In his interview with Fox News this afteroon, Vice President Dick Cheney confirmed to reporter Brit Hume that he consumed alcohol prior to the shooting incident. Hume reported that Cheney admitted to having at least “a beer at lunch.” Watch it:

Transcript:
QUESTION: You asked him about alcohol being consumed on premises.
HUME: I did.
QUESTION: And what did he say about that?
HUME: He said he had a beer at lunch and that had been many hours earlier. And it was dusk, around 5:00 p.m., when this incident happened. And he said that, you know, they had lunch out in the field, a barbecue, and he had a beer. But you said you don’t hunt with people who have been drinking. He said no one was drinking. He said they went back to the ranch afterwards, took a break after that, and went out about 3:00 and so you’re four or five hours distanced from the last alcohol that he consumed. And he said no one was drinking, not he nor anyone else.
This morning, ThinkProgress posed some questions the media should ask about the role of alcohol in the accident.
UPDATE: Mr. Whittington’s doctors “had no comment on whether Whittington’s blood alcohol level had been tested after the accident.”
UPDATE II: On Tuesday, Ms. Armstrong told the LA Times that the hunters drank “Dr. Pepper” at lunch:
The party of 11 hunters set out in two trucks Saturday morning, driving around the mesquite-dotted property and shooting quail until about 12:30 p.m., said Anne Armstrong, co-owner of the ranch. Then they broke for a lunch of antelope, jicama salad and camp bread, washed down with Dr. Pepper.

“Um, no officer, I think I only had, you know, like one beer. Maybe two.”
February 15th, 2006 at 4:09 pmI don’t think there’s going to be an issue here, if true. One beer drunk at lunch time will be completely out of your system by 5pm.
Of course, every single DUI that blows a .15 will claim, ‘But I’ve only had 1 beer!’
If he did drink more, the truth will eventually come out.
Later,
February 15th, 2006 at 4:10 pmBut he couldn’t be interviewed until 8am the next morning eh?
February 15th, 2006 at 4:10 pmAnd we’re all supposed to “accept his word”. . . Why?
In my experience, when the words a person tells you don’t match up with their actions, then you trust their actions over the words they say.
VPres. Cheney has lied before, I’m fairly confident he’s lying now.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:10 pm“why..no officer, none of us was drivin’..we are all in the back seat..”
Hey, since when does a reformed boozer drink “a” beer…
February 15th, 2006 at 4:16 pmCheney’s just following the BushCo playbook and lobbing a preemptive strike with the ’single beer’ theory at lunch. This morsel is satisfying enough to the lemming-like public.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:16 pmRIDICULOUS
February 15th, 2006 at 4:16 pmthis story will blow over tomorrow
February 15th, 2006 at 4:17 pmwhat was wittingtons BAC?
February 15th, 2006 at 4:19 pmbbq + beer = crazy delicious!
February 15th, 2006 at 4:21 pmwhat a fricken joke. drunk and disorderly. let’s go hunting and i want to be dicks sidekick. i’m a former soldier i wonder if i can get some special treatment. oops, dicky but time for another beer and some brats.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:21 pmhonestly i think this story is going to pass. so what he shot a dude a drunk.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:23 pmi bet faux thought they were giving some breaking news. did they forget that dicky is a wyoming cowboy. and i heard he told whittington to “cowboy up.”
February 15th, 2006 at 4:24 pmWell he admitted to Brit Hume that he had at least one beer, but I wonder if the President knew this before? He wasn’t real up front about the incident in the first place when he failed to point out that he was the shooter. Rove had to find that out from the ranch owner. How much of the truth did he let the President know that day, and how much did the President find out along with the rest of us?
February 15th, 2006 at 4:25 pmBut Clinton….
February 15th, 2006 at 4:25 pmlisten, if i had a dollar for every time i shot a dude drunk and no one gave a hoot i would own armstrong ranch
February 15th, 2006 at 4:26 pmOne of my cousins used to be a cop. He said that whenever he’d pull over a drunk driver, he’d ask them how much they had had to drink. They all say “a couple of beers”. Cheney must have been loaded…
February 15th, 2006 at 4:28 pmDid you hear Dick is planning to go quail hunting again this weekend?
