Bush Lied About Conversations With Chalabi

CLAIM:

"I haven't had any extensive conversations with [Chalabi]. I don't remember anybody walking into my office saying, Chalabi says this is the way it's going to be in Iraq."
- President Bush, 6/1/04

FACT:

"They're not going to develop [an Islamic extremist government]. And the reason I can say that is because I'm very aware of this basic law they're writing. They're not going to develop that because right here in the Oval Office I sat down with Mr. Pachachi and Chalabi and al-Hakim, people from different parts of the country that have made the firm commitment."
- President Bush, 2/13/04

FACT:

“I did see Chalabi…I shook a lot of hands, saw a lot of kids, took a lot of pictures, served a lot of food and we moved on to see four members of the Governing Council -- the names are here. Talibani is the head of it right now, so he was the main spokesman. But Chalabi was there…We were there for about maybe a little less than 30 minutes.”

- President Bush, 11/27/03

Who Is the President's New Lawyer?

President Bush consulted with DC lawyer James Sharp, but refuses to offer any details about the attorney. Here are some details about him from today's Progress Report:

WHO IS JAMES E. SHARP?: Attempts by the media "to reach Sharp, an Oklahoma native and former assistant U.S. attorney who has built a low-profile white-collar defense practice in Washington, were unsuccessful." The White House is being so secretive it actually refuses to confirm whether this is the same "James E. Sharp" consulting with the President.

JAMES E. SHARP ACCUSED OF SUBORNING PERJURY: The Progress Report did its own unofficial search in an effort to uncover more details about the lawyer for the president. A search of the DC Bar website lists a James E. Sharp as an active member. A search of court documents shows an attorney named James E. Sharp represented his "good friend" Joe Harry Pegg who was indicted as "one of several individuals who conspired to import marijuana into the United States in 1988 and 1989." During James E. Sharp's representation of Pegg, one of Pegg's alleged co-conspirators said Sharp "helped him concoct a false story to help exculpate Pegg." After sentencing, Pegg appealed his conviction on the ground that "his attorney had a conflict of interest that deprived him of his constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel." The 11th Circuit decision in the case reports that the government did "not deny that Sharp labored under an actual conflict of interest."

Forgetting One's Own Record

Here's one from the hypocrite file, as excerpted from today's Progress Report:

CLAIM:

"Of course it's Al Gore, who knows a lot about incompetence, I might add, that got us into this mess; 9/11 was on the way; 9/11 was on the way by the time President Bush was inaugurated."
- Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), blaming the rise of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden on the Clinton Administration, 5/28/04

FACT:

According to federal documents reviewed by the Orange County Weekly, it was Rohrabacher who "maintained a cordial, behind-the-scenes relationship with Osama bin Laden's associates in the Middle East—even while he mouthed his most severe anti-Taliban comments at public forums across the U.S." According to the report, Rohrabacher "lobbied shamelessly for the Taliban" throughout the 1990s, with a 1996 Washington newsletter pointing out his belief that the "Taliban could provide stability," that its leaders were "not terrorists or revolutionaries," and that it would develop a "disciplined, moral society" that did not harbor terrorists. Ignoring an explicit federal law banning unauthorized individual attempts to conduct American foreign policy, Rohrabacher in April of 2001 "opened negotiations with the Taliban at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha, Qatar," meeting with Taliban Foreign Minister Mullah Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, an advisor to Mullah Omar.

Drug Cards, Campaign Cash, and Fraud Charges

With the Medicare drug discount card program starting today, the Center for American Progress (where I work) released a new report showing that 20 of the 73 companies that the White House approved to participate in the program have been involved in federal/state fraud charges. These same 20 companies have significant ties to the Bush Administration. The report, entitled "Paying to Play," also finds:

- Those 20 companies involved in fraud charges gave more than $3 million to the President and conservatives in Congress since the 2000 election cycle. That represents more than 60% of the total contributions given to the President and conservatives from all 73 approved card companies.

- Seven of the President's "Pioneers" (those who raised $100,000 or more for him) work at companies approved for the program.

- Three of the seven Pioneers are linked to companies approved for the card program, even though their companies were involved in fraud.

The full study can be found here.