Bush Blocking Fitzgerald Cooperation

"But in a court filing Friday night, administration lawyers said that the Secret Service has identified a category of highly sensitive documents that might contain information sought in a lawsuit about Abramoff's trips to the White House.

"The Justice Department, citing a Cold War-era court ruling, declared that the contents of the 'Sensitive Security Records' cannot be publicly revealed even though they could show whether Abramoff made more visits to the White House than those already acknowledged.

"'The simple act of doing so . . . would reveal sensitive information about the methods used by the Secret Service to carry out its protective function,' the Justice Department argued. . . .

"Sensitive Security Records are created in the course of conducting more extensive background checks on certain visitors to the White House. In sworn statements accompanying the filing, two Secret Service officers said the extra attention is paid to some visitors because of their background, 'the circumstances of the visits' or both. . . .

"Nearly two years ago, just after Abramoff had pleaded guilty in the influence peddling scandal, Bush told reporters, 'I can't say I didn't ever meet' Abramoff, 'but I meet a lot of people.'

"'I don't know him,' Bush said at the presidential news conference in January 2006. 'I've never sat down with him and had a discussion with the guy.'

"After Bush's comments, Abramoff wrote an e-mail to the national editor of Washingtonian magazine saying that Bush had seen him 'in almost a dozen settings, and joked with me about a bunch of things, including details of my kids. Perhaps he has forgotten everything, who knows.'"

Bush Will Face Press Tomorrow

In a departure from recent practice, the White House has given reporters more than two hours' notice before a Bush press conference. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino this morning announced that there will be one tomorrow at 10:10 a.m. I'll be interested to see if reporters come up with more probing, difficult-to-duck questions than usual.

What would you ask if you had the chance? Submit your suggestion as a comment to this column.

Bush v. Congress

Michael Abramowitz writes in The Washington Post: "Congress will return to Washington this week, bringing with it President Bush's favorite punching bag. Since summer, the Associated Press reports, Bush has focused 17 events on his budget-related disputes with lawmakers, most recently Saturday's radio address, in which he pressed them to complete 'unfinished business' before leaving on their Christmas recess. . . .

"Bush is clearly acting as if he has the upper hand in the year-end struggle, showing no sign of compromise on his key demands. They include a 'clean' war funding bill (without timetables or restrictions on the troops), a wiretapping bill that exempts telecommunications companies from lawsuits, and no more than $933 billion in domestic spending ($11 billion less than what Democrats now want).

"Most observers believe Bush will eventually get what he wants on the war funding and wiretapping bills -- the only question is when."