February 15th, 2006 at 4:28 pmHe invited former President Clinton along and told Bill to bring his wife. ;-)
Think Cheney’s on heart pills that are good to *mix* with beer? How’s that for a follow-up: Skeletor, aren’t you on medication the size of koala bears? Should you really be sucking down brews there, pal?
xxxjimmy
February 15th, 2006 at 4:28 pmi agree with the texan and bigtex.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:28 pmAnother mark in the checklist comparing Rat Pack and neocons…
February 15th, 2006 at 4:32 pmIt’s not like he was on medication too. He wasn’t on meds, was he? “OOOOPPPPS dude, I just shot my friend in the face”
February 15th, 2006 at 4:33 pmEver watch “America’s Wildest Police Videos”? When they pull over the guy who is swerving all over the road they ask him if he had been dringing and he says “I had a couple o’beers at lunch”.
In Texas, the term Beer is used only as a generalism. One beer, 24 beers, its all the same…”I had a beer”.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:34 pmIf when they went back out it was 3pm and that was 4 or 5 hours later that would mean they were drinking in the morning. Sound like a drinking problem to me.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:35 pmfrom http://www.jsonline.com/ election99/ ap/ jul00/ ap-cheney-health072500.asp
Cheney “takes a long list of medications,” said Malakoff. “He has shown no side effects of any of these medications which would alter intellectual performance or impair his judgment.”
The doctor did not list the medications, but said they were “monitored closely” by him and by Dr. Jonathan S. Reiner, a George Washington University cardiologist.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:36 pmCheney: “After he was shot Whittington looked absolutely cadaverous, on deaths doorstep, gruesome…sort of like you Brit”.
Hume: “Ho..ho..ho”
Hume:” So in regards to drinking, you say that drank before you hunted but then you didn’t hunt with those who drink?”
Cheney: “Right.”
Hume: “Jeesh, Deadeye Dick, I am a Fox puppet and stooge, but that is tough to swallow.”
Cheney: “Take it all in bitch, just like that Ambassador whore who was on her knees on front of me in the field and couldn’t be an eye witness to the shotgunning of the 78 year old mans’ face because something was in her eye”.
Hume: “Sir, yes sir”.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:38 pmStudio ‘B’… Dick Cheney: It’s a moment I’ll never forget.
No kidding darth. Most of us don’t forget SHOOTING OUR FRIEND IN THE FACE WITH A FREAKING SCATTERGUN!!
Considering the condition of that aluminum kool-aid pump buried deep in his evil chest, he probably won’t have to store this in the memory banks much longer.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:38 pmHe had ‘at least a beer’ - but the quantity is actually only half of the issue.
The other half is the sort of medications that cheney takes for his heart problems. Some of those meds amplify the effect of alcohol. Patients are warned about it by their doctors and you can be driving while impaired with less than a .08 BAL under such circumstances.
Anyway, something to look into.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:38 pmI remember reading an article that explains that the most common lie cops hear from drunk drivers is that they had “two beers” or “a couple of drinks at dinner,” when in fact they are plastered. Cops are trained to pick-up these comments and test persons that they pull over who use this excuse.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:40 pmYes, I was suspicious of this when I heard Cheney waited for what, 12-18 hours to report it to police. I work in the substance abuse feild and with law enforcement, this is an old trick.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:40 pmOK, so the admission (like everything else this admin does)is a ‘limited hangout’, because an investigation is, at least, a possibility and he knows it would come out-probably sooner than later (whatever later will mean for cheney).
February 15th, 2006 at 4:41 pmNot surprised Cheney is a substance abuser also, having sex with whores and such.
