2) Like ABC, CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown led with attacks on the administration's credibility, but Brown stretched his own credibility by picking up on a rumor, "a story that's been circulating on the Web today that there was at some point a conversation between the President and a CIA consultant where the consultant directly told the President that this African uranium deal was bogus." Brown's raising of such an uncorroborated story befuddled CNN reporter David Ensor, who speaking slowly as he fumbled for words, told Brown: "I have no way to confirm that story and it is somewhat suspect, I would say..."
In a cursory check of a bunch of Web sites and news sources online, I could not find a reference to any such allegation. But then I'm not on the left-wing mailing lists which CNN must peruse.
Brown launched his July 9 program: "We begin with the question of credibility now dogging the White House even half a world away on President Bush's trip to Africa. Today, a State Department intelligence official who retired during the run-up to the war accused the Bush administration of practicing 'faith-based intelligence when it comes to Iraq.'"
a Following the lead story from David Ensor about the day's developments on the Niger story front and questions about how President Bush could have conveyed such a bogus claim, Brown confronted Ensor with an unsubstantiated rumor of his own:
"A couple things, David. There is, as you know, a story that's been circulating on the Web today that there was at some point a conversation between the President and a CIA consultant where the consultant directly told the President that this African uranium deal was bogus. Do you have any reporting that supports the idea that the President was directly told it was fake before he included it in the State of the Union speech?"
A clearly flummoxed Ensor, speaking slowly as he fumbled for words, struggled for a reply now that he was on the spot and probably afraid of upsetting Brown if he condemned such rumor- mongering: "I have no way to confirm that story and it is somewhat suspect I would say but we'll have to check it."
Brown pressed again: "Alright, and any other information that would suggest the President knew in advance this was bogus?"
Ensor: "None at this point, no."
Brown: "Thank you, David, David Ensor in Washington."
Brown stayed on point: "David Sanger has been reporting on the case against Iraq and the political tussle over it for the New York Times. Mr. Sanger joins us from Washington, good to see you David, thank you. Same question, do you have any -- have you in your reporting seen anything that suggests that at any point the President before the speech was told this information was phony?"
Sanger: "No, we've not found anything along those lines. If one read into the footnotes of some of the earlier intelligence reports, which there's no reason to expect the President or even many of his top aides do, there were just hints that there were doubts about it."
There goes a great conspiracy theory.
This stuff is vile.
March 31, 2003) — A former Clinton administration official will share a $1.4 million settlement from a New York nonprofit Internet access company accused of misusing federal grant money from the National Science Foundation.
David Lytel, who served as an adviser to the Office of Science and Technology Policy during the Clinton administration, filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit against NYSERNet in 2000.
Lytel was NYSERNet’s president between April and August of 1998 but was fired when he questioned the handling of a federal grant, said his attorney, Washington, D.C.-based lawyer Bonny Harbinger.
Seems very strange to me.