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Job of the White House Press Secretary - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 5/30/08
— Friday, May 30, 2008 —
 MS. PERINO: Martha.Q Can we just talk about what isn't true in the book? I mean, you go to the part about weapons of mass destruction and the big threat wasn't great and gathering as the White House said. And you said that's not true? Was there no exaggeration? Was there no hiding? Was there no spinning about the war? MS. PERINO: Not that I'm aware of. But did we communicate about the war? Yes. And I would point you to the President's speeches -- all the speeches that the President made leading up to it; he made several comprehensive speeches making the case for why Saddam Hussein was a threat, which was, based on the intelligence that we had -- and not only the United States had, but that's what the world had. And in addition to that he talks about -- in his speech especially on February 26, 2003, when he spoke to AEI; it was before I was a part of the press office, so I would encourage you to go back and look at it, as I've had to do myself -- where he talks about that the benefit to a free Iraq would be to the Iraqi people and also to the region, and establishing a change in the Middle East when it comes to freedom and justice and democracy. Q But the order of what was talked about at the time in the buildup to the war was largely about weapons of mass destruction. MS. PERINO: I think that that was -- well, I think you could go back, you could weigh it -- you know, I'm looking at it, what I have seen is a comprehensive case for confronting Saddam Hussein, and that's what the United Nations of course was talking about, specifically weapons of mass destruction. But there was also a gathering threat in terms of the nexus of working -- for example, paying suicide bombers, paying families of suicide bombers. And you know better than anyone, Martha, about the buildup to this, the reaction to this. The problem that we have is this -- Q There were no suicide bombers in Iraq. MS. PERINO: But paying them in the Palestinian Territories and in Israel. That's something that Saddam Hussein himself said. Q Just a general question, then, Dana. I mean, one of the things he talks about is spinning, exaggeration, I mean, what goes on at the podium -- which is an indictment of you, as well. Do you think there's no spinning? MS. PERINO: You know, it's a term that I don't necessarily use. I come out here, I answer your questions, I answer them to the best of my ability based on the information and the facts that I have. Q Define your job for me. I know Scott in the book says that his job -- he believed his job was to advance the agenda of the President of the United States. MS. PERINO: Sure it is. That's part of it. And my job is to be his spokesperson. But I also, as many of you in this room know -- especially you -- that I work very hard on behalf of the press as well. I defend the press, I advocate for the press and I make sure that all of you have answers as quickly as possible to the best of my ability every single day -- Saturdays and Sundays included. Dana Perino | Iraq | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan | White House Press Corps | White House Press Secretary Labels: Dana Perino, Iraq, Press Briefing, Scott McClellan, White House Press Corps, White House Press Secretary
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:04 PM  Scott McClellan Memoir - Air Force One Press Gaggle by Dana Perino 5/28/08 — Wednesday, May 28, 2008 —
 Q Did Scott tell you personally about his concerns that he raised in the book? Because I know you said you're a friend of Scott's.MS. PERINO: Never. Q I'm sorry, what? Q "Never" to have what? I didn't hear it all. MS. PERINO: His question was, had I ever heard such concerns? And I said, "Never." Q The President often talks about, you know, history being the judge. And this is somebody who had a position where they could see more than, certainly, the public does. After some years of reflection, perhaps, looking back, thinking out of the limelight in private and everything, and coming up with his first version of history, isn't it a concern that, for you, for the administration, that the conclusions he's come to are the ones of your critics, essentially, rather than the supporters of the administration? MS. PERINO: I think this is a unique situation. I don't think that this is so much as writing history as rewriting history. And when the President talks about "it will take a while," I think that that is just based on historical fact. I mean, it takes a while for any type of administration to be understood, and I think this is an anomaly. Q Even though you don't -- you don't think there are others out there who maybe also were once supporters of the war, looked at the facts