Ted Nugent is very disappointed with his VP drinking and hunting.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:41 pm[…] The sheriff’s report says “there was no alcohol…involved in the incident.” Cheney told Brit Hume that he drank beer prior to the accident. […]
February 15th, 2006 at 4:41 pm[…] Dick Cheney was drinking alcohol the day of the shooting accident. Of course, he says he had only one beer at lunch and that the shooting accident happened at 5pm. But we all know how honest people are when they’ve been busted doing something wrong while drinking. And don’t the cops always add 1 or 2 drinks to whatever you say you had to drink when you’re pulled over for DWI? […]
February 15th, 2006 at 4:42 pmWhile you losers are all involved in beer, what beer? how many beers, heart meds and scatterguns I’ll just be over here looking through your stuff. Carry on.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:42 pmSecret Service agents can be forced to testify thanks to the Clinton haters. Those agents can say whether or not he was inebriated if there is ever a probe.
Cheney is an alcoholic. He has DUIs from way back when when it was just field sobriety tests. The difference now is that he has people to drive him everywhere - and the same was true at halliburton and government service before that.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:44 pmI-RIGHT-I
enjoy yourself.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:44 pmIts the simple incidents/accidents that take these guys down, not the carefully planned, complicated activities. That’s why this is worth giving attention to.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:45 pmI imagine those good ol’ boys were knockin’ down those quart malt liquors at the BBQ.
Chuggin’ contest maybe?
All that and a couple or 3 valiums to steady the hand will make you want to kill penned up wildlife.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:45 pmBEERS, haa. He was swigging away all day on his flask of Scotch.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:52 pmBoy the Dems just love this story. “It’s the economy stupid !” Remember that ? I guess not. Now that we have consecutive growth every quarter and and even match with the lowest unemployment rate on record. I thought this would be over when it was annouced that the hunting party broke formation.
You people are so afraid of the coming elections both in ‘06 and in ‘08 you will sadly exploit anything you can in hopes to get in office. Let me put your concerns at rest. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO WIN !!! No one cares about this as a campaign issue. If the general populace has any concern in this issue it is that Harry Whitttington recovers.
However I have been told that Hilary Clinton is praing for Whittington’s well being. She wants to solicit his support for her gun control campaign
February 15th, 2006 at 4:52 pmOf course, instead of staying at the hospital with is shot friend, the first thing he did was get the hell out Texas and dry out from his bender– away from the authorities.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:53 pmI can extrapolate from the fact that Cheney and Bush are alcoholics, (even if you are dry, your still an alcoholic). My extrapolation is: That’s why these guys appeal to half of the American public, because half of this country is mentally ill, sick, crazy, dysfunctional. Alcoholics need a crisis to bring people/family together, they cannot live in peace and serenity (think about it, war on terror, Iraq, etc). Read the AA serenety prayer. Also alcoholics/addicts are co-dependent, they can only feel good about themselves from outside reinforcement, not from within. Laura needs to go to Alanon also. She’s the co-dependent wife of an alcoholic. And finally, getting sober is just the tip of the iceburg, and of course these assholes have never really had to work on their issues, they are too rich, and powerful to have to.
There are 4 reasons alcoholics/addicts don’t deal with the underlying issues.
1. Too Rich
February 15th, 2006 at 4:55 pm2. Too young
3. Too healthy
4. Too smart
“I only had 1 beer” is the universal excuse of the drunk. It’s like putting your hands to your neck to indicate you are choking, or waving to say hello. Nobody with a DUI record “only had 1 beer.” They have a DUI record because there is no such thing as “one beer.”
A drunk is a drunk, unless he quits drinking. And there is no such thing as one beer to a drunk.
February 15th, 2006 at 4:55 pmAny alcoholics/addicts in your family William Sire?
February 15th, 2006 at 5:05 pmWilliam,
You sound like Gary.
February 15th, 2006 at 5:06 pmMr. Whittington’s doctors “had no comment on whether Whittington’s blood alcohol level had been tested after the accident.â€
February 15th, 2006 at 5:08 pmAhh, the non-denial denial.
Mr. Whittington’s doctors “had no comment on whether Whittington’s blood alcohol level had been tested after the accident.â€
February 15th, 2006 at 5:09 pmAhh, the non-denial denial.
When I first heard of this hunting accident and that the sheriff’s office was not allowed to interview Cheney until the next morning - I was thinking alcohol was a factor. One beer? Are we really expected to believe anything Cheney says anymore?? I for one do not. If he can lie about a reason to go to war, he can lie about a beer or two or three.
