DNC: Arraignments, Indictments, Investigations, Oh My! The GOP's Week of

[MaineDem]

For Immediate Release
October 21, 2005
Contact: Karen Finney - 202-863-8148

Arraignments, Indictments, Investigations, Oh My! The GOP's Week of
Disarray

Washington, DC - From arraignments and grand juries, to failing
judicial nominations, the Republican Party has had a tough week.
Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney
issued the following statement on the ever-growing Republican culture of
corruption and cronyism and President Bush's emerging status as a lame
duck chief executive:

"While hard-working American families are worried about the rising cost
of filling their gas tank and heating their homes as well as the ongoing
problems in Iraq, Republicans in Washington are spending more and more
time with defense lawyers than on the issues facing America. President
Bush dismisses the scandals as 'background noise,' but voters know
it's the sound of Republicans ignoring the people's business in
Washington, DC. Together we can do better. Democrats are focusing on
solutions to problems faced everyday by the American people."

BUSH'S SUPREME COURT PICK STRUGGLING

Miers' Meetings with Senators Going Poorly and Will Be Cancelled.
"Harriet Miers -- whose courtesy calls with senators in their Capitol
Hill offices have been more chaotic than courteous -- has finished the
tour, the White House has told congressional aides. ... The meetings
have been fraught with misunderstandings and disagreements, giving
ammunition to detractors, both liberal and conservative, that Miss Miers
is in over her head. 'No one is walking out of these meetings thinking
they've just met with a star,' a Republican Judiciary staffer said
yesterday."

DELAY BOOKED AND ARRAIGNED

Former GOP House Majority Leader DeLay Booked in Texas on Money
Laundering Charges. "Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas,
surrendered to authorities in Houston yesterday, the last step before
his scheduled appearance today in Austin to formally hear the conspiracy
and money-laundering charges leveled against him last month. DeLay, 58,
who relinquished his post as U.S. House majority leader after being
indicted, was photographed and fingerprinted during the proceedings in
Houston before being released on $10,000 bond." 10/21/05]

CIA INVESTIGATION AND THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION CONSIPIRACY TO SILENCE
CRITICS

Investigators Now Focused on Cheney. "A special counsel is focusing on
whether Vice President Dick Cheney played a role in leaking a covert CIA
agent's name, according to people familiar with the probe that already
threatens top White House aides Karl Rove and Lewis Libby. The special
counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, has questioned current and former officials
of President George W. Bush's administration about whether Cheney was
involved in an effort to discredit the agent's husband, Iraq war critic
and former U.S. diplomat Joseph Wilson, according to the people."


Bush "Rebuked" Rove Over Plame Leak in 2003. An article in the New York
Daily News said that, "An angry President Bush rebuked" Rove "two years
ago for his role in the Valerie Plame affair." 10/19/05]

Bush Previously Said He Didn't Know If His Staff Had Leaked Plame's
Name; Promised to Fire Anyone Who Leaked Her Name. The account given by
the New York Daily News contradicts Bush's previous statements on the
matter. In September 2003, Bush claimed, "I don't know of anybody in my
administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak
classified information we'll take the appropriate action." And, later in
June 2004, when Bush was asked specifically whether he would fire a
staff member who leaked Plame's name, Bush said simply, "Yes." Chronicle, 7/19/05]

Rove Becoming Liability; Rove a No-Show at Virginia and Connecticut
Fundraisers and Hudson Institute Speech, After His Fourth Appearance
Before Grand Jury. Presidential advisor Karl Rove cancelled his speech
at the Hudson Institute on October 11th. He also called of an appearance
before a Fairfax County Republican Committee breakfast last Saturday,
only one day after appearing for the fourth time before a grand jury
investigating the leaking of the identity of a covert CIA agent.
Replacing Rove was RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman who addressed the audience
in Tyson's Corner, VA. Later that week, Rove scrapped plans to attend a
Republican National Committee fundraiser in Greenwich, CT, where Lynne
Cheney spoke in his place.

BUSH'S SECOND TERM AGENDA

Bush Agenda Struggling On All Fronts. "Some Republicans are lamenting
President Bush's 'lost year' and wondering if he can salvage his agenda.
Vice President Cheney is giving pep talks to White House staffers as
supporters brace for the possible indictments of Bush's top adviser and
Cheney's chief of staff. Bush and his team have had difficult days
before, but the autumn of his fifth year in the White House finds him in
his worst slump ever. A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll released Monday found
that just 39% approve of the job he's doing, the lowest rating of his
political career."


Bush Hurting Schwarzenegger in California."Don't expect to see happy
photos of President Bush with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when the
president visits Los Angeles tonight for a Republican fundraiser. The
governor doesn't plan to go near the president. He's upset.
Schwarzenegger is miffed because Bush is dipping into the California
money pot less than three weeks before the governor's special
election. Schwarzenegger still is tapping contributors for his own
political needs, trying to salvage a 'reform' agenda crucial to his
governorship and to him politically. Moreover, some within the
Schwarzenegger camp complain, Bush's timing couldn't be worse
politically. Democrats are trying to wrap the unpopular president around
the governor's neck -- warning voters of a 'Bush-Schwarzenegger
agenda' -- and in flies Air Force One, right into the state's
largest media market."

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