How does the Bush Assministration defend citing Executive Privilege in response to legitmate congressional subpoenas? By trotting out an anonymous “official”! No Precedent For Applying Executive Privilege To Testimony Q I take it the President’s assertion of executive privilege does not cover Miers and Taylor testifying? Or is he saying that it does — since they’ve left the executive branch? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Oh, thank you for giving me the opportunity to clarify that. The position stated in this letter and in this exercise of executive privilege is only with regard and in regard to documents; that’s the only thing … Continue reading Gutless Cowards

On Air Force One, en route to Rhode Island. Pony Makes It Clear That The White House Claim Of Executive Privilege Does Not Apply To The Testimony Of Harriet Miers Or Sara Taylor Q The privilege applies to the document request, but what about testimony by Taylor and Miers? MR. SNOW: We are responding only to the subpoenas which refer to document requests. [snip] Q Tony, the arguments made by Fielding in the letter would apply also to this later request, right? MR. SNOW: The Fielding letter replies only to the document requests — again, for those they needed a … Continue reading Today On Holden’s Obsession With The Gaggle

Pony Sez Chimpy Is Down With The Looo-gar Q And is the outreach going to extend to Senators Lugar and Voinovich for coming to the White House and talking about some of the concerns they’ve been expressing? MR. SNOW: Well, we certainly are going to have conversations with them. We’re going to be talking to them. You know, it’s interesting, because I’ve been going back again over the Senator Lugar speech. Really, when you take a look at it, the one thing he rules out very quickly is the idea we just get out — don’t fund the troops, don’t … Continue reading Today On Holden’s Obsession With The Gaggle

Yeah, I’m a lazy son of a bitch, I should have gotten to this yesterday. Oh well.

Pony Blow Sez Lugar’s Big Flip-Flop Is no Big Deal

Q Tony, you said you weren’t surprised by the substance of Senator Lugar’s comments on the Senate floor last night. Were you surprised by the timing at all, that he chose last night to do it?

MR. SNOW: I’d ask him. We certainly were not aware that there — we were not made directly aware that there would be a statement at that time. But again, it’s consistent with things he said.

Q I’m thinking, from what I heard in the gaggle and from the shrug right now that you don’t find this very significant.

MR. SNOW: Look, Dick Lugar is a serious guy, so obviously you take it seriously. But on the other hand, again, he voted against the original — he voted against the surge. He’s somebody who has had reservations. We take seriously his point of view because he is a serious guy. On the other hand, we also take seriously the efforts and the advice that the President has gotten from his commanders on the ground, and also the continuing cooperation not only with the commanders on the ground, but also Ambassador Crocker and working with our colleagues in the Iraqi government.

That Set Helen Off

Q The arguments you are using are the same ones we heard when we were on the ropes in Vietnam and about to leave. You can’t dismiss Lugar. He’s been in foreign —

MR. SNOW: I didn’t dismiss him.

Q He’s been in foreign relations, head of the committee, all through these many years. And when he says something, he’s saying something very important. The question is, what is the price that this country is willing to pay, in terms of killing people in a country that did nothing to us, and our own people? How far? How long?

MR. SNOW: You’re assuming, Helen, that, in fact, nobody did anything to the American people, and furthermore, that nobody is doing anything to the Iraqi people.

Q Did the Iraqis attack us?

MR. SNOW: Well, what’s going on right now is that you have terrorists who are killing Muslims. The United States is in the process of trying to do —

Q We went in there as an aggressor, who killed people there to take over.

MR. SNOW: No, we did not go there to take over, we went there to liberate.

Q In his speech, Senator Lugar said that the surge’s prospects for success are too dependent on the actions of others who don’t share our agenda; it relies on military power to achieve goals that it can’t achieve, and it distances allies we’ll need for regional diplomatic efforts. And he goes on. This is serious stuff.

MR. SNOW: Yes, it is.

Q He further distances himself from the President. I understand the need to downplay it, and to say that it’s consistent with what he’s said in the past, but really this goes further. This is him separating himself far further from the President.

MR. SNOW: No, that’s your characterization, that’s not mine. Let’s take a look: regional allies — I think you take a look at, do allies want the United States to leave, and you take a look in the region, and the answer is no, unless you’re Iran and Syria. In point of fact, it is very important for us to be able to complete the job of building stability within Iraq, and at the same time, sending the ultimate in terms of discouragement to the terrorist forces by demonstrating that no matter what they do, no matter how they try, their efforts are not going to succeed.

Q He goes so far as to say that Iraqis don’t want to be Iraqis.

MR. SNOW: Well, again, you’ll find that — certainly if you take a look, even — I hate to rely on polling for this — but you look at it and there are — in fact, Iraqis do want to be Iraqis, and more importantly, they want to be free and democratic Iraqis.

Q So Lugar is wrong on that one?

MR. SNOW: I’m just telling you — I’m giving you my analysis.

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