Yesterday we learned that Halliburton, while Dick Cheney was the company’s CEO, created a subsidiary in the ask-no-questions Cayman Islands while doing business with Iran, which has suspected ties to al Queda. The business “arrangement” is even the subject of a grand jury investigation.
Sounds like a pretty big deal, right? The kind of thing that might prompt a White House response? Apparently not.
As Atrois-sub Holden noticed yesterday, Scott McClellan wouldn’t even consider the issue during yesterday’s brief press gaggle.
Q: Do you think it’s appropriate for Halliburton to set up an off shore subsidiary and then have operations in Iran ? Do you think that’s an appropriate thing for a company to do?
McClellan: Are you asking because the Kerry campaign is making some accusations?
Q: They’re making some accusations —
McClellan: Those are just more political attacks.
And with that, McClellan changed the subject. This is ridiculous for any number of reasons.
First, under any reasonable definition, this was a perfectly legitimate question that deserves an answer. The vice president led an American company that may have illegally done business with Iran. The whole mess is before a grand jury, and the best McClellan can come up with is that this scandal is just another “political attack”? It’s obviously far more than that.
Second, as Holden put it, this revelation has nothing to do with accusations from the Kerry campaign; it’s coming from Halliburton itself.
A U.S. grand jury issued a subpoena to Halliburton Co. seeking information about its Cayman Islands unit’s work in Iran, where it is illegal for U.S. companies to operate, Halliburton said on Monday.
And finally, since when is dismissing a serious charge as a “political attack” an acceptable response? Every charge, from both sides, is another political attack. That doesn’t mean they don’t have merit and it certainly doesn’t mean Bush has the luxury of blowing them off because the questions are inconvenient.
I wonder if this is a new standard that everyone gets to use. Maybe the next time Bush and Cheney ask a substantive charge about Kerry’s or Edwards’ record, the campaign should just ignore the question because it’s just another “political attack.”