February 15th, 2006 at 5:12 pmTo #45. Yes in fact there is alcholism in my family. My father and subsequently two of my brothers. ( That is what I can confirm ) However I fail to see how that infromation gives any hope of recovery or comfort to Harry Whittington and his family.
February 15th, 2006 at 5:16 pm“So Mr. President, was this ONE beer a 44 oz. malt liquor?”
February 15th, 2006 at 5:16 pmNow, let’s review.
Cheney has not one but TWO drunk driving convictions, goes out, drinks beer, mistakes a 78 yr old for a quail, fills him, his heart and face with bird shot and then hides for 14 hours.
In Cheney’s words:
February 15th, 2006 at 5:25 pm“It was not Harry’s fault You cannot blame anybody else.”
My momma always taught me not to lie, because noone would believe you when you tell the truth. Like the boy that cried wolf. Or the war profiteers that said the smoking gun could be a mushroom cloud. I don’t believe the dick only had 1 beer - BECAUSE thats what he said. Similarly, I don’t beleieve it was an accident - BECAUSE thats what he said. That lawyer probably said something about investigating haliburton fraud.
February 15th, 2006 at 5:48 pmHe forgot to mention the “one bourbon, one scotch”…
/one beer
February 15th, 2006 at 5:55 pmgoodness - the radical left in all their glory. Well, enjoy it. I can’t pretend this is anything but a PR disaster for the VP. We’ll have to see what the polls say about all this.
February 15th, 2006 at 6:02 pmMaybe they had a keg of beer, and Cheney had one of those…
February 15th, 2006 at 6:03 pm[…] Now, Cheney said he drank “a beer” before hunting. Fox News, 2/15/05: HUME: He said he had a beer at lunch and that had been many hours earlier. And it was dusk, around 5:00 p.m., when this incident happened. And he said that, you know, they had lunch out in the field, a barbecue, and he had a beer. […]
February 15th, 2006 at 6:15 pmOlbermann, Stewart, Letterman, Leno, O’Brien and Kimmel will
have a blast with this. Maybe IRIGHTI will share a beer bong with Dickless Cheney. How else can you explain his nonsensical troll ramblings.
Cheney’s a drunk
Bush is a drunk
Mrs. Bush is a drunk
Scooter like to have sex with Bears and underaged girls.
That is the Bush Administration.
February 15th, 2006 at 6:18 pmCheney was drinking…
This only creates more questions. From Think Progress:QUESTION: You asked him about alcohol being consumed on premises. HUME: I did. QUESTION: And what did he say about that? HUME: He said he had a beer at lunch and that had…
February 15th, 2006 at 6:35 pmDr. Pepper, eh?
That explains how Harry got peppered!
(Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
February 15th, 2006 at 6:42 pmOnce I heard a rumor that Cheney was addicted to heroine and puppy blood, maybe that had something to do with it too!
February 15th, 2006 at 7:59 pmThough I’m not a hunter, I was a light weapons specialist in the Army some years back. the first rule is to know where any people are. That is, you have clear field of fire. Obviously this story has been twisted and spun every which way to save george. Cheney wheeled around at a noise behind him and fired. Some people have said the sun was in his eyes, but it was dusk. Dusk is when there is still some light, but the sun has gone below the horizon. Both Cheney and Bush are established drunks and have been arrested for DWI. Further Both of these men, Cheney and Whittington were hunting birds illegally, along with an SS detachment and it is yet to know if US aircraft transported dick to texas.
February 15th, 2006 at 8:05 pm[…] Update: Here’s video of Hume talking about his interview with Cheney. You see, according to Cheney, they drank beer but no one drank beer: […]
February 15th, 2006 at 11:00 pmThis story as I just reported in my blog is far BIGGER than just the shooting and drinking, though Dick Cheney is one of a small elite group who can brag about not one, but TWO DUI’s in his driving history.
Start doing some digging folks….seems that Rove has been to the ranch to hunt as well, and this lady has spent nights at the White House, and is a LOBBYIST who has lobbied the White House on numerous occassions.
