I read the National Review defense of him and the piece you posted to me.
White House "talking points," is what they amount to.
Maybe Bush will ask the SEC to release the Harken file. Or ask Harken to release it.
Yeah, right, that'll happen! <g>
the White House yesterday distributed talking points headlined "If you get asked about Harken" to Bush loyalists who might be contacted by reporters. Bartlett said the fact sheets were sent to members of Congress after they asked for them.
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said aides to Bush have "talked to the private accountants and private counsels who are involved in the president's private transactions" while preparing answers to reporters' questions during the growing debate over corporate responsibility...Also yesterday, the White House refused to release records of Bush's service on Harken's board. Bush had pointed to those records during a news conference on Monday when asked about his role in the sale of a subsidiary. The transaction later was used by Harken to mask losses.
"You need to look back on the director's minutes," Bush said.
Bartlett said the administration does not have the minutes and does not plan to ask Harken for them...
..Bartlett said Bush will not [ask Harken for them]. "Those are documents in the possession of an independent regulatory agency," Bartlett said. "I'm [he's not? what about his boss?! Clever! Listeners may think he means Bush!] not in a position to call on them to do that. We've made available every relevant document we have in our possession."
Administration officials said they would take the same position about an SEC investigation that resulted in Harken's restating its earnings to show a $12.6 million loss for a quarter instead of an earlier reported loss of $3.3 million. Bush was a member of the board's audit committee.
Does the phrase stone-walling ring a bell? How about coverup?
You think Bush and his cronies at Harken didn't talk to each other? You think nobody at Harken, none of the other members of the board or the Audit Committee gave his pal, the son of the VP, a heads up?
Message 17720906
This "Bush cleared" item from the National Review is full of laughable formulations of the "talking point" sort.
Message 17716013
Here's just one: "While such statements are intended to suggest that Bush is covering up his role in the Harken matter, they ignore one important fact: There are already many SEC documents about Harken available to the public."
"Many." Don't tell me that's not funny.
The National Review is even uncomfortable about the stonewalling:
But the fact that the available evidence strongly suggests there is no merit to the Democratic allegations does not mean that Tom Daschle and Terry McAuliffe are wrong in their calls for more information. The documents that are available now were not formally released by the SEC, or by anyone else, but instead found their way into the public domain through back channels — perhaps through a congressional office, perhaps from some of those involved in the investigation, or perhaps from leaks inside the commission. The release of more information in a systematic way would undoubtedly help us know more about what went on inside Harken and the SEC.
But of course all they want is "more" information. Not all of it. "In a systematic way," they want it released. Ddon't you see that it's funny to keep saying he's "cleared" on the basis of "the available evidence" when on the basis of what the SEC had they explicitly said he was NOT exonerated, and the currently "available evidence" is all there is merely because the Bush administration won't make more of it available?
Bush should get the SEC files released. It's not good enough for his lawyers to be the ones to decide which SEC documents should be "availagble to the public." If he doesn't get them released, he's stonewalling, and if he's stonewalling, it's because he has something to hide.
It's very naive to believe otherwise.
BTW, do have you read anywhere how much Bush was paid for his services on the BOD and to the Audit Committee of Harken? |
