Bush v. Science

"The newly released pages were part of a legal opinion written in February 2005 by Judge David S. Tatel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. . . .

"Not all of the previously withheld material was released. Several pages, which apparently contained information about [special prosecutor Patrick J.] Fitzgerald's investigation of Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, remained under seal."

Carol D. Leonnig writes in The Washington Post: "Fitzgerald also contended that Libby lied to the grand jury when he said he never mentioned Plame or her CIA job to [then-White House press secretary Ari] Fleischer when they had lunch on July 7. Fleischer recalled before the grand jury that Libby did mention Plame and said she worked in the 'counterproliferation area of the CIA.' Fleischer said Libby stressed that 'the vice president did not send Ambassador Wilson to Niger . . . the CIA sent Ambassador Wilson to Niger . . . he was sent by his wife.'"

Michael Isikoff writes in Newsweek: "Lawyers for Libby, and White House allies, have repeatedly questioned whether Plame, the wife of White House critic Joe Wilson, really had covert status when she was outed to the media in July 2003. But special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found that Plame had indeed done 'covert work overseas' on counterproliferation matters in the past five years, and the CIA 'was making specific efforts to conceal' her identity, according to newly released portions of a judge's opinion."

Jane Hamsher of the firedoglake blog is tracking down the documents in the case. Here's the newly reissued February 2005 ruling that now includes some previously redacted pages (see pp 72 to 81 of the document).

Cheney's Latest Interview

I wrote in Friday's column about how Cheney these days is only agreeing to interviews from right-wing talk-show hosts, where he predictably is getting some outrageous softballs.

Just as I was filing, along came a new transcript -- from an interview with Laura Ingraham .

Sample question: "Q What are you doing, the elliptical trainer? What's your exercise?"

But wait. Ingraham actually challenged Cheney on one of the White House straw men! Bravo.

"Q I noticed that the President, Vice President Cheney, in the State of the Union speech used the word isolationist several times, and then in his speeches across the country after the State of the Union, he also used the isolationist word: 'We cannot be isolationist . . . there used to be isolationism in the United States,' and so forth. About whom is he speaking when he refers to isolationists today?"

Cheney was flummoxed. And, not surprisingly, unable to name a single person.

"THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think -- I don't know that I want to put my finger on any one particular individual. Let me just describe a category. I would argue that people who want to deal with the terrorist threat, if you will, the way we dealt with it prior to 9/11 fall into that category. That is folks who feel that we can sort of retreat behind our oceans and everything will be okay, folks who believe that our involvement from a military perspective in the Middle East is somehow an 'optional war, optional conflict.' That's not true after 9/11."

Too bad Ingraham didn't follow up on that one.

Credibility Watch

I've already gotten hundreds of responses to my request in Friday's column for questions you readers would like reporters to ask Bush. Please keep in mind that what I'm looking for are not generic questions, but well-documented and (ideally) polite queries that would specifically go towards the issue of his credibility.

E-mail me at froomkin@washingtonpost.com . I apologize in advance for not being able to respond to each e-mail personally. I'll publish many of them later this week.

Gerson Watch

In the New Yorker, Jeffrey Goldberg profiles Michael Gerson, the former speechwriter now senior policy adviser to Bush.

"Unlike most speechwriters, who tend to be segregated from policymaking, Gerson has always been an influential figure in the White House, in part because he shares Bush's belief in the power of faith -- both men are evangelical Christians -- and because he possesses a preternatural ability, his friends say, to anticipate Bush's thinking. There is a 'mind meld' between the two men, Bush's counsellor Dan Bartlett told me, adding, 'When you bring a West Texas approach to the heavy debates of the world, there has to be a translator, and Mike is the translator.' "

Speaking to a group of ex-White House speechwriters, Gerson was reportedly asked to tell the gathering something it didn't know about Bush.

"Gerson, in a quavering voice, responded with a story that left some of his audience nonplussed. He described a call that he got moments after Bush finished addressing a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001. Bush thanked Gerson for his work on the speech, to which Gerson replied, 'Mr. President, this is why God wants you here.' Gerson then related Bush's response, as evidence of his thoughtfulness. 'The President said, 'No, this is why God wants us here.' '

"An uncomfortable silence filled the room, and then one of Bill Clinton's speechwriters said, in a stage whisper, 'God must really hate Al Gore.' "