John Dean: Ridge is likely backtracking because of ‘political pressure from the Bush clan.’
John Dean: Ridge is likely backtracking because of ‘political pressure from the Bush clan.’
In recent days, former Homeland Security Adviser Tom Ridge has been backing away from claims he made in his memoir that Bush administration officials may have been pushing to raise the security alert level for political reasons. Ridge has been on an apology tour this week, insisting that he never meant to insinuate any bad motives on his former colleagues. Last night on MSNBC, former Nixon adviser John Dean said that he believes Ridge likely received pressure from Bush officials to backtrack:
OLBERMANN: Is there any reason to suggest that that back pedaling owes to political pressure or something like that?
DEAN: I would suspect the fact that Rumsfeld and Ashcroft came out and hit him pretty hard has affected his thinking on this whole matter. He doesn’t seem to be as clear on what he wrote now that they’ve spoken out on the issue.
And also Keith, he did indeed imply a rather serious criminal charge if this conduct indeed had been undertaken. So I think there’s a lot of reasons that he probably has backed off and political pressure from the Bush clan probably is part of the reason.
Watch it:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Transcript:
OLBERMANN: Mr. Ridge, it would appear not sufficiently outraged by his publisher`s poetic license to ask them to change their Website which tonight still reads “Ridge effectively thwarted a plan to raise the national security alert just before the 2004 election.”
Joining us now a man who has on a couple of occasions seen politics infect national governance, Nixon White House counsel John Dean author of “Worst than Watergate” and the recently reissued classic “Blind Ambition.” Thanks as always for your time tonight, sir.
JOHN DEAN, FORMER NIXON WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: Thank you, Keith.
OLBERMANN: Correct me if I`m wrong, but is it not impossible for Mr. Ridge to know whether politics influenced the inner thinking of Rumsfeld and Ashcroft and therefore not possible for Mr. Ridge to know that it did not?
DEAN: It is not possible in any way I know of that he could channel both these people and get their thinking. It is quite clear when you listen to him on Rachel last night, he`s saying read my book, read my book. You read his book and he`s saying exactly the opposite of what he`s saying now. So he`s clearly back pedaling.
OLBERMANN: Is there any reason to suggest that that back pedaling owes to political pressure or something like that?
DEAN: I would suspect the fact that Rumsfeld and Ashcroft came out and hit him pretty hard has affected his thinking on this whole matter. He doesn’t seem to be as clear on what he wrote now that they’ve spoken out on the issue.
And also Keith, he did indeed imply a rather serious criminal charge if this conduct indeed had been undertaken. So I think there’s a lot of reasons that he probably has backed off and political pressure from the Bush clan probably is part of the reason.
OLBERMANN: Do we infer that the prospect that this was a description of possible criminal acts might not have been known to Mr. Ridge before the book was written? Or would he have been aware at some point, would somebody have said, even just somebody vetting the manuscript have said, “Hey, you know what, I know a lawyer somewhere and he says this might be — this might be a crime you`re describing?”
DEAN: Well, I — he`s a former U.S. Attorney from Pennsylvania. Theoretically he would know about Title 18371, which is the conspiracy to defraud the government by abusing or misusing its agencies for — in this instance, political purposes would fit perfectly under that description.
It`s what happened to a lot of people in Watergate, it`s what happened in Iran contra. And it`s difficult for me not to believe he didn`t know about it. And I think this is one of those oops, maybe I shouldn`t have said that. And so he`s recalibrating now and backing down from it — from where he actually presently stated in his book.
OLBERMANN: But he has now managed to paraphrase the famous Charles Barkley allegation, Charles made that he had been misquoted in his own autobiography.
You have written your share of books. Did you get to sign off on jacket copy, how the book was going to be publicized, what points were going to be emphasized in attempts to gain interviews or reviews or attentions of other kinds?
DEAN: Keith, fly copy, book jackets, the publicity, it’s on the site. That’s all based on material in the book. So it was clear they had the impression that he indeed — he had been pressured and that he had dealt with the pressure accordingly, that’s why they used these as selling points.
All the books I’ve done, the editors who write these have always sent me the copy in advance for my approval. It`s difficult for me to believe that Ridge was not sent this copy and did not approve it before it went on the jacket.
