I don’t have a strong opinion about whether Matt Cooper and Judith Miller should go to jail (though I think Kevin Drum gets it about right), but I hope that maybe, just maybe, their dilemma sparks at least some renewed interest in the controversy that put them in this mess in the first place: the Plame Game scandal.
At yesterday’s press briefing, Scott McClellan received a few questions about the controversy for the first time in a very long time.
Q [Y]ou’ve said in the past that, on the matter of Matt Cooper and Judith Miller that the President supports the investigation. What specific steps is the White House taking to support it? Has the President called people into the Oval Office?
McClellan: What I said is the President wants to get to the bottom of the investigation; no one wants to get to the bottom of it more than he does. It is a very serious matter and the President has said that if anybody has information, they ought to provide that information to the prosecutor so that they can continue forward on their investigation.
Q Has he called specific people into the Oval Office to ask them if they —
McClellan: What we made a decision to do was to support the efforts of the independent prosecutor to move forward on the investigation and that’s what we’re doing.
I’m not sure which reporter broached the subject, but he or she was clearly on the right track. The fate of Cooper and Miller is interesting, but it’s helpful to remember, at least once in a while, that the Bush White House is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation.
McClellan mentioned yesterday, as he has on previous occasions, that “no one wants to get to the bottom of” this story more than Bush. But when asked what “specific steps” the White House has taken to support the investigation, McClellan never answered the question — because there have been no specific steps.
If the president is concerned about which members of his staff leaked the name of an undercover CIA agent, he could find out in about five minutes. Bush could call relevant people into the Oval Office and demand answers. He could also insist that his staff issue releases to Miller, Cooper, and every other reporter in town, freeing them of confidentially agreements. He’s done nothing of the kind.
McClellan’s assurances notwithstanding, everyone wants to get to the bottom of more than Bush does.