Is it any wonder that Scott McClellan wanted to change the subject, that the White House wanted the story to just go away, and that important Republicans were running quickly out on the White House News Network (FOX) to say some nasty Americans were making a mountain out of a molehill, and that Cheney deserved our sympathy.
HAH….there is a scandal here far bigger than Christian Bailey and the Lincoln Group, far more sinister and dastardly than Abramoff Gate. Bushy Boy himself has fallen under this woman’s spell, and one of her clients has very close ties to the Saudi royal family…can we say oil y’all?
February 16th, 2006 at 1:09 am#61
Hey Greg Tinti,
Can’t think of anything original, so you plagerized your own blog to post here? Yea originality.
Your blog:
Your post:
TP’ers: Can you beleive the righties are even unoriginal when dealing with themselves?
February 16th, 2006 at 3:02 amCheney has a history of drinking, and since he waited over 14 hours after he shot Whittington to chat with a deputy sheriff, it is becoming obvious he needed to sober up before seeing any law enforcement agent! Shame on the Secret Service agents for obstructing a investigation and then helping Cheney to try to cover it all up!
February 16th, 2006 at 4:33 am[…] Cheney could no longer continue the cover-up of his wanton negligence in the shooting incident. In the interview he even admits his severe drinking hindered his clarity on the hunt. The huge hang-over caused him to not see his hunting partner because fo the bright lights. He said he had a beer at lunch… and he had a beer. But you said you don’t hunt with people who have been drinking. […]
February 16th, 2006 at 8:30 amAccording to this article, Cheney drank “a beer” and then resumed hunting 4-5 hours later or “about 3:00 p.m.” Then that means our Veep drank a beer with lunch at about 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Beer and antelope steaks at 10:00 a.m….sounds like a breakfast of champions to me.
February 16th, 2006 at 8:31 amJudd,
One of the more shocking revelations in this “interview” was Cheney’s disclosure that an executive order gives him (the VP) the authority to “declassify” sensitive information. The Gannet press is touting this revelation as a “defense” for Scooter Libby…
How is this revelation a defense when Libby has been indicted on “perjury” and “obstruction” charges? Libby LIED to investigators and a grand jury which are felonies, right?
February 16th, 2006 at 8:39 amNot surprised Cheney is a substance abuser also, having sex with whores and such.
Comment by For Truth #32
Yo Truth,
Whatta you got against Barbara, Ann, Laura, Lynn, Bay, Mary Matalin, Blanquita, Victoria, Tori and the twins?
February 16th, 2006 at 8:47 amwell at least he wasn’t drinking and drove of a bridge and killed a woman like some people we all know
February 16th, 2006 at 11:38 amhttp://www.avengingangels.org

February 16th, 2006 at 1:29 pmWho cares he shot a lawyer! He deserves a metal.. Let it go. Another thing is those birds are really fast and you need to be on top of your game to hunt them THAT IS A FACT!!!
February 16th, 2006 at 3:03 pm[…] Now, Cheney said he drank “a beer†before hunting. Fox News, 2/15/06: […]
February 16th, 2006 at 3:07 pmDunk VP killed buddy !!!! almost .. what a mess good for liberals
February 16th, 2006 at 3:50 pm#69 Good point, big papa.
All this talk of whether or not the Vice President, who shot a 78-year-old man in the face, has the legal authority to declassify a CIA agent’s status (he doesn’t) is irrelevant to Libby’s defense. You correctly point out that he was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice. I am surprised that the judge is going to allow them to present any of this classified stuff at trial because none of it has anything to do with the fact that Libby lied to the Special Counsel and obstructed the investigation.
February 16th, 2006 at 4:50 pmWait, big papa. Are we on the right thread here? Is this one “Cheney Admits to Drinking Beer Prior to Hunting Accident” or “Cheney Admits to Improperly Declassifying Documents Prior to Hunting Accident”?
February 16th, 2006 at 4:54 pmIf Cheney is an alcoholic who is attempting controlled drinking and Bush is an alcoholic enabler, the rest is predictable. Alcoholism is a disease that tells the victim he doesn’t have it. Doctors routinely fail to understand this, and so will prescribe sleeping pills and tranquilizers to known alcoholics and then document that they warned the patient to be careful, both with the drug and with alcohol. But the alcoholic begins to lose control with the first drink or mind-altering pill, and the result as it says in the book “Alcoholics Anonymous” is “pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization”.
