McClellan: Bush Should Have Fired Rove After Plame Leak (VIDEO)

President Bush broke his promise to the country by refusing to fire aide Karl Rove for leaking a CIA agent's identity, said Scott McClellan, the president's chief spokesman for almost three years.

"I think the president should have stood by his word and that meant Karl should have left," McClellan said Sunday in a broadcast interview about his new tell-all book, a scathing rebuke of the White House under Bush's leadership.

McClellan now acknowledges he felt burned by Rove, Bush's top political adviser, and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff. He said Rove and Libby assured him they were not involved in leaking CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity, and he repeated those assurances to reporters.

In fact, Rove and Libby did help leak Plame's identity, as confirmed in a later criminal investigation. Libby had resigned by then, but Rove remained in office and eventually stepped down on his terms in August 2007.

"I think the president should have stood by the word that we said, which was that if you were involved in this in