The Bush administration is a hair away from stepping in it in another controversy — charges that it is trying to cover up the Armstrong Williams controversy:
The Bush administration is impeding an investigation into the Education Department’s hiring of commentator Armstrong Williams by refusing to allow key White House officials to be interviewed, a Democratic lawmaker briefed on the review said Thursday.
In addition, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is considering invoking a privilege that he said would require information to be deleted when the final version is publicly released, which is expected within days.
Miller called for Jack Higgins, the inspector general at the Education Department, to delay the report until Spellings agrees not to invoke ”deliberative process privilege” and the White House grants interviews with current or former officials familiar with the deal.”The public’s right to know is absolutely more important than any claim of privilege that the White House or the Department of Education might make,” Miller said. ”The public has a right to all the facts about possible misconduct.”
Most certainly, if the administration had nothing to hide, it will totally cooperate — and let the chips fall where they may. And if it has something to hide, it will use legalisms and convoluted language — just like the GOP said was so terrible during the Clinton years — to slow down or kill the investigation.
The administration’s choice is reminiscent of the classic Jack Benny bit where the comedian in his cheapskate character was stopped by a robber with a gun who said: “Your money or your life!” There’s a pregnant pause, then robber says, “I said, your money or your LIFE!” And Benny replies: “I’m thinking it OVER!”
For this adminstration it’s: the investigation or your credibility. Here’s what the White House has said so far:
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that under federal law, an inspector general’s jurisdiction is limited to his or her own agency — in this case, the Education Department.
”The IG is authorized to request information from other federal agencies but not from the White House office,” Perino said, adding that courts have upheld such protections.
That sure sounds like an attempt to halt the investigation. But then factor in this:
The Education Department initially declined comment on Miller’s charges. But early Thursday evening, press secretary Susan Aspey said Spellings has spent the past few days reviewing the report, and that ”the inspector general will be releasing it as originally drafted with the secretary’s full and complete support and cooperation.”
A spokeswoman for the inspector general’s office said the agency does not comment on its ongoing work.
The hiring of Williams, a prominent media personality, has opened the Bush administration to criticism about whether its public relations efforts have crossed ethical or legal lines.
Bush himself has said the department erred in not disclosing that Williams was a paid consultant. While speaking to newspaper editors Thursday, the president said in response to a question about media consultants, ”It was wrong, what happened there in the Education Department.”
Fine, then, Mr. President. Then if it’s wrong, let all of the information come out and make sure there are no obstacles from the Education Department, the White House or political operatives. And if it comes out bad? Cut your losses and move on.
The investigation or your credibility.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.