Sunday, June 8, 2003 - From the Washington Post:
A Democrat opened a case of testosterone yesterday and asked for details of communication by chronic liar Emperor Snippy and his senior
Sen. Joe 'the Jewish GW' Lieberman, ranking Democrat on the Governmental Affairs Committee, said White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card told him by telephone Tuesday that DeLay spoke with Bush and Rove about the matter.
A White House official said Bush and Rove spoke to DeLay before the departure of the Democratic legislators. The official said Bush spoke to DeLay "briefly and in passing" and that Rove and DeLay discussed "redistricting in Texas generally."
Another White House official confirmed Lieberman's conversation with Card. "The summary speaks for itself," spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said. "The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation are looking into this matter."
A senior administration official said DeLay's conversation with Bush "likely" occurred in conjunction with a 45-minute meeting he held April 30 with Republican leaders of the House and the Senate to discuss the tax cut and other legislation. The exodus by Democrats began on May 12.
DeLay told reporters at a briefing on May 13 that, as he walked out of a Republican leadership meeting with Bush the previous week, he had told the president he thought the Texas redistricting plan would pass. The administration official did not know when the conversation with Rove occurred.
"In a matter of this significance, where questions have been raised about whether scarce homeland security resources were misused for political purposes, the public should not be forced to rely on private reassurances," Lieberman said.
Lieberman's letter asked for a written description of White House involvement, including "any contacts and actions, even those you do not believe to be inappropriate."
No comments:
Post a Comment