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This is rather lengthy but it consolidates some interesting facts. For Immediate Release August 25, 2005 Contact: Karen Finney - 202-863-8148 BUSH WHITE HOUSE AFRAID OF THE TRUTH Washington, DC - When the reality of inconvenient facts or opinions collides with their official rhetoric, the Bush Administration will smear and often times fire long-serving and hard-working government employees and bury or withhold crucial information. For example, Army Chief of Staff General Shinseki was fired after he said that the occupation of Iraq would require several hundred thousand troops, and the administration buried a report on poor working conditions in Central American countries prior to CAFTA's approval. Two more examples of the Bush Administration's fear of the truth came to light this week. According to news accounts, the White House fired a senior Justice Department official after he attempted to "publicize findings that police treated Hispanic and black drivers more aggressively than whites during traffic stops," despite objections from Bush political advisors. 9/25/05; New York Times, 9/24/05] It was also reported today that the White
House is blocking a report it commissioned on bilingual education because it
ran afoul of the Administration's political and policy goals by casting "doubt
on the efficacy of teaching immigrant children through English-only lessons."
xWhen confronted with the truth, the Bush White House smears and fires the
messenger or simply buries information that does not toe the Administration
line,x said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. xHonest answers
from this Administration are hard to come by. The American people deserve real
leadership and responsible government from their Commander-in-Chief, not a
disturbing pattern of abusing power.x
See below for a new document from DNC Research:
THE REPUBLICAN SMEAR MACHINE CONSTANTLY IN MOTION
Republicans follow a tried and true tactic of attacking, smearing, and sliming
anyone who might get in their way or threaten their political survival. Their
ongoing effort to discredit Joe Wilson and their destruction of his wife's
career is just the latest in a long line of questionable tactics that the Bush
Administration, Karl Rove, and Ken Mehlman consistently use to protect
themselves and retain political power.
ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF PUNISHED FOR TROOP LEVEL ASSESSMENT
Shinseki Punished For Honest Assessment Of Troop Levels Needed In Iraq;
Retribution Intimidated Commanders. Then Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki
told Congress in 2003 that the occupation of Iraq would require "several
hundred thousand" troops. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz called that
estimate "wildly off the mark." The Pentagon leaked the name of Shinseki's
replacement months before his scheduled retirement, rendering him a lame duck.
The Washington Times reported that some officers said privately that the rebuke
intimidated commanders in Iraq.
FORMER COUNTER-TERRORISM CHIEF SMEARED FOR CRITICISMS
Richard Clarke Smeared After Talking About White House Lackadaisical Attitude
Towards Al-Qaeda. The Bush White House worked hard to discredit its
counterterrorism czar, Richard Clarke, after he wrote a book suggesting the
president let down his guard on al-Qaida because of an obsession with Iraq.
After Clarke testified to White House inadequacies, the White House assailed
Clarke's motives. "In an interview evening, Dan Bartlett, the White House
communications director, dismissed Mr. Clarke's charges as 'politically
motivated,' 'reckless' and 'baseless.'" 11/16/04]
White House Tried To Paint Picture of Disgruntled Former Employee. After
claiming that Clarke is linked to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry,
Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said, "Mr. Clarke has been out there talking
about what title he had... He wanted to be the deputy secretary of the Homeland
Security Department after it was created. The fact of the matter is, just a few
months after that, he left the administration. He did not get that position.
Someone else was appointed to it."
Cheney Claimed That Counterterrorism Chief Was Not "In the Loop." Cheney:
" wasn't in the loop, frankly, on a lot of this stuff... It was as
though he clearly missed a lot of what was going on." 3/22/04]
White House Asked the CIA to Declassify Select Material to Highlight
"Contradictions." In response to Richard Clarke's call on "Meet the Press" for
"all" of his testimony to be classified, NBC's Andrea Mitchell reported, "NBC
News has learned, at the request of the White House, the CIA is already going
through Clarke's testimony to Congress to see what could be declassified,
supposedly to show contradictions. All part of an unrelenting White House
counteroffensive."
Frist Called Clarke Apology to 9-11 Families Arrogant and Manipulative. Sen.
Bill Frist (R-TN) said "In his appearance before the 9/11 commission, Mr.
Clarke's theatrical apology on behalf of the nation was not his right, his
privilege or his responsibility. In my view it was not an act of humility, but
an act of supreme arrogance and manipulation."
TREASURY SECRETARY FIRED FOR OPPOSITION TO TAX CUTS
O'Neill Fired For Expressing Misgivings Over Bush's Additional Tax Cuts. Paul
O'Neill, his first treasury secretary, was fired after expressing misgivings
about the need for additional tax cuts proposed by the president. 11/16/04]
Administration Launched Investigation After O'Neill Wrote A Book. Defense
Secretary Rumsfeld called O'Neill twice after hearing he was writing a book on
the Bush administration. Rumsfeld called it a "sour grapes" book. Soon after
the book was published the Treasury department launched an investigation into
whether O'Neill shared secret documents with 60 Minutes. Ron Suskind, the
author of the book, who was given access by Mr. O'Neill to 19,000 documents
that were turned over to him by the department after his departure, said the
document that was shown on "60 Minutes" was the cover sheet for a February 2001
briefing paper on planning for a post-war Iraq. But he said Mr. O'Neill was not
provided with the briefing paper itself. Times, 1/14/04]
ECONOMIC ADVISER FORCED TO RESIGN
Lindsey Forced to Resign After Citing Large Cost of Iraq War. White House
economic adviser Larry Lindsey annoyed the White House in September 2002 when
he suggested that war with Iraq would cost between $100 billion and $200
billion, an estimate administration officials insisted was too high. In
December 2002, the White House requested Lindsey resign from his post. "While I
think this economic team has clearly had problems working together, I think the
criticisms of Larry Lindsey have often been inconsistent and unfair for someone
who was loyally carrying out the president's agenda, however much I disagreed
with it," said Gene Sperling, Mr. Lindsey's immediate predecessor under Mr.
