FULL TEXT: July 11 White House Press Briefing — Hilarious reading. At least the reporter was dogged, all the good it did.
QUESTION: Does the president stand by his pledge to fire anyone involved in a leak of the name of a CIA operative?
MCCLELLAN: I appreciate your question. I think your question is being asked related to some reports that are in reference to an ongoing criminal investigation. The criminal investigation that you reference is something that continues at this point.
And as I%u2019ve previously stated, while that investigation is ongoing, the White House is not going to comment on it.
The president directed the White House to cooperate fully with the investigation. And as part of cooperating fully with the investigation, we made a decision that we weren’t going to comment on it while it is ongoing.
QUESTION: I actually wasn’t talking about any investigation.
But in June of 2004, the president said that he would fire anybody who was involved in this leak to the press about information. I just wanted to know: Is that still his position?
MCCLELLAN: Yes, but this question is coming up in the context of this ongoing investigation, and that’s why I said that our policy continues to be that we’re not going to get into commenting on an ongoing criminal investigation from this podium.
The prosecutors overseeing the investigation had expressed a preference to us that one way to help the investigation is not to be commenting on it from this podium.
MCCLELLAN: And so that’s why we are not going to get into commenting on it while it is an ongoing investigation — or questions related to it.
QUESTION: Scott, if I could point out: Contradictory to that statement, on September 29th of 2003, while the investigation was ongoing, you clearly commented on it. You were the first one to have said that if anybody from the White House was involved, they would be fired.
And then, on June 10th of 2004, at Sea Island Plantation, in the midst of this investigation, when the president made his comments that, yes, he would fire anybody from the White House who was involved, so why have you commented on this during the process of the investigation in the past, but now you’ve suddenly drawn a curtain around it under the statement of, We’re not going to comment on an ongoing investigation?
MCCLELLAN: Again, John, I appreciate the question. I know you want to get to the bottom of this. No one wants to get to the bottom of it more than the president of the United States.
found by J. Miller who adds:
I’m reminded what Joe Wilson said a couple of years ago, in answer to a
question from the audience after his talk to the Commonwealth Club. I
don’t remember the wording of the question, but i remember the answer vividly.Q: Who told Novak that your wife was an undercover CIA agent?
A: I don’t know. All i can say is that i look forward to the day when Karl
Rove is frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs.(laughter and applause)
You don’t have to be a weasel to work in the Bush White House — but it helps!
This is fantastic. Spine transplant! I think they are finally pissed now that one of them is in jail!
There is a video of the afternoon press conference available – it’s a hoot!
Boris
And this is a surprise… how? Scot McLellan is going to be ranked right up there with the Iraqi Minister of Informatioin – the guy who was saying that the Americans are no where near Baghdad, etc etc.
McLellan’s losing crediblity by the minute, and anyone who has half a brain will see that his role is to deflect anything even remotely like real information away from the president, and away from the press corps.
…So much for being a moderate John…
It seems like most administrations get into trouble in their second term. Thinking back to Nixon (Water”gate”), Reagan (Iran-Contra “gate”), and Clinton (Monica “gate”. Could this be Bush’s (CIA “gate”)? Lets hope so. Rove is as slimy as they come.
Carter and Bush 41 should be grateful to have served only one term, and Ford only half. Not enough time for full scale corruption. It takes a second term to flush it out. Maybe we should be grateful Bush 43 stuck around? It’ll be pleasurable watching him squirm.
The transcript was so outrageous that I had to watch the full video to believe that it was real. At the end McClellan smiles like a cheshire cat and walks away, body language being clear: “I didn’t answer your questions, and there’s not a goddamn thing you can do about it.”
We used to give lessons in democracy; now we are showing dictators how it is done.
Ongoing investigation my ass. Ongoing coverup. Why even have a press briefing?
A good string obnoxious press is the last bastion of a free society.
Waiting for Dumbya’s administration to do anything about treason on the part of their #1 hatchetman Rove is going to be an exercise in futility.
Joe, the examples you cite started in the presidents’ first term, with the possible exception of Iran-Contra. This ‘crime’ was in 2003, the Watergate breakin was in 1972, and Monica happened because Clinton wouldn’t issue a statement saying he requested a meeting with Paula Jones and that she did nothing immoral, again in his first term.
So far, there’s no evidence of anything treasonous or criminal on the part of Karl Rove. If Newsweek’s summary can be believed, then he is essentially exonerated, as he was just responding to Wilson’s false claims.
I’m not sure what McClellan could say differently. If he’s asked not to talk about it, then he’s not going ot talk about it. I don’t remember Mr. Moran being so dogged when Clinton was asked if he had raped Juanita Broaddrick and Clinton just referred to his lawyer’s statement.
If Wilson wants to see Rove in handcuffs, then why is he against Miller’s testifying? He should want her to give up her source.
Given what the press could and should be discussing, re true cost and reasons for invasions and occupations, as well as serious problems with 9-11 storyline, W and the admin should be thrilled that Rove is dominating news and unrest.
Even when a single person is involved, the mainstream press has difficulty pursuing what is really important. Remember how so much time, energy, and attention was spent on Dan Quayle’s avoidance of military service, when real story was how utterly unqualified he was for anything close to VP position.
Rove could be “frog marched” out of the WH tomorrow and it wouldn’t mean a damn in the big picture, unless it could be the beginning of the unravelling of other stories. But don’t hold your breath. The American public is far more comfortable accepting and wanting more of soap-opera-level offenses than the serious stuff.