Noonan: GOP will “go to town” on “EPA chief who went to a New York fund-raiser in the middle of the disaster”
From Noonan's May 29 Wall Street Journal column:
Mr. Obama himself, when running for president, made much of Bush administration distraction and detachment during Katrina. Now the Republican Party will, understandably, go to town on Mr. Obama's having gone only once to the gulf, and the fund-raiser in San Francisco that seemed to take precedence, and the EPA chief who went to a New York fund-raiser in the middle of the disaster.
In fact, Jackson canceled her appearance at the fundraiser, which she had reportedly scheduled before oil crisis
Politico: Jackson canceled her appearance at June 4 fundraiser. Politico reported on May 26 that "[a]n EPA spokesman said Jackson was canceling her appearance at the June 4 breakfast sponsored by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee because she's focused on the cleanup of the BP oil spill." The article further reported that "[a]n aide said Jackson was invited to attend the fundraiser on March 12, well before the oil spill, and added that she had canceled her appearance at several events since the disaster, including the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the Time 100 banquet and a long-scheduled foreign trip."
Politics Daily: Jackson's office said “her acceptance of the invitation predated the BP oil spill by many weeks.” Politics Daily correspondent Alex Wagner wrote that “Jackson had been invited to the Manhattan event, a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) breakfast fundraiser, on March 12, and her office noted this fact -- that her acceptance of the invitation predated the BP oil spill by many weeks.”