So I’m kind of baffled by him backing off of it other than the fact he’s being pressured to back off of it.
OLBERMANN: Well, and also that leads to the final question here, which is how in the world does that — this whole process not pass the laugh test? Let alone the sniff test.
DEAN: It doesn’t pass easily.
In fact, I think what he’s done is undercut his book. I actually was rather interested in the book when I heard — at first that he was going to come clean and say yes, there was pressure and give some examples of it.
But when I got to the book and his actual statements, there`s now a big gap.
OLBERMANN: John Dean, columnist for FindLaw.com, author of “Broken Government” and actual real books that he stands behind. Great thanks as always, John.
DEAN: Thank you, Keith.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
Just another Republican coward.
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:50 amRidge is a pathetic, whining little puppy who’s trying to sell books.
I’ve never heard anyone claim the words in their autobiography ‘aren’t true’.
I recall him standing by Bush, trying to look tall, confident and full of leadership.
Fact is, he’s short sighted, weak kneed & full of shit.
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:52 amGee, ya think??? I wouldn’t have believed it possible, but I get more disgusted by these people every day. If Ridge is going to bow down, then there truly is no hope.
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:54 amI knew back then that raising the alerts were as phoney as a three dollar bill.
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:59 amThere’s only one way to find out who is telling the truth. Investigate. Investigate them all.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:02 amDidnt he tell Matthews yesterday that theres down correlation between any of the raise tread levels? but didnt Keith do one?
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:05 amOf course he’s backtracking due to pressure from the criminals, but that was the marketing plan all along. First write a book, then on the promo tour initially sound like your revealing some secret that everyone suspects, next is the ‘that’s not what I meant’ part.
It’s all about book sales. Who hasn’t followed that plan? What ‘author’ from the previous admin has not done the very same thing (Scotty M et al)?
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:05 amRidge is a former U.S. Attorney and knows that pressuring any governmental agency for POLITICAL reasons is a CRIME . .
What the hell was he thinking when he wrote this book?
Was Ridge asleep during the Watergate convictions?
Is there no one who should NOT be investigated during the last eight years?????
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:06 amJust another pol cashing in on the GUS syndrome that affects a substantial portion of the US population.(Guillible-Uninformed-Stupid) The airways are saturated with people who are making millions because of GUS.Also,check out the other pols and what they say.It makes me cringe.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:09 amJohn Dean: “…political pressure from the Bush clan…”
More like being offered to be fitted with a pair of cement overshoes in the East River by the Bush Crime Family.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:12 amThis doesn’t surprise. After all, the guy lack the temerity to challenge Arlen freakin’ Specter in what should’ve been a breeze of a Senate race (and, no, Toomey probably would not have won the primary)
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:15 amHe writes a book that he claims is an autobiography and kisses and tells. Now he’s trying to tell us that what he told us wasn’t true?
Why should anyone buy the book then? Dolts!
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:15 amThe question that I would ask Mr. Ridge would be,”since the publisher did not print what you wrote,will you file a lawsuit against them”?
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:17 amwell, waddya think? think he regrets going on maddow?
i think that night he felt good – she certainly worked hard to make that possible… he couldn’t have asked for a more fair and informative interview…
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:17 amRidge was born in the Mon valley of Pittsburgh, the heart of the old steel industry. Later, his family moved to Erie and his blue collar background was quickly jettisoned as reached young adulthood.As his political aspirations grew,he learned to curry favor with the likes of Richard Mellon Scaife and other GOP king makers in Pennsylvania. No evidence of his working class roots remained.He made himself a willing accomplice for the Bush administration’s PR campaign to invade Iraq and he did additional service for them by jazzing up the security warnings. He’s a phony who needs to feel shame for his endless self promotion at the nation’s expense.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:21 amFear-mongering, pressure tactics, threats from Bush, Cheney, & co.?? That’s as hard to swallow as a nice, cold glass of spring water.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:21 amMaybe Ridge is concerned that if he doesn’t change his tune, he may have a “heart attack” or die in a small engine plane crash.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:24 amPressure from the Bush clan? No offense, but the Bush clan’s clout should be very limited. George W. Bush is probably the most hated, vilified (Rightly so) U.S. Pres. in decades. Thanks to Georgie and his enept, lying, duplicious Administration, Jeb Bush’s chances for the White House is extremely dim(I hope!). Ironic isn’t it? In 1994, Both Bush’s ran for Govenor. George-Texas, Jeb-Florida. All the righties were expecting Jeb to win. But he lost. So the righties backed George in 2000. Would Jeb been a better Pres if he won Florida in 1994? Probably. But george was ALWAYS the second choice.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:24 amI really hate the fact that it would be hard to make a non-sworn description in a book admissible in court.
