The Bush White House
Posted: Friday, July 20, 2007 9:11 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
White House
The
Washington Post writes that the Bush Administration yesterday “unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority” in the US attorneys firings, saying “that the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege. The position presents serious legal and political obstacles for congressional Democrats, who have begun laying the groundwork for contempt proceedings against current and former White House officials in order to pry loose information about the dismissals.”
The AP reports that Valerie Plame Wilson yesterday lost a civil lawsuit “that demanded money from Bush administration officials whom she blamed for leaking her agency identity… U.S. District Judge John D. Bates dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds and said he would not express an opinion on the constitutional arguments. Bates dismissed the case against all defendants: Cheney, White House political adviser Karl Rove, former White House aide I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.”
The New York Times: “President Bush came to Tennessee on Thursday to attack Congressional Democrats for their budget proposals, auguring what both sides agreed would be a contentious fight over taxes and spending.” The paper also has this: Those perplexed by his first stop here at the Nashville Bun Company got a clear explanation at the president’s next stop, the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. ‘I would warn the Nashville Bun Company,’ Mr. Bush told a mostly adoring crowd of local business leaders, ‘you can’t keep making buns if the Democrats take all your dough.’” Har-har-har.
The Los Angeles Times notes Bush's new effort this week to fly around the country and talk domestic policy. "Such visits draw little national attention, but the out-of-town stops gain extensive local coverage sought by the White House to counter the steady beat of the Iraq war on news pages, websites, television and radio. And they provide a backdrop of a White House seeking, city by city, to portray the president as focused on the breadth of his job and not just the war."
Speaking of the traveling president, he's headed to Charleston, SC next Tuesday -- the day after the eight Democratic wannabes debate in the city.
