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Thanksgiving Gift for George Bush
// The president’s former press secretary wrote a revelatory book
Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan accused George Bush, vice president Dick Cheney, their aides Karl Rove and Lewis Libby, and former White House chief of staff Andy Card of lying. McClellan said that the officials provided him with false information on the CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity leak case, which he carried on to the U.S. nation. The scandal might lead to Bush’s and Cheney’s impeachment. Democrats in the U.S. Congress have already begun consultations on the matter. Kommersant’s correspondent Dmitry Sidorov brings the details from Washington.
Tuesday morning went wonderfully for the U.S. president. Sources close to the White House said that George Bush was in good mood. On the eve of Thanksgiving Day, celebrated on Thursday to commemorate the rescuing of pilgrims who just arrived to America by Indians, Bush was to take part in the traditional ceremony of Turkey pardoning. Out of six birds, the president had to pardon two. Bush decided to call the pair Flower and May, joking that vice president Dick Cheney suggested naming them Lunch and Dinner.
However, pre-feast atmosphere was completely spoiled in the afternoon, when mass media disclosed excerpts from an upcoming book by former White House press secretary Scott McClellan. The book headlined “WHAT HAPPENED: Inside the Bush White House and What’s Wrong With Washington” is to be published in April 2008. Member of the president’s administration until April 2006, who was also part of George Bush’s ‘Texas crew’, unexpectedly accused his former boss of misinforming himself -- Scott McClellan, and, consequently, the press and the American nation about the role of top officials in the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity.
“I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the seniormost aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby,” McClellan writes in his memoirs. “There was one problem. It was not true.” The former official recalls his public statements that allegedly none of White House staff members knew about Valerie Plame’s identity leak. “I had unknowingly passed along false information, and five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president [Dick Cheney.—Kommersant], the president’s chief of staff [Andy Card.—Kommersant], and the president himself,” claims McClellan.
The revelation became top news in the U.S. right away. However, the book’s publishers from Public Affairs had nothing to add to the excerpts, while the author declined any contacts with journalists. “I am outraged to learn that former White House press secretary Scott McClellan confirms that he was sent out to lie to the press corps,” said Valerie Plame. “Even more shocking, McClellan confirms that not only Karl Rove and Scooter Libby told him to lie but Vice-President Cheney, presidential Chief of Staff Andrew Card and President Bush also ordered McClellan to issue his misleading statement.”
The Bush administration refutes all charges. “The president has not and would not ask his spokespeople to pass on false information,” said current White House press secretary Dana Perino, adding that McClellan’s statement was definitely detached from its context. However, Kommersant’s sources in Washington said that Bush and Cheney were not caught off guard by the former associate’s accusations. The sources said the president and the vice president had been informed about the book and its excerpts in advance. So, Thanksgiving holiday is ruined for White House legal counselors Fred Fielding and Ed Gillespie. They are now working on the White House’s counterarguments, and might be working on a lawsuit against Scott McClellan.
A source close to the White House wonders: “Why didn’t McClellan resign immediately or soon after he had been allegedly misled by the president, the vice president, and other White House high-rank officials? Why was he silent for so long? Is it because he has been writing his book?” Indeed, it is unclear what made McClellan, one of the president’s closest associates, deliver accusations against his former boss. Anyway, his revelation might lead to grave consequences for all officials mixed in the scandal.
“These are serious accusations, but we don’t know to what extent they are true. Scott [McClellan.—Kommersant] did not confirm them upon oath,” said Republican presidential candidate Michael Huckabee in an interview to MSNBC channel.
According to Kommersant’s information, Democrats in the Congress have already begun considering to initiate hearings which might eventually bring trouble both for McClellan and for those he accuses. “If Scott McClellan confirms his statement upon oath and the court believes him, finding additional evidence and witnesses, then, theoretically, Bush and Cheney might face impeachment for ‘obstructing the course of justice’, while Card, Libby, and Rove might go to jail,” said a source close to the Democratic Party. “If McClellan goes back on his statement, the administration might judicially ban the publication of the book’s controversial excerpt or bring him to justice for libel.”
Moreover, it is likely that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who leads Valerie Plame’s case, might initiate an additional investigation on McClellan’s charges, if he decides there are grounds for it.
Dmitry Sidorov
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 22, 2007
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