But I sure hope the book’s admission can somehow be used to further the investigation.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:26 amSo how long do you think it’ll be before Ridge starts claiming that he never wrote the book in the first place? Soon he’ll be going on interviews saying, “No, I never wrote the book. It was written by Tom Ringe. Ringe. Yeah, the “d” on the jacket is a typo.”
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:28 amI remember them raising the alert (red, I think) during the 2004 Democratic convention, after the arrest of a supposed terrorist cell in England. It turned out to be bogus. Just one of many times.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:29 amThen and now, I thought the panic traffic light smelled like Rove.
Tommy has not yet learned the most important of all the rules of the Republican clan: “Never speak against the family.”
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:35 amokie dokie says:
“I remember them raising the alert (red, I think) during the 2004 Democratic convention, after the arrest of a supposed terrorist cell in England. It turned out to be bogus. Just one of many times.”
Here in NY I think we’ve been stuck on “orange” since 9/11. Police in the city are still randomly pulling people aside to search their bags without cause. Every time the alert went up around the Nation, a large scale police presence carrying assault weapons was sent out on patrol here in NYC. I wonder how much money was waisted around America bolstering up the police presence all for unfounded threats that never panned out to be credible, or more likely lies put out for political reasons.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:35 amokie@21. I remember in 2003 when people were running to Home depot or Lowe’s for plastic to put on their windows in case of an attack. That was a watershed moment for me. I was never political or an activist. But after watching usually sane, practical people being spoon fed fear for politcal gain finally woke me out of the stupor of the corrupt Bush Administration. The politics of fear has been used for centuries. Fear of War, Fear of God, fear of Change. And it is always the same and very effecrive. I couldn’t believe Bush got re-elected in 2004 (Even that remains a question, thanks to Ohio). Bush won because of fear. That is why other nations (Many our allies) think the American people are either stupid or ignorant. Ridge deserves scorn. HE knew that it was political, but he has no balls to declare publically. What a worm.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:37 amForced to take a ride;
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:38 amDriver takes your cash and splits;
Stranded in desert…
Bush administration officials may have been pushing to raise the security alert level for political reasons.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:39 am—————————————–
May have been? What was the point of the colors to begin with? It was to scare the hell out of all of us. But there were always suspicions when the color was raised. Well he can’t really backtrack now. The book has been written and he said what he said. It’s like throwing feathers into the wind. You just can’t gather all of them back.
…meanwhile, Mikey Chertoff is basking in warm Israeli sunshine, collecting big bucks from sources unknown…
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:39 amTom Ridge is not the sharpest tack in the box.
Remember the duct tape and the color (not numbered) terror alert scale. He didn’t anticipate being bludgeoned for the comment in his book and he didn’t anticipate how his back-pedaling would forever affect his reputation and character.
Tom Ridge is a true GOPer. DUMB ASS!
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:39 amRidge is obviously backpedaling — we know this because we’ve seen this dance performed by Republicans so often (although usually it’s Rush Limbaugh playing the music).
But Ridge is now OUT of the Bush administration, and supposedly no longer has to ask how high when told to jump. So what power do people like Rumsfeld and Ashcroft have over him? Here are some possibilities:
1. Ridge is looking to run for elective office again someday, and other former Bushco people have threatened to withhold their help (or have threatened to hinder outright) for any such endeavor as punishment for disloyalty. This shouldn’t be a problem, though — if Ridge wants to run for office as a Republican, he’d be wise to disassociate from Bushco as much as possible, anyway.