Clinton.
ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS DIRECTOR FIRED FOR BUDGET CRITICISM
Army Corps Director Fired For Comments On Bush Budget. "Mike Parker, director
of the Army Corps of Engineers and a former Republican congressman from
Mississippi, testified on the Hill that Bush budget cuts would have a 'negative
impact' on the Corps and that he had no 'warm and fuzzy' feelings toward the
administration. A furious
Daniels sent a transcript of Parker's comments to the White House. Soon after,
he was given 30 minutes to resign or be fired." 12/17/02; USA Today, 3/14/02]
PARK POLICE CHIEF FIRED FOR CRITICISM OF BUSH POLICY
Park Police Chief Fired For Comments On Bush Policy. U.S. Park Police Chief
Teresa Chambers was suspended from her job when she said her "understaffed
department had to curtail critical patrols in Park Service jurisdictions beyond
the Mall, such as major parkways and crime-ridden U.S. parkland in
neighborhoods, because of Interior Department orders requiring more officers to
guard downtown national shrines... For responding with the truth to questions
from The Post and other news outlets about staffing in her
department, U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers has been placed on leave and
notified that superiors in the National Park Service and Interior want her
fired."
Department of Interior Threatened Lawsuit Against Chambers; Turns Down Gag
Deal. The Department of Interior's Park Service announced that it wanted to
fire Chambers in December and was considering pressing charges related to
release of sensitive information, lobbying, insubordination and breaking the
chain of command. Chambers rejected an offer from the National Park Service
that would have resulted in all charges against her being dropped in exchange
for her agreeing to receive permission before speaking to Congress or the
media.
REPORT CRITICAL OF CAFTA BURIED BY WHITE HOUSE
Bush Administration Worked to Keep Secret a Report that Was Critical of CAFTA.
The Labor Department began in spring 2004 to maintain secrecy for nation-by-
nation studies that were critical of working conditions in Central American
nations included in the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The contractor,
the International Labor Rights Fund, was hired by the Labor Department in 2002
to conduct the studies. The Department instructed the contractor to remove the
reports from its Web site, ordered it to retrieve paper copies before they
became public, banned release of new information from the reports, and even
informed the contractor that it could not discuss the studies with outsiders.
Study Had Concluded that CAFTA Nations Had Poor Working Conditions and Failed
to Protect Workers Rights. The Labor Department has now worked out a deal with
the International Labor Rights Fund to make the reports public-- provided there
is no mention of the Department or government funding. The government-paid
Labor Department studies concluded that countries proposed for free-trade
status have poor working environments and fail to protect workers' rights.
According to the government report by the International Labor Rights Fund, "In
practice, labor laws on the books in Central America are not sufficient to
deter employers from violations, as actual sanctions for violations of the law
are weak or nonexistent."
Bush Administration Has Already Begun a Preemptive Campaign to Undercut the
Study's Conclusions. According to the Associated Press, "Used as talking points
by trade-pact supporters, a Labor Department document accuses the contractor of
writing a report filled with 'unsubstantiated' statements and 'biased attacks,
not the facts.'"
WHITE HOUSE OMITTED KEY PORTIONS OF MERCURY REPORT
White House Selectively Edited Scientific Findings to Minimize Mercury Risk.
According to hundreds of pages of documents and e-mail messages, White House
staffers played down the toxic effects of mercury while writing new rules to
regulate mercury emissions from coal fired power plants. The White House
staffers deleted or softened information on the health risks associated with
mercury from coal-fired power plants. In some cases, White House staff members
suggested phrasing that minimized the links between power plants and elevated
levels of mercury in fish, the primary source from which Americans accumulate
mercury in their bodies.
REPORTER SMEARED FOR REPORTING ON TROOP MORALE
ABC News Reporter Smeared By Bush Administration For Documenting Low Troop
Morale. After ABC News reporter Jeffrey Kofman did a story on "World News
Tonight" detailing low morale among the troops serving in Iraq, the Bush
Administration sought to discredit the messenger rather than refute the
message. The internet's Drudge Report published a headline that read: "ABC News
correspondent who filed troop complaints story is openly gay, Canadian." Site
publisher Matt Drudge later told the Washington Post that "someone in the White
House communications shop tipped me" to the ABC correspondent's piece and the
Advocate profile.
INS AGENTS DEMOTED FOR POINTING OUT LAX SECURITY
INS Agents Demoted for Discussing Lax Security On Canadian Border. Immigration
and Naturalization Service (INS) Agents Mark Hall and Robert Linderman were
demoted from their positions after they told reporters that United States
security at Canadian borders was lax. The demotions were later over-ruled by
INS Commissioner James W. Ziglar after a report by the INS Office of Special
Council found that Hall and Linderman were not aware of rules against INS
agents speaking with the media.
**********
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.
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