When it comes to the Plame scandal, the White House has leaked word about exactly what Bush knew and when he knew it. Unfortunately, the leaks contradict each other.
A few weeks ago, the line was that Bush knew about Karl Rove’s role in the Plame matter from the very beginning. In fact, WH staffers told the New York Daily News that Bush not only knew about it, but made Rove suffer a bit as a result.
An angry President Bush rebuked chief political guru Karl Rove two years ago for his role in the Valerie Plame affair, sources told the Daily News.
“He made his displeasure known to Karl,” a presidential counselor told The News. “He made his life miserable about this.”
More recently, the story changed completely. Bush and Rove did talk about the controversy, WH sources said, but Rove lied to Bush about his involvement. As far as the president knew, Rove wasn’t one of the leakers.
People involved in the case have confirmed that Mr. Rove told Mr. Bush and other White House colleagues in September 2003 that he had no involvement.
And yet, the article that said Bush knew all along about Rove’s role said not to believe these other stories.
A second well-placed source said some recently published reports implying Rove had deceived Bush about his involvement in the Wilson counterattack were incorrect and were leaked by White House aides trying to protect the President.
These competing leaks and counter-leaks are getting tiresome and more than a little confusing. Here’s what I’d recommend for the Bush gang: 1) pick a lie; 2) stick to it.
Indeed, coordinated leaks are supposed to be one of these guys’ few skills. The fact that there’s no coherence or apparent strategy to this mess suggests the vaunted White House political machine can’t even leak a simple narrative without flailing around wildly.
Can’t anyone here play this game?