The whereabouts of the Bush-Abramoff pictures were the focus of a news conference yesterday. George brought reporters to laughter with his staccato replies to what the Houston Chronicle termed their “dogged questioning“, continued to insist he doesn’t know Jack, and said the pictures are insignificant but if released would be used against him so forget about it.
The media had fun chasing Josh Marshall’s angle that the WH may have engaged in getting these photos out of the public domain but the big money questions were fairly tame. No request for a comment on this Boston Globe story Marshall sent up for review on his TPM Cafe last August that reports Bush personally removed the supervising federal prosecutor probing Abramoff’s Guam dealings. “Mr President. You say you don’t know Jack Abramoff personally. According to a report in the Boston Globe last August you “personally removed the supervising federal prosecutor probing” “Mr. Abramoff’s secret arrangement with Superior Court officials to lobby against a court reform bill then pending in Congress. The legislation, since approved, gave the Guam Supreme Court authority over the Superior Court.” US Attorney Frederick A. Black is the prosecutor that was demoted and replaced by you. Comment?
Or in response to Bush’s reply to the question “Do you meet with lobbyists?“
THE PRESIDENT: I try not to. Have I ever met with one? Never having met with one is a if I ever say that, sure enough, you’ll go find somebody. But, no, I don’t have them come in. Now, when, for example, people are helping on issues like on promoting trade you bet, we bring them in and I say, thank you for promoting CAFTA; or, thanks for working on the vote; or, thanks for helping on tax relief. That may be if you consider that a meeting, the answer is, yes, I’m sure I have, in a roomful of people as we either thank people for success in policy or thank people for going out of their way to get a piece of legislation passed on the Hill.
Mr. President, during this same period when you are alleged to have personally intervened on Mr. Abramoff’s behalf, according to that same Boston Globe report, “Abramoff was a well-known lobbying figure in the Pacific islands because of his work for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Saipan garment manufacturers, accused of employing workers in what critics called sweatshop conditions.” There is a photograph of you available on the internet site TheRawStory.com that shows you shaking hands with “Beningo Repeki Fitial, then-Speaker of the House for the Northern Marianas Islands. Fitial is vice president of Tan Holdings the family conglomerate which owns numerous clothing factories on the islands that were a routine stop for Abramoff-flown lawmakers.” Do you recall this meeting, sir?
“Forget about the little fish…“. The public is already won over. Follow the money and MB Williams, who has her eye on the bigger picture.