Waxman reveals docs showing White House involvement in EPA’s CA waiver denial.
Waxman reveals docs showing White House involvement in EPA’s CA waiver denial.
A day before EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson is set to testify before the House Oversight Committee, Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) released documents highlighting the White House’s interference in the EPA’s denial of California’s waiver request last December. Waxman revealed testimony from EPA Associate Deputy Administrator Jason Burnett, who confirmed the denial came only after White House input:
According to Mr. Burnett’s deposition testimony, Administrator Johnson’s preference for a full or partial grant of the waiver did not change until after he communicated with the White House. When asked by Committee staff “whether the Administrator communicated with the White House in between his preference to do a partial grant and the ultimate decision” to deny the waiver, Mr. Burnett responded: “I believe the answer is yes.”
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Wonder why he didn’t keep them quiet for one more day, to shove up Johnson’s butt whilst he was there in person?
May 19th, 2008 at 3:53 pmI’ll bet the Bush Administration will call for an investigation into this.
They’ll want to know who f***ed up and didn’t destroy these documents.
May 19th, 2008 at 3:56 pmIs there ANY shenanigans, or illegal activity that the Bush/Cheney administration has NOT engaged in?
I seriously doubt it.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:03 pmRUCerious: Wonder why he didn’t keep them quiet for one more day, to shove up Johnson’s butt whilst he was there in person
No dout Burnett is being coached by the hwite House for his testimony tomorrow, today.
Methinks some predictions of Burnett’s responses are in order:
WAXMAN: Who….?
BURNETT: An eager underling…
WAXMAN: When…?
BURNETT: I don’t recall
WAXMAN: Why…?
BURNETT: Nstional Security…
WAXMAN: What….?
BURNETT: Who knows?
WAXMAN: If x…then y; and if not y, then why not?
May 19th, 2008 at 4:09 pmBURNETT: If I refuse to answer a straightforward question with a straightforward answer, it follows I’m not going to answer a hypothetical question with even a hypotheical answer, let alone a straightforward one. Duh!
The Bush strategery is now clear to me; overwhelm and innundate the next (Democratic) Congress with so many investigations into corruption and illegalities, that they will conduct zero business to move this country forward.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:10 pmIn the words of Dick, “So?”
What’s Waxman going to do about it?
May 19th, 2008 at 4:11 pmwow . . . more info we can file in that long since overflowing trash bin of “we already knew this to be true and will do nothing with it”
looking forward to those “hearings”, which the Ds apparently believe equal “oversight”
May 19th, 2008 at 4:13 pmSince almost everything that any federal agency does or says has the fingerprints of the White House all over it, this is just the latest addition to an already gargantuan pile. Americans have heard this tune so many times they have become numbed to it. I doubt it will even provoke a ripple of outrage.
Pity.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:20 pmTime for a new sternly worded letter…..
**bangs head on desk.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:22 pmmiss-h-molly: Americans have heard this tune so many times they have become numbed to it. I doubt it will even provoke a ripple of outrage.
I’d agree, but don’t discount ’simmering rage’. I expect the pot will come to a boil in November.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:24 pmHearings or a ripple of outrage, what I’m hoping for is that this will get California that waiver, and that other states will start to follow suit too.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:25 pmWayne: Time for a new sternly worded letter…..
**bangs head on desk.
Careful, Wayne! you keep doing that and you’ll get a ‘devout Muslim’ forehead ‘prayer-bump’. You KNOW what that might lead to!:D
May 19th, 2008 at 4:27 pm5th Estate Says:
miss-h-molly: Americans have heard this tune so many times they have become numbed to it. I doubt it will even provoke a ripple of outrage.
I’d agree, but don’t discount ’simmering rage’. I expect the pot will come to a boil in November.
Just made a fresh pot of coffee from my ’simmering rage’, want a cup?
May 19th, 2008 at 4:27 pmI expect the pot will come to a boil in November.
I sure hope so! The sum total of GDumbya’s administration has been nothing but screw-up, kiss-up and cover-up. Even the brain-dead dittoheads and right-wing rant-jocks are going to have to eventually own up to the complete and utter disaster that is called “republicans”.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:28 pmWayne, I’ll take a nonfat, halfdecaf, single shot with Caramel whipping cream, plese.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:30 pmSomebody remind me to turn off the LyingBastardOMeter tomorrow before I leave for work.
I’d like to have a garage left when I get home…
May 19th, 2008 at 4:31 pmWho could ever conceive of the idea that a state would have to apply for a waiver to the federal government in order to be allowed to reduce air pollution, much less that they would be denied a waiver, and be forced to contribute their fair share of pollution?
May 19th, 2008 at 4:39 pmoh, please, let’s not kid ourselves, there is not enough “simmering rage” in the USofA about what W et al have done to power my cell phone for a day. Simmering rage . . . more like pathetic indifference.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:43 pmWhy do Republicans hate state’s rights?
May 19th, 2008 at 4:45 pmshoeless Says
May 19th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Why do Republicans hate state’s rights?
__________________________________________
Eh…only when the states want to do something the GOP finds repugnant. Like trying to make the environment a better place. If the states want to do something the GOP likes — like deny people their civil rights, keep gays from partnering, tell women they can’t do what they want with their bodies, etc., then they’re all for it.
Hypocrites.
May 19th, 2008 at 5:04 pmRethugs were FOR state’s rights before they were against them.
May 19th, 2008 at 5:55 pmCertainly no surprise. Of course , it is the impunity with which they conduct their criminal conspiracy which is most galling!
May 19th, 2008 at 5:58 pmI want a Congressional Investigation of the Bush Administration to locate ONE appointee actually worth the taxpayer funds and trust we give . . . NOW that would make headlines, when they find one . . .
May 19th, 2008 at 11:04 pm