THIS DEEP. ABRAMOFF IS THE NOOSE AROUND BUSH’S NECK.
January 29th, 2006 at 4:42 pmPENCE: Absolutely. I think this president is a man of unimpeachable integrity. (an Opinion)
(the mislead with no FACTS) The American people have profound confidence in him, and as Abraham Lincoln said, give the people the facts.
(True he said that BUT did he give the people the facts?)
Mr ho say watch ‘Greasy’ Speakers.
January 29th, 2006 at 6:10 pmSo Mr Pence Said basiclly nothing While the FAUX watchers perhaps THINK he did ‘State Facts’.
This is typical Neo-Con Doublespeak and those whom watch this type of “news” should be aware of the misleading tactics.
January 29th, 2006 at 6:15 pmSpudgeboy,
January 29th, 2006 at 6:31 pmI have two Impeach Bush bumperstickers on my car. Every day, I am feeling good about spreading my subliminal message.
Spudgeboy,
I have two Impeach Bush bumperstickers on my car. Every day, I am feeling good about spreading my subliminal message.
Comment by Marie
I’d have a “SMASH THE LEFT” bumper sticker on my truck but the fascist ingrates that make up your party would deface my brand new 5000+ lb. gas guzzling 4X4 with the Easy Rider Rifle Rack and then I’d have to kill somebody. Freedom of speech isn’t part of the Progressive plan.
January 30th, 2006 at 2:30 pmA REVOLUTION IS AT FOOT.
BE IT BY MAN OR BY LAW.
VIVE LA REVOLUTION !!!
Comment by Max-1
Fine and dandy but just give me time to get my new Springfield M1A sighted in before you start anything.
January 30th, 2006 at 2:33 pm42-43,
Swallow it, Rambo. ‘It’ being your rifle. Why do you insist on defending a government that bends over the majority of its population while polishing the knob of the richest minority? You must be one of those rich rednecks…
The weak, sick and poor are not part of the conservative plan.
January 30th, 2006 at 4:17 pmcriminal records…
Has anyone heard of this before?…
November 16th, 2006 at 9:13 pm