as we knew them at the time, and then to have now come around, as he says in the book, that he doesn't think it was the right decision? That's not a question of intelligence. MS. PERINO: I'm not saying that's not the case, and I don't know. I don't go around and take a survey. But your question was, do I think that other people are going to turn around 180 degrees and become this -- have these expressions of concerns that they did not voice when they were at the White House. And so the question is, what did you really believe? Did you believe what you said at the time, or do you believe what you believe -- say you believe now? And I'm not going to be a judge of that. You all have to figure that out, or he'll have to answer for it for himself. I mean, I'm not going to -- as Jeremy suggested, the question being, would we go line-by-line through the book -- absolutely not. We have a lot more important things to do than that. Q One specific factual thing. Scott suggested in the book that it was very unusual for Karl and for Libby to talk together, and that he was suspicious about that when he saw them talk one time. Was it unusual for those two to talk? MS. PERINO: I found that to be strange. People in the White House have to talk to one another on a variety of different subjects. Who knows what the -- if that conversation -- if a conversation took place. Would it be surprising to me if Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, as the Director of Political Affairs Operation and the Chief of Staff to the Vice President, of whom was very important in our reelection efforts and our political efforts, would it be a surprise that they would have a conversation? Absolutely not. What would be a surprise is if they didn't have conversations. So I don't put much stock in that, but I don't know the facts. And I think he admits in the book that he doesn't either. Air Force One | Dana Perino | Iraq | Karl Rove | Press Gaggle | Scooter Libby | Scott McClellan | White House Press Corps | White House Press Secretary Labels: Air Force One, Dana Perino, Iraq, Karl Rove, Press Gaggle, Scooter Libby, Scott McClellan, White House Press Corps, White House Press Secretary
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:07 PM Domestic Energy Production Act - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 5/23/08 — Friday, May 23, 2008 —
 Q Okay. Senate Minority Leader McConnell and 28 other Republican senators introduced the Domestic Energy Production Act to allow oil production in only 8 percent of the entire ANWR area. And my question: Does the White House believe that the nation needs to know that among those senators who voted to defeat this bill, which could have cut the now huge cost of gasoline, were certain United States senators from Illinois and New York?MS. PERINO: No; it's very interesting, though. Thanks for pointing it out. Q The President realizes this, doesn't he? MS. PERINO: I don't know if he did a whip count. Q All right, thank you. ANWR | Congress | Dana Perino | Democratic Candidates | Les | Oil | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: ANWR, Congress, Dana Perino, Democratic Candidates, Les, Oil, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:31 PM Farm Bill & Veto - Air Force One Press Gaggle by Dana Perino 5/22/08 — Thursday, May 22, 2008 —
 Q Farm bill -- where are we with the farm bill?MS. PERINO: You tell me -- or the Democrats tell me. Q What did he veto? MS. PERINO: He vetoed -- the President vetoed the bill that the Democrats sent us. And, look, I understand there's a technical error and we'll have to see what the Congress decides to do, but maybe it gives them one more chance to take a look and think about how much they're asking the taxpayers to spend at a time of record farm income. The Congress had an opportunity to put forward -- I'm sorry -- to implement reforms, much needed reforms, and they decided not to. And I think with this move it shows that they can even up screw up spending the taxpayers' money unwisely. Q What was that -- MS. PERINO: Said they can -- they've proved that they can even screw up spending the taxpayers' money unwisely. (Laughter.) Laughter by reporters. (Laughter.) Air Force One | Congress | Dana Perino | Legislation | Pork | Press Gaggle | Vetoes | White House Press Corps Labels: Air Force One, Congress, Dana Perino, Legislation, Pork, Press Gaggle, Vetoes, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 10:14 PM Oil Exploration in ANWR - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 5/21/08 — Wednesday, May 21, 2008 —
