Revealed: Rumsfeld at Padres Ball Game As New Orleans Sank
By E&P Staff
Published: September 06, 2005 9:30 PM ET
NEW YORK The seemingly carefree behavior of top Bush administration officials early last week, who stuck to their vacations as tens of thousands cried for help in New Orleans, gained another twist with revelations that Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld was taking in a ball game in San Diego last Monday night--about 24 hours after Katrina hit.
Rumsfeld has come under increasing criticism for the military's lack of early intervention in the rescue.
An E&P reader tipped us off to a column in last Tuesday's San Diego Union-Tribune by regular columnist Diane Bell. One item reads:
"Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield wasn't the only VIP who joined Padres President John Moores in the owner's box last night at Petco Park. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, here to join President Bush at the North Island Naval Air Station today, took in the game, too. Three weeks ago, Winfield stopped by the Pentagon with his family and later joined the Padres as they visited wounded soldiers at the Army's Walter Reed Hospital during a road trip. "Winfield was very moved by the experience," says his agent, Randy Grossman. So he invited Rumsfeld to the Padres game.
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