IJ Reilly
Jan 13, 2004, 11:28 AM
WASHINGTON — President Bush once defended Paul H. O'Neill's penchant for speaking his mind, saying his then-Treasury secretary was "refreshingly candid." Now, he is finding out just how candid O'Neill can be.
Bush and his aides have been forced to respond to stinging criticisms from a former member of their inner circle in a new book by a prominent journalist that has been the talk of Washington for several days. In the book, O'Neill, who was fired by Bush in late 2002, portrays the president as disengaged during Cabinet meetings and eager almost from Day One of his administration to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.
The comments have given ammunition to Bush's political opponents at a time when the White House is already facing fire in an intensifying Democratic presidential primary campaign.
In a development Monday, the Treasury Department said it had asked for an investigation of the possible leak of a classified document in connection with O'Neill's criticisms.
The document was shown during a report Sunday on the book by the CBS news program "60 Minutes." It bore the Treasury Department letterhead and was marked "secret."
"Based on the '60 Minutes' segment aired last night, which displayed a document with a classified marking, the department referred the matter to the Office of Inspector General," said Treasury spokesman Rob Nichols. "That's standard operating procedure. I can't comment any further."
[...]
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oneill13jan13,1,6137673.story
Bush and his aides have been forced to respond to stinging criticisms from a former member of their inner circle in a new book by a prominent journalist that has been the talk of Washington for several days. In the book, O'Neill, who was fired by Bush in late 2002, portrays the president as disengaged during Cabinet meetings and eager almost from Day One of his administration to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.
The comments have given ammunition to Bush's political opponents at a time when the White House is already facing fire in an intensifying Democratic presidential primary campaign.
In a development Monday, the Treasury Department said it had asked for an investigation of the possible leak of a classified document in connection with O'Neill's criticisms.
The document was shown during a report Sunday on the book by the CBS news program "60 Minutes." It bore the Treasury Department letterhead and was marked "secret."
"Based on the '60 Minutes' segment aired last night, which displayed a document with a classified marking, the department referred the matter to the Office of Inspector General," said Treasury spokesman Rob Nichols. "That's standard operating procedure. I can't comment any further."
[...]
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oneill13jan13,1,6137673.story
