The White House Plagiarist

"At the White House, spokesman Tony Fratto said House Democrats 'have been trying to redefine the notion of contempt and they succeeded.'"

Here is Pelosi's letter to Mukasey: "There is no authority by which persons may wholly ignore a subpoena and fail to appear as directed because a President unilaterally instructs them to do so. Even if a subpoenaed witness intends to assert a privilege in response to questions, the witness is not at liberty to disregard the subpoena and fail to appear at the required time and place. Surely, your Department would not tolerate that type of action if the witness were subpoenaed to a federal grand jury. Short of a formal assertion of executive privilege, which cannot be made in this case, there is no authority that permits a President to advise anyone to ignore a duly issued congressional subpoena for documents."

Yesterday's Press Conference

Michael Abramowitz writes in The Washington Post that Bush "weighed in on some of the foreign policy issues that have cropped up recently on the trail, criticizing the Democratic presidential contenders for their positions on Iraq and trade and, in the case of Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), for his willingness to meet with U.S. adversaries.

"In a wide-ranging news conference at the White House, his first in two months, Bush appeared especially animated in shooting down the proposition that a president should meet with the leaders of Cuba and Iran without preconditions, an idea that has been an element of Obama's foreign policy agenda and that has led to sparring with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

"'Sitting down at the table, having your picture taken with a tyrant such as Raul Castro, for example, lends the status of the office and the status of our country to him,' Bush said, referring to the new Cuban president. 'He gains a lot from it by saying, "Look at me, I'm now recognized by the president of the United States."'"

Aides to Obama reacted sharply: "'It's not as though [Obama] is going to sit down for a rum and Coke with Raul Castro and say "Cheers,"' said Susan Rice, one of Obama's senior foreign policy advisers. 'Why the United States fears to negotiate or views direct discussions as a reward rather than as an instrument to change behavior is a mystery to anyone who studies diplomacy. It is a patently failed approach, as the U.S. has demonstrated over the last eight years.'"

And, as Abramowitz notes: "During his news conference, Bush appeared to draw a contrast between talking to the leaders of Cuba and Iran and having discussions with Russia and China, two countries whose repressive policies at home have drawn criticism from human rights activists and U.S. lawmakers."

For more, see yesterday's column, Bush vs. Obama.

Library Watch

Ken Herman writes for Cox News Service: "President Bush, declining to say if he would disclose which donors will give millions of dollars to build his library in Dallas, said Thursday the facility will probably be funded in part by foreign money.

"Addressing the topic publicly for the first time since last week's formal announcement of the selection of Southern Methodist University for the library, Bush didn't directly answer questions about how much it will cost and whether Americans should know who's paying for it."

Brendan McKenna writes in the Dallas Morning News: "Mr. Bush said at a news conference that some people 'like to give and don't particularly want their names disclosed . . . and so we'll take that into consideration. . . .

"Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who authored a bill to require disclosure of donations to presidential library foundations, said the prospect of secret donors poses a problem.