Lautenberg and Reid Ask President Bush to Remove Armstrong Wiliams

[Skinner]

I just got this in my inbox. Thought some of you might be interested:

Lautenberg and Reid Ask President Bush to Remove Armstrong Wiliams from White House Commission

WASHINGTON, DC -- In a letter sent today to President Bush, U.S Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) urged the President to remove journalist Armstrong Williams from his official position on the President's Commission on White House Fellowships. Earlier this week, it was revealed that the Bush Administration had paid Mr. Williams $240,000 "to regularly comment on during the course of his broadcasts," and to provide Education Secretary Paige and other Education Department officials "the option of appearing from time to time as studio guests." The President's Commission on White House Fellowships runs the White House Fellows Program, a prestigious program that places young men and women as special assistants to officials at the highest levels of the Federal government for a one year term.

In their letter to President Bush today, the lawmakers stated, "In light of the pending investigations into your Administration's ties with Mr. Williams, we believe it is appropriate to remove Mr. Williams from the President's Commission. In our view, Mr. Williams should not be affiliated with official White House offices while a determination of the legality of your Administration's $240,000 payment to him is pending."

Investigations of the legality of this payment are likely to begin soon out of the Education Department and the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

"While this payola investigation is going on, the Bush Administration needs to cut its ties to Mr. Williams," said Senator Lautenberg.

The revelations regarding Mr. Williams are the latest in a series of actions by the Bush Administration to manipulate public opinion through covert propaganda. On May 19, 2004, the GAO found that the Bush Administration illegally spent taxpayer funds on covert propaganda by paying Ketchum Incorporated to produce fake news stories, or Video News Releases (VNRs), promoting the image of the new Medicare law. An almost identical investigation by the GAO into the use of VNRs by the Department of Education is ongoing. Yesterday, Senators Lautenberg and Kennedy requested that the GAO expand an ongoing inquiry into possible illegal use of taxpayer dollars for propaganda by the Department of Education to include the $240,000 payment to Mr. Williams.

The letter sent to President Bush is below:


January 12,2005

Honorable George W. Bush President The White House Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush:

As you know,it was revealed this week that your Administration paid the columnist Armstrong Williams $240,000 in exchangefor his agreement to promote the "No Child Left Behind" initiativeon his broadcastsand to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige during his televisionand radio programs. We believe that this paymentto Mr. Williams violates the prohibitionon the use of Federal funds for "publicity and propaganda" included annually in Federal appropriations laws. Various investigations of this matter, including those by the Department of Education Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office, are likely to commence soon.

We were therefore disturbedto learn that the Administration has also awarded Mr. Williams a seat on the President's Commissionon White House Fellowships. In light of the pending investigations into your Administration's ties with Mr. Williams, we believe it is appropriate to remove Mr. Williams from the President's Commission. In our view, Mr.Williams should not be affiliated with official White House offices while a determination of the legality of your Administration's $240,000 payment to him is pending.

Thank you for your considerationof this request.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg and U.S. Senator Harry Reid

http://lautenberg.senate.gov/~lautenberg/press/2003/01/2005112845.html

[The Doctor.]

1. How long before the administration achieves full opacity?

Soon, all the committees responsible for investigation of these 'indiscretions' will be chaired by Bush** loyalists.

Darker and darker these times become.

[tridim]

2. You really think Bush gives a crap

what Lautenberg and Reid have to say? I guess it's good to get their opinion on record though.

IMO they should go further and demand a complete list of all the media payoffs.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. My only problem with this is that it is punitive to Williams when the WH

is the greater perp of the two. It seems that the RW will have a hayday with Williams as they did with Clarence Thomas

[chelsea0011]

4. Is Ken Starr still investigating? Is he on this?

There must be a way to connect Clinton to Williams.

[AZCat]

5. Nothing about this in today's Press Briefing (1/12/05)

Today's Press Briefing with Scott McClellan had nothing about this (or anything about Armstrong, for that matter) but it wrapped up at 1:16 PM EST which may have been too early for the White House press corps to have gotten wind of this. I will check tomorrow's briefing to see if this comes up, although I don't expect anything other than Scotty's usual song-and-dance.

