Gregory again omitted White House preconditions for Congress to interview aides in U.S. attorney probe
On the March 22 edition of NBC's Today, NBC News chief White House correspondent David Gregory again omitted White House preconditions for allowing White House senior adviser Karl Rove, former White House counsel Harriet Miers, and other current and former staff to be interviewed by congressional committees investigating the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. Gregory reported that President Bush has said that "White House officials will not testify under oath, and if Democrats issue subpoenas, the offer to make adviser Karl Rove and others available for interviews will be withdrawn." Gregory then uncritically aired a clip of White House press secretary Tony Snow saying that the "options that are laid out" are either intended "to get at the truth" or "create a political spectacle." But in addition to insisting that Rove and Miers not testify under oath, White House counsel Fred Fielding laid out further demands in a March 20 letter: that interviews be conducted behind closed doors, that they not be televised or transcribed, that there would be no "subsequent testimony," that no subpoenas be issued following the interviews, and that questions may not concern internal White House communications.
As Media Matters for America noted, on the March 20 broadcast of NBC's Nightly News, Gregory reported that "Fielding announced that key Bush advisers -- Karl Rove and former counsel Harriet Miers -- will agree to be interviewed by congressional committees investigating the firing of the U.S. attorneys, but not under oath, an apparent deal breaker for Democrats," leaving out the other restrictions that the administration has imposed.
Gregory also asserted on March 20, as CNN congressional correspondent Dana Bash did in two separate reports (here and here), that the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law was "[d]efying the White House" by authorizing subpoenas for Rove, Miers, and three others, rather than characterizing Bush's conditions for congressional interviews of his staff as defiance of Congress' oversight responsibility.
From the March 22 edition of NBC's Today:
GREGORY: The central issue here of whether these eight U.S. attorneys were improperly fired has for now been overshadowed by a constitutional and political fight over testimony from White House officials, with neither side giving in.
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GREGORY: The president has drawn his line in the sand. White House officials will not testify under oath, and if Democrats issue subpoenas, the offer to make adviser Karl Rove and others available for interviews will be withdrawn.
SNOW Do you want to get at the truth or do you want to create a political spectacle? Those are the options that are laid out.
GREGORY: Defying the White House, the House Judiciary Committee has authorized subpoenas, though none have yet been issued. The Senate Judiciary Committee could do the same today.
remember when bush gave his testimony before the 9-11 commission? behind closed doors, limited time, no transcript, cheney had to be there.... and the beat goes on.
When will Gregory and other MSM start reporting the facts and also report that it is time this administration is held accountable and put on the record for its lies,and political BS.
There's some excellent reading material out on how our mainstream media got this way. Not the least is Mr. Brock's, The Republican Noise Machine. Not an easy read. There's probably a couple web sites on the subject. On the whole it's not a pretty picture. Air America and this site here are changes on the media landscape, at least to me, and I'm greatful for them. I'm not able to give an easy or hard answer on how to get truth from these folks. Pointing out the lies and mistatements seems as good as anything. Would a true counter to the right wing media, and enablers, be a wonderful thing or merely increase the amount of noise you'd have dig though for true and useful information?
Good question, but I think the growth of the internet and other independent sources brings up the same questions. While there is more truth available, sooner and less fettered by corporate censors, there 's also more BS out there, just as quick and less restrained by ethics.
The current administration seems to know this, and makes the propaganda available, while at the same time keeping the other stuff behind closed doors.
With enough flag-waving mouth breathers to support them, our Government should be able to continue the trend, unless enough of us catch on and decide to ask "Hey, what's going on over there?"