Posted on 05/31/2010 8:32:26 PM PDT by Steelfish
Obama Administration Moves To Distance Itself From BP On Oil Spill Response
Joel Achenbach and Jerry Markon June 1, 2010
Struggling to convey command of the worsening Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the Obama administration is taking steps to distance itself from BP and is dispatching Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to the Gulf Coast to meet with federal and state prosecutors. The Holder trip could signal that the environmental calamity might become the subject of a criminal investigation.
Holder has said Justice Department lawyers are examining whether there was any "malfeasance" related to the leaking oil well, and investigators, who have already been on the coast for a month, have sent letters to BP instructing the company to preserve internal records related to the spill. But federal officials indicated that Holder's trip, which will include a news conference in New Orleans on Tuesday afternoon, will focus on enforcement of environmental laws and holding BP accountable.
The opening of a criminal investigation or civil action against BP, if either were to happen, would create the unusual situation of the federal government weighing charges against a company that it is simultaneously depending on for the most critical elements of the response to the record oil spill.
"We're cooperating fully with all inquiries, and we're doing everything we need to do and more in terms of preserving records," BP spokesman Andrew Gowers said Monday.
The relationship between the federal government and the oil company has been an awkward collaboration all along --
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Article states:
"We have them by the neck," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said of BP in congressional testimony last week -- but it reached a turning point Monday when the administration said it no longer wants to share a podium with BP at the daily briefing in Louisiana
Typical—last Thurs, dear leader was taking credit for stopping the leak! Since the cap did not work, he is now distancing himself!
Obama is an idiot.
But...but...He won’t rest until...........
You are being too kind.
This is a sick joke after a weekend where we were assured that the administration is calling all the shots, making the decisions, etc.
In other words, if it seems like a good idea, we thought of it. If it doesn’t work, it’s BP’s baby.
Good God, what a way to run a country...
We need engineers and technicians and The Kenyan sends in the lawyers. Brilliant.
Obama did not hold on to the potato very long at all.
I'm not an export on oil spills, but my teleprompter plays one on TV. And now TOTUS has told me that there isn't room for anyone at the podium but me.
You beat my by 30 seconds.
"Kids, forget those math classes. When trouble arises, its lawyers we need."
Lets see ... First he does NOTHING for MORE than 30 days - THEN he jumps the shark on the first day of the “Top Kill”, claiming that HE has been in charge from Day 1 - NOW he wants to distance himself from it ???
I think he’s dippin’ his beak in the coke again ...
When anything turns out to be hard, Obama’s outta there.
You forgot- He sends a lawyer that protects and defends the Black Panthers who intimidated voters with night clubs in front of polling booths but now goes after BP.
What happened to we have our boot on their throat?
Wow! Obama makes John Kerry look decisive.
I expect an announcement from the one that all your bp are belong to us
Feets don't fail me now!
“We have them by the neck”
I suppose the boot has been outsourced.
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