[ashmanonar]

6. since when was the president of the united states called honorable?

as i recall, when washington was president, european dignitaries were trying to call him "his highness" and "emperor of the united states", and washington said "no, call me Mr. President."

where did a president like this go?
wasn't clinton the sort of guy that people could call by his first name, and he encouraged it?

[pk_du]

7. As is done in the real world......shouldnt the John be punished

at least as much if not more than the (media) whore?

[KoKo]

8. Here's a list of the other White House Fellows....Cokie Robert's Mother

is the only one who draws attention...because of her daughter.

Why was Williams even on this commission. As a Left Wing radio commentator, and sometimes cable pundit, he doesn't seem fit in with the rest of the group. :shrug:


----------------


http://www.whitehouse.gov/fellows/

The President's Commission on White House Fellowships

Commission Chair
Julie Nixon Eisenhower
Author
Berwyn, PA

The Honorable Ronald G. Bellamy
Former Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel
for President George W. Bush
Austin, TX

Myrna Blyth
Former Senior Vice President and Editorial Director
New York Magazines
New York, NY

The Honorable Corinne "Lindy" Claiborne Boggs
Former Ambassador of the United States of America to the Holy See
Former Congresswoman from Louisiana
New Orleans, LA

James E. Bostic, Jr., Ph.D.
WHF '72-73
Executive Vice President
Georgia-Pacific Corporation
Atlanta, GA

Sara Gear Boyd
Former Vermont State Senate Majority Leader
Colchester, VT

Gilberto Cardenas, Ph.D.
Assistant Provost and Director
Institute for Latino Studies
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN

Martha Chayet
Campaign Finance Consultant
Boston, MA

Carlos M. de Cespedes
Chairman & CEO
Pharmed Group Corporation
Miami, FL

Robert M. (Mike) Duncan, Esq.
General Counsel
Community Holding Company
General Counsel
Republican National Committee
Inez, KY

The Honorable Valdemar Garcia
State Senator 22nd Senate District of Michigan
Lansing, MI

William Ellison Grayson, Esq.
Managing Director
EGM Capital
San Francisco, CA

General Charles A. Horner, USAF (Retired)
Consultant
Charles Horner Worldwide
Shalimar, FL

The Honorable Kay Coles James
Director
United States Office of Personnel Management
Washington, DC

The Honorable Edith H. Jones
U.S. Court of Appeals Judge
Fifth Circuit Court
Houston, TX

Maria Elena Lagomasino
Chairman & CEO
JP Morgan Private Bank
New York, NY

Olden C. Lee
Former Pepsi Co. Executive
Scottsdale, AZ

Bruno V. Manno, Ph.D.
Senior Program Associate in Education
Annie E. Casey Foundation
Baltimore, MD

William McGurn
Chief Editorial Writer and Member, Editorial Board
The Wall Street Journal
New York, NY

The Honorable Philip J. Montante, Jr.
Federal Administrative Judge
U.S. Immigration Court
Buffalo, NY

Patrick F. Noonan
Chairman Emeritus
The Conservation Fund
Arlington, VA

Alan Paul Novak, Esq.
President
Novak Strategic Advisors
West Chester, PA

Admiral Donald L. Pilling, USN (Retired)
President & CEO
Logistics Management Institute
McLean, VA

Jeffery C. Pope
Former President
Blue Circle Materials North America
Atlanta, GA

William L. Roper, M.D.
WHF '82-83
Dean, School of Medicine
Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs, and
CEO UNC Health Care System
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC

The Honorable Barbara F. Vucanovich
Former Congresswoman from Nevada
Reno, NV

Armstrong Williams
CEO & President
Graham Williams Group
CEO & President
The Right Side Production, Inc.
Washington, DC

Jocelyn White
Director

William Webb
Ex-Officio
WHF '86-87
President, White House Fellows Association

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