Did Bush Know More About Case Than He Let On Before 04 Election? EJ Dionne

[kpete]

All the President's Leaks

By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006; Page A21
..............

Could it be that Bush -- heading into what he knew would be a difficult election -- was creating the impression of wanting the full story out when he already knew what most of the story was?

Which leads to another question: What exactly did Attorney General John Ashcroft know when he recused himself from the leak investigation? Did he know the investigation was getting dangerously close to Bush, Cheney, Libby and White House senior political adviser Karl Rove?

In announcing Fitzgerald's appointment on Dec. 30, 2003, Deputy Attorney General James Comey said that Ashcroft, "in an abundance of caution, believed that his recusal was appropriate based on the totality of the circumstances and the facts and evidence developed at this stage of the investigation." What were the "facts" and the "evidence" on which Ashcroft acted? Did the administration consciously consider if passing off the investigation to someone else would delay the day of reckoning to beyond the 2004 election? And, yes, what exactly did Bush tell Fitzgerald and his staff when they questioned him on June 24, 2004? What had Cheney told Fitzgerald earlier?

The most heartening sign that all the spin in the world will not allow the administration to evade such questions was Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter's statement on Fox News Sunday that "there has to be a detailed explanation precisely as to what Vice President Cheney did, what the president said to him, and an explanation from the president as to what he said so that it can be evaluated." Specter, a Republican and a former district attorney in Philadelphia, is just the right man to take the lead in breaking the spin cycle.

more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/10/AR2006041001049.html

[twiterpatted]

1. Pretense only for Arlen Spector

D.J. is SILLY,, Senator Spector will only give pretense to the idea of accountability. This will allow Arlene to give full cover for Bush later.

[senseandsensibility]

2. beginning with the ridiculous title and on through his

insanely hopeful comments about Spector, this article reads like a parody. Wake up, Mr. Dionne! A three year old know that * knew about the leak the whole time he was threatening to fire the leaker.

[leftchick]

3. I agree

and being hoepeful about Spector is naive indeed.

[symbolman]

4. Question here

So far TIME is insisting that Bush 'declassified' (or claimed to) the NIE reports (so libby could leak them, etc) AFTER WE INVADED IRAQ..

Now from what I've been gleaning it sounds like, and I thought I heard Bush himself say this, that he 'declassified' the NIE DURING that period so that the 'merican public could know the truth..

There's something fishy going on in here.. looks like TIME Is covering for Bush as Bush MAY have outed himself if what I've seen is true..

Anyone know?