This morning in the White House gaggle, Scott McClellan tried to assert that Miers’ resignation did not come as a result of right-wing pressure, but rather was based on an “irresolvable impasse” with the Senate over providing certain confidential documents (an argument which, you will recall, didn’t stop the White House from pushing for John Roberts’ nomination).
Here’s what McClellan said when asked about the right-wing pressure:
Q Is he also deeply disappointed in the way some of his own allies have treated her and him?
McCLELLAN: We’ve always been focused on the Senate, not on the outside commentary or outside groups.
Oh really? It was the Senate pressure that caused Bush to accept Miers’ resignation? If that argument is true, then why didn’t he accept this offer of resignation:
RUMSFELD: I mean, the fact is, Larry, I submitted my resignation to President Bush twice during that period [Abu Ghraib] and told him that I felt that he ought to make the decision as to whether or not I stayed on. And he made that decision and said he did want me to stay on.
After all, here were all the conservative senators opposed to Rusmfeld: John McCain, Susan Collins, Trent Lott, Chuck Hagel, among others. The senators opposed to Miers? According to the AP:
None of the Senate’s 55 Republican senators have openly opposed Miers.
Why did Bush accept Miers’ resignation but not Rumsfeld’s?