 MS. PERINO: Les.Q Thank you, Dana. MS. PERINO: Just one question, since you already had one. Q Scott Stanzel, during Monday's briefing, spoke of the need to expand oil exploration in ANWR, the Outer Continental Shelf, which columnist Cal Thomas notes has an estimated 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. But President Clinton vetoed exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And my question: Does the President believe that this veto compares to those claims of environmentalists that the Alaska pipeline would destroy the caribou? MS. PERINO: I don't know -- I'd have to consult Scott Stanzel on that. Q Beg your pardon? MS. PERINO: I was kidding. There's no room for humor. (Laughter.) Q There is room for humor. I'd be delighted to have humor. MS. PERINO: Not in this room. (Laughter.) Look, our position on why we need to increase domestic exploration and production here in our own country is well known. It is critical if we are going to send a signal to the world market that we are serious about becoming more self-sufficient in our own country. And concerns about the caribou I believe have been taken into consideration, and that we have demonstrated that we have the technologies to be able to drill in a way that would protect the environment -- not only the natural resources there, but also the caribou. Q Listen, I didn't know that asking that nice gentleman -- I just have one other, just this one time. Just this one time. MS. PERINO: All right, last one, please. Last one. Q I appreciate it. Reuters reports the House of Representatives voted 324-84 to have the Justice Department sue OPEC -- MS. PERINO: That's seems like a really large Congress. (Laughter.) Q -- for limiting oil supplies and colluding on prices. And my question: Does the President believe the Senate will not follow the House in a similar veto-proof vote? And if not, why not? MS. PERINO: I don't know. Q He wrote the right numbers, he just said it wrong. MS. PERINO: Did he? Okay. (Laughter.) Q Thanks. ANWR | Dana Perino | Les | Oil | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: ANWR, Dana Perino, Les, Oil, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:29 PM NBC News Bias - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 5/20/08 — Tuesday, May 20, 2008 —
 MS. PERINO: Mike.Q On the back-and-forth between you guys and NBC News, one of the issues Ed Gillespie brings up is NBC calling Iraq a civil war for a period, and then Ed notes that it stopped around September of 2007. Then Ed asks in his exchange with NBC, "Will the network publicly declare the civil war has ended, or that it was wrong to declare it in the first place?" I'm wondering if you guys have gotten a response on that matter, and if not, are you still calling for a response from NBC? MS. PERINO: We have not heard back from them on that specific matter. We anxiously await any response that we would get on it. But I think it's quite telling that they have been silent. The reason that we sent the letter yesterday is because we had gotten fed up with the way that the President's policies are being mischaracterized, or the situations on the ground weren't being accurately reflected in the reporting. We had complained before. And it just reached a boiling point when things had boiled over when we believed that NBC News specifically edited out -- intentionally edited out -- something that the President said in response to a question in an interview regarding Iran, and that it mischaracterized the whole interview because of it. As regards the civil war, I remember very distinctly how there was quite the pomp and circumstance when NBC, on the Today Show, decided to declare -- that they were declaring that Iraq was a civil war. But since then, after the surge and things certainly improved in Iraq, NBC has never had a corresponding ceremony to say that Iraq is not in a civil war. I was just curious to find out what they believe. And the same goes with the economy. When we got the numbers just two weeks ago on the GDP for the economic growth, it said that we had grown at 0.6 percent. And yet the anchor that night decided to disavow that number. We're just curious what part of the official government data that's been coming out for years do they not agree with. So we haven't had a response on that. And just another point on this is that President Bush is going to continue to state what United States policy is for the next eight months, and certainly during the six months that there's an election going on. If, for example, if tomorrow President Bush says that he believes that the tax cuts should be made permanent, that doesn't mean he's attacking anybody; he is stating his policy. And we just want to make sure it's really clear that we're not going to allow the President's policies to be dragged into the '08 election unnecessarily and unfairly. Dana Perino | Iraq | Media Bias | NBC | President Bush | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Dana Perino, Iraq, Media Bias, NBC, President Bush, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 8:23 PM
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