Bush's Downward Slide

But you would be wrong.

There's a reason this White House, like the one before it, dumps bad news late on Friday afternoons. It rarely fails to rob the stories of traction.

Add to the mix the fact that the Foley scandal has been a heck of a distraction, and the result is that a lot of people haven't heard anything at all about an awfully consequential event.

Peter Baker and James V. Grimaldi wrote in Saturday's Washington Post: "A top aide to White House strategist Karl Rove resigned yesterday after disclosures that she accepted gifts from and passed information to now-convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, becoming the first official in the West Wing to lose a job in the influence-peddling scandal.

"Susan B. Ralston submitted her resignation to avoid causing political damage to President Bush a month before the midterm elections, officials said. 'She did not want to be a distraction to the White House at this important time,' said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

"A congressional report showed last week that Ralston accepted sometimes-pricey tickets to nine sports and entertainment events from Abramoff while she provided him with inside White House information. The bipartisan report said there is no evidence that Rove knew of or approved of Ralston's actions, and sources said yesterday that the White House was surprised by the report's revelations.

"The White House counsel's office conducted a review of the report, but with Ralston's departure it closed its inquiry yesterday. 'Nothing more will come from the report, no further fallout from the report,' Perino said."

In other words: Nothing to see here, folks, move along.

Peter Wallsten wrote in Saturday's Los Angeles Times: "Susan Ralston had worked as Rove's executive assistant, functioning as a gatekeeper of sorts for President Bush's most trusted political advisor. She was an aide to Abramoff before she joined the White House and became what the lobbyist called his 'implant' there.

"As Rove's top staffer and a special assistant to the president, Ralston becomes the closest aide to Bush to leave in a scandal that has so far enveloped lobbyists, lawmakers, Capitol Hill aides and an administration procurement official while, until now, sparing the inner sanctum of the White House."

Anne E. Kornblut wrote in Saturday's New York Times: "For more than a year, Ms. Ralston was entangled in two Washington scandals at once. A nexus between Mr. Abramoff and Mr. Rove, she was also pivotal in the C.I.A. leak case. It was Ms. Ralston who patched through a telephone call from a Time magazine reporter to Mr. Rove, a conversation that cast a suspicion on the White House strategist. Ms. Ralston testified to a grand jury on the leak and was interviewed by prosecutors in the Abramoff case. . . .

"On Friday, Representative Henry A. Waxman of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, which issued the report, accused White House officials of 'trying to make Susan Ralston the scapegoat.'"