I’m a Family Practice physician, myself recovering 21 years from alcohol and co-dependency, so I’ve sat in thousands of meetings and listened to similar heartbreaking stories. I’ve semi-retired out of frustration with my colleagues for doing the kind of stuff Cheney’s doctors probably did. But for those of you who are outraged and vehement about this, know that you too are only enabling. Would you speak thus if Cheney had cancer? It is a disease, not a moral choice, and by adding to his shame you are showing that you yourself could benefit from a 12-step recovery program.
By the way, if Cheney was not impaired and at such close range, the quail should have been in the bag. Why have we not heard what happened to the quail?
February 16th, 2006 at 4:54 pmWhat if Cheney wasn’t the shooter? What if it was actually Ambassador Pamela Willeford who shot Whittington at close range? Willeford may have been doing more drinking than hunting and screwed up. Cheney decides to take the fall, after much deliberation.
Cheney was back at the ranch having a cocktail shortly after the incident. How concerned was he?
February 16th, 2006 at 5:47 pmJust a note on the gerneral state of fudged facts in the story. 5 o’clock is called “around dusk” in Hume’s statement. Sunset today in Dallas is at 6:13PM.
February 16th, 2006 at 5:58 pmAs I said in another thread: You guys harassed cheney about his non-military service. And now that he DOES shoot someone, you won’t give him any credit for it.
February 16th, 2006 at 7:10 pmSo the right thing to do would be for Bush to have the White House Employee Assistance Program contact Betty Ford for assessment and treatment of Cheney’s alcohol problem. She’s a former President’s wife, and would know how to handle this.
February 16th, 2006 at 7:16 pmdead eyed dick is a lying drunk and the truth is gone w/ dick.
February 16th, 2006 at 10:09 pmOh my he had a beer so what. You people reach for anything a siple accident pull yuur heads out of your liberal asses.
February 17th, 2006 at 7:49 pmJust exactly who is Sarita Hixon and why has she not made any public comments? She was there with her sister. She is an attorney.
February 18th, 2006 at 8:42 am[…] Dick Cheney would never drink and shoot? (He”>http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/15/cheney-drinking/”>He did.) […]
March 2nd, 2006 at 7:46 pmIf you go to jail for drinking and driving, you should go to jail for drinking and shooting your best friend standing next to you. Since when are you supposed to not look before you shoot?
March 22nd, 2006 at 10:07 pm[…] Several days later The Big Dick, Cheney goes onto the F-Word Network and admits that he did “have a beer at lunch”, but that it was four or five hours befor the shooting took place - but of course we can’t possibly determine if this is true or merely a minimization of the truth because the Secret Service turned back the Sheriff’s Deputies when they arrived at the ranch. Cheney wasn’t interviewed until almost 14 hours later - and any sobriety test, breathalizer or blood tests (which could have either cleared or incriminated him as being intoxicated) would have been useless. […]
March 30th, 2006 at 1:23 pm[…] Then I thought to myself that there is something different about this particular drunken pirate - he actually TELLS the voters that is exactly who and what he is right up front as opposed to masquerading as “patriotic politicians” like the Senators McCain and Clinton, President Bush, and Vice President Cheney do, when in reality, all of the above are nothing more than drunken pirates when it gets down to it. […]
August 26th, 2006 at 2:15 am[…] Then I thought to myself that there is something different about this particular drunken pirate - he actually TELLS the voters that is exactly who and what he is right up front as opposed to masquerading as “patriotic politicians” like the Senators McCain and Clinton, President Bush, and Vice President Cheney do, when in reality, all of the above are nothing more than drunken pirates when it gets down to it. There is something to be said for voting for an HONEST person with political ambitions versus a “polished up”, supposed “choirboy” or “choirgirl” who is, in reality, nothing more than a drunken con who’s escaped the conviction up to this point. […]
August 26th, 2006 at 3:06 am[…] It makes them shoot their buddies in the face […]
November 2nd, 2006 at 9:57 am