A Wink and a Nod: Bush on the Plame Scandal
Now that things are heating up once again in the Valerie Plame CIA outing case, it is worth turning back the clock and remembering President Bush's take on the scandal.
During his October 7, 2003 Cabinet meeting, George W. Bush, the same man who as presidential candidate who promised to "uphold the honor and dignity of the office" had this to say about the despicable act of treason committed by his White House:
"Well, the investigators will ask our staff about what people did or did not do. This is a town of -- where a lot of people leak. And I've constantly expressed my displeasure with leaks, particularly leaks of classified information. And I want to know, I want to know the truth. I want to see to it that the truth prevail. And I hope we can get this investigation done in a thorough way, as quickly as possible...
Randy, you tell me, how many sources have you had that's leaked information that you've exposed or have been exposed? Probably none. I mean this town is a -- is a town full of people who like to leak information. And I don't know if we're going to find out the senior administration official. Now, this is a large administration, and there's a lot of senior officials. I don't have any idea. I'd like to. I want to know the truth. That's why I've instructed this staff of mine to cooperate fully with the investigators -- full disclosure, everything we know the investigators will find out. I have no idea whether we'll find out who the leaker is -- partially because, in all due respect to your profession, you do a very good job of protecting the leakers. But we'll find out."
Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and/or others may yet be frog-marched out of the White House. Whatever the resolution of the Plame scandal, President Bush will certainly deserve no thanks in seeing justice done.
UPDATE: Think Progress adds Scott McClellan to the list of Bush White House liars in the Valerie Plame affair. From September 23, 2003:
Q: All right. Let me just follow up. You said this morning, "The President knows" that Karl Rove wasn’t involved. How does he know that?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I’ve made it very clear that it was a ridiculous suggestion in the first place. I saw some comments this morning from the person who made that suggestion, backing away from that. And I said it is simply not true. So, I mean, it’s public knowledge. I’ve said that it’s not true. And I have spoken with Karl Rove...
|
