Thursday, July 22, 2004
Extraordinary revalations concerning the public and private testimony of Richard Clarke - book huckster, partisan media whore. You 'knew' this was true - that Clarke used the Commission to peddle a book, puff himself up, bash Bush, and push the Commission even further into a partisan no-man's-land, but still, it's surprising to see it confirmed, and out of the mouth of one of the Commissioners. Richard Clarke's testimony was the low-point of the process.
9/11 Commissioner John Lehman speaks up to National Review's Rich Lowry.
“Mugged” - A 9/11 commissioner unloads on Richard Clarke and his “jihad against Bush.”
Lehman says that Clarke's original testimony included "a searing indictment of some Clinton officials and Clinton policies." That was the Clarke, evenhanded in his criticisms of both the Bush and Clinton administrations, who Lehman and other Republican commissioners expected to show up at the public hearings. It was a surprise "that he would come out against Bush that way." Republicans were taken aback: "It caught us flat-footed, but not the Democrats."
Clarke's performance poisoned the public hearings, leading to weeks of a partisan slugfest. Lehman says Republican commissioners felt they had to fight back, adding to the partisan atmosphere. "What triggered it was Dick Clarke," says Lehman. "We couldn't sit back and let him get away with what he wanted to get away with." He adds, "We were hijacked by a combination of Viacom and the Kerry campaign in the handling of Clarke's testimony."
But Lehman is proud of the unanimous final report released today. It reflects the more sober, behind-the-scenes work of the commission: "By and large it was nothing like you saw in those public hearings." Lehman calls the final report "very feisty," with significant forward-looking recommendations...
