The Washington Post’s Mike Allen has a good follow-up item today about Bush “meeting” with an attorney as part of the Plame Game scandal. As Allen hints, there are quite a few unanswered questions.
President Bush said yesterday that he plans to personally cooperate with the investigation into the leak of an undercover CIA officer’s name, and said he consulted an outside lawyer because he realizes the case is a serious criminal matter.
This seems like an odd explanation. Yes, you hire a lawyer when you may get questioned about “a serious criminal matter,” but Bush apparently met with this lawyer quite recently. The Plame Game has been a serious criminal matter for nearly a year now (the original Bob Novak column ran 11 months ago). Why would Bush hire — or talk about almost hiring — a lawyer now?
At a brief press conference yesterday, Bush responded to a question about the Plame Game with a cryptic, almost circular, response.
“In terms of whether or not I need advice from my counsel, this is a criminal matter, it’s a serious matter, I have met with an attorney to determine whether or not I need his advice,” Bush said. “And if I deem I need his advice, I’ll probably hire him.”
I know Bush isn’t a skilled orator, but I’m not sure if I follow this. Bush met with Jim Sharp to get advice about getting advice?
At this point, the White House seems fairly nervous; the usual penchant for secrecy has been ratcheted up a bit. There are a handful of questions, none of which seem particularly probing, which Bush and his aides are unwilling to answer. No one will say, for example, if Bush has been contacted by prosecutors, when he met with Sharp, or whether Sharp has officially been hired to represent the president. The White House also won’t say if Cheney has been contacted by prosecutors, or whether he has even talked to outside counsel about the scandal.
Oh, and I have one more question. Six months ago, Bush said, “I’m not involved with the investigation in any way, shape or form.” Does the president still believe this is accurate?