2. Ridge is a lot more stained with misdeeds than he let on in his book, and people like Rumsfeld and Ashcroft firmly let him know it. There may have been a “if one of us goes down, we all go down” conversation somewhere.
3. Ridge was lying through his teeth in his book, just to spice it up a bit and sell more copies. And those he implicated in wrongdoing are justifiably threatening him with a libel suit.
As for probabilities? My money’s on #2.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 amPolitical pressure from ‘the bush clan’ ?!?
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:41 amProbably not.
I’m fairly sure it’s more like the:
‘we know where you live and we know where your grandchildren go to school’ kind of pressure.
The only place I see the alert level here any more is at the airport.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:42 amOut of 2,920 days in office, Cheney was in charge of NORAD for ONE of them…September 11th, 2001.
Rummy had air space closed for ‘exercises’.
Bush was reading a childrens book…upside down.
Lest we forget, as that fateful anniversary approaches.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:44 amZim@32, And Cheney still claims he has kept us safe. (???) In his evil, warped mind, Cheney is trying to re-write history. Or save his own As*. Either way, the man will always be known as the man who tortured. What a legacy.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:50 amI saw a story on the kotv website that there is an Israeli expert on suicide bombers in town training police officers.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:56 amI also have seen Wackenhut guards inside the courthouse.
Of course, paranoia is an easy sell in this part of the world.
You really gotta love someone who has the audacity to say that he was misquoted in a book that he wrote. That takes real chutzpa.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 pmThe criminal Bushco administration has invested millions of dollars and endless interviews on framing and re-writing their history. They will not stand for any off-message info from anyone.
Ridge states there was discussion of raising the phony terror alert as the 2004 election drew closer, but they decided against it. What DID happen, on Oct.29 2004, was a phony Bin Laden alert, in which he claimed responsibility for the 9-11 attacks.
What a convenient coincidence. Where the Bushco’s are concerned, there are no coincidences.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:01 pmGuess he does not want a visit from the Cheney secret assasination team.
Remember what happen to Karl Rove’s IT expert Micheal O’Connell who was about to testify about the tampering of the voting machines in Ohio during the 2004 elections. He died in the same fashion as JFK Jr., Sen. Mel Carnaham and Paul Wellstone about a week before his court date. A small plane crash.
He predicted he would be taken out.
That is how the Bushies operate.
Remember – Cheney has a secret assasination team still operating.
http://www.infowars.com/cheney-assassination-unit-still-active-under-obama-including-domestically/
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:05 pmNumber 37 is right. I would be willing to bet that Mr. Cheney invited him to go hunting on the ranch. I wouldn’t do it either. Come on Mr. Ridge get some back bone and stick up for your own words!
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:09 pmI got in a fight with a conservative neighbor. I told him he was sinning as a neighbor and it was my duty to heal him then hid his beer and cigarettes and gave his wife a taser.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:10 pmXisithrus says:
Better you should give his wife a teaser…
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:22 pmDr Suess has to be rolling in his grave.
I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:32 pmAn elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent.
Dr. Seuss, Horton Hatches the Egg
US author & illustrator (1904 – 1991)
Ridge suddenly decided backtracking was a great strategy when severed pigeon heads suddenly were being FedEx’ed to him.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:35 pmIs backtracking? Depends on what your definition of “is” is.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:34 pmHe should be on “Dancing With the Not-Stars” instead of Delay.
I’ve never seen a slicker tap-dace routine than that Rachel interview.
But he failed, and now looks like the world’s biggest, dumbest Liar.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:34 pmkws has to go to the Clinton bucket for something smartassed to say.
how droll.
and weak.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:36 pmWhy would Ridge choose to look like an idiot who misquoted himself in his own autobiography?
Fear of suicide.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:42 pmI remember the run up to the election and for no apparent reason the color alert would go up. It seemed to do it all the time, when Bush had a bad interview or press conference, just before a particular primary.
Come on, it was comical, no one took the threats seriously (except for a few delusional right wingers who always thought “we’re under attack!”).
What a joke. He told the partial truth – if he told the whole truth he would have said I raised the threat level under direct orders of Bush and Cheney. Anything short of that is a lie.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:46 pmDid he read the book he “wrote”? Next thing he will be blaming his ghost writer, who must have been a secret Democrat.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:47 pmHe simply took himself out of context. He misunderstood his own thoughts. He had one cup of coffee too many when he wrote that chapter.He was confused because he wasn’t sure if it was pressure he felt or just gas. There are many explanations for Ridge’s inconsistencies. He’s bound to think of several more given a little time.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:55 pmI think a little jail time will help him clear his thoughts.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:56 pmFear of suicide.
Old Uncle Dave, I appreciate the way you phrase things. That’s good!
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:43 pmtombaker says:
kws has to go to the Clinton bucket for something smartassed to say.
how droll.
and weak.
Clinton act is always good for a laugh.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:00 pmkwsventures says:
Its backtracking Dr Venture and YOU are my definition for stupid. As far as I am concerned they should just use your photo in the dictionary as a definition for the word
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:15 pmI like Rachel Maddow and she is better than all the mainstream media interviewers we see, but she really was too easy on Ridge.
When she asked him if the words on the jacket were true, he said “those are not my words”. He did not answer the question of whether or not they were true! He weaseled out of answering and she let him.
When he said that the evidence of Iraq being a threat was thought to be true at the time, she should have said “no, no, no, that is false!!!”.
Joe Wilson reported to Cheney’s office that the Niger document was a poor forgery and there was no attempt to aquire uranium from Niger 11 months before Bush said it in the State of the Union.
The same speech had the lie about the aluminum tubes being for nuclear weapons. This was also known to be false 11 months before. The “meeting in Prague” between an Iraqi official and al Qaeda was totally baseless according to the Prague police. The “shack in the North” was a baseless lie. The “drones capable of delivering WMD” was a baseless lie.
“26,000 liters of anthrax—enough to kill several million people” was a lie. “38,000 liters of botulinum toxin” was a lie. “500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agents” was a lie. “Almost 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents” was a lie.
Everything Powell said at the UN was known to be a lie. Maybe not known by Powell, but known by Tenet and the CIA. Doesn’t anyone remember the excellent story 60 Minutes did exposing how everything was based on Curveball and it was proven to be a lie before Powell’s speech?
Why didn’t Rachel mention the very obvious fact that there were a large number of OUR WMD experts in Iraq before the invasion trying to find something and they could find absolutely nothing? They begged the Bush administration to please suggest where else to look if they were so sure there were WMD there. The White House said “Everybody out. Time to invade. Can’t wait any longer!”.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:23 pmDamn, I hate it when people come forward and say they misquoted themselves and then turn around and deny having said anything one way or tother. Makes my head hurt.
OTOH, John Dean’s observations were spot on. Remarkable what a little experience will do for a person, eh?
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:29 pmKeith,
Your spot on. I enjoy Rachel more than anyone else, but she did allow Ridge too much wiggle room.
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:44 pmJohn Dean: Ridge is likely backtracking because of ‘political pressure from the Bush clan.’ »
Last time I looked no Bush was in office anymore.
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:15 pmThe Corleone family was not “in office”, either. The Nixon family was trying to place all the blame on Dean and get him to jail and shut up.
September 4th, 2009 at 12:29 am57. kwsventures says: … Last time I looked no Bush was in office anymore. September 3rd, 2009 at 9:15 pm
My, you are a naive young troll, aren’t you. Does the word “establishment” ring a bell with you? How about the phrases “old boy’s network” or “good ol’ boys”? You can plead ignorance if you wish, but it’s no excuse whatsoever.
The Bushes and their friends have been part of the political establishment, Republican wing, in this country for well over seventy years. They have ties to establishment groups that go back much more than a century. They consider people like the Kennedys to be parvenues or “Johnny come latelies”.
Gonzo pisses them off at not inconsiderable risk to his future.
September 4th, 2009 at 2:18 pm59. virtual pebble apologizes for mixing topics. Can’t keep these guys who keep walking back their comments straight.
In addition to Gonzo risking his future by peeving the Bushes and their friends, so does Tom Ridge.
September 4th, 2009 at 2:21 pmyou for your sharing.!
September 7th, 2009 at 10:21 am