Who told Bush what in leak case, and when was he told?

This is an older article posted on DU last summer.
Was Scott M. ever interviewed?
dar



Original message
(Sunday NYT) Who told Bush what in leak case, and when was he told?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronic...

Who told Bush what in leak case, and when was he told?
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Fallout from Rove's involvement yet to be fully measured
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- Richard W. Stevenson, New York Times
Sunday, July 24, 2005
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Washington --

(snip)

For starters, did Bush know in the fall of 2003, when he was telling the public that no one wanted to get to the bottom of the case more than he did, that Rove, his longtime strategist, senior adviser and alter ego; and Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, had touched on the CIA officer's identity in conversations with journalists before the officer's name became public? If not, when did they tell him, and what would the delay say in particular about his relationship with Rove, whose career and Bush's have been intertwined for decades?

(snip)

Allan Lichtman, a presidential historian at American University in Washington, said the lesson of recent history, for example in the Iran-Contra case under President Ronald Reagan, is that presidents tend to know more than it might first appear about what is going on within the White House.

"My presumption in presidential politics is that the president always knows," Lichtman said. "But there are degrees of knowing. Reagan said, keep the contras together body and soul. Did he know exactly what Oliver North was doing? No, it doesn't mean he knew what every subordinate is doing."

(snip)

By September 2003, as a criminal investigation was getting under way, McClellan was telling reporters that Rove had nothing to do with the leak, saying he had checked with Rove about the topic.

Around the same time, the president was saying he had no idea who might have been responsible. Asked by a reporter on Oct. 6, 2003, whether the leak was retaliation for Wilson's criticism, Bush replied: "I don't know who leaked the information, for starters. So it's hard for me to answer that question until I find out the truth."

(snip)



complete story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronic...

because

a) he wouldn't understand it in the first place

b) he'd fuck it up, even with foolproof directions and notes

c) he wouldn't listen anyway

Dubya's just a big, unloveable teenager--been there, done that, got the scars to prove it.

When it looked like Rove was going to get indicted about 5-6 days ago, the White House (Card?) floated recently the tale that when Bush found out about Rove's involvement two years ago, he jumped all over Rove.

It was a cover story revealed to show the president wasn't involved in the original scheme, and that he took Rove to task privately for it. To me, it sounded like the sort of dumb move that Bush would think up on his own when not talking to Cheney or Rove.

Right now, Bush is at Camp David, trying to figure out with Karen Hughes, Andy Card, and Laura what he will do next. He's effectively cut off from Cheney and Rove, who are political poison right now.

But in the end, Bush has undone himself with his public statements. It's becoming clearer that he and Cheney knew and lied to the prosecutor.

http://www.webcomicsnation.com/neillisst

"I don't like people saying, I read a book while the towers burned, I was clearing brush on the ranch, on vacation or making a speech when important things occurred." "Can we get back at the guy who said there was no real reason to go to Iraq?" "OK rove, just do it, one way or the other just do it!" "I like hurting all of those against me." "How else can I still keep up the lies and keep the closets closed?"