The Perfect Stonewall by David Corn

Future presidents and press secretaries will owe much to George W. Bush and Scott McClellan—that is, if they ever want to mount a cover-up. A week after Karl Rove's lawyer announced he was no longer under investigation by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald in the CIA leak case, it's rather clear that Rove and the White House pulled perfected the art of stonewalling. They—and this caper—will be an inspiration to spinners everywhere.

In July 2003, when columnist Bob Novak (first) and Time magazine (second) published stories disclosing that Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer—and cited administration officials as their sources—the White House responded with a simple denial. McClellan, who had just inherited the White House secretary press position from Ari Fleischer, said of this leak, "That is not the way this president or this White House operates." There was no wiggle room in that statement.

Months later, once the news broke that the Justice Department—acting in response to a CIA request—would be investigating the leak, the White House got more specific. Scott McClellan stated that any White House aide who leaked information on Valerie Wilson would be dismissed, and he asserted that neither Karl Rove nor Scooter Libby had been involved in the leak. Months after that, Bush reaffirmed that the leaker—if discovered—would be booted from his White House.

This was all unambiguous. It ain't us. It ain't Rove. It ain't Libby. And if we knew who had done this, he'd be run out of town. This straight talk got the White House all the way through the 2004 elections.

cont'd...

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/06/21/the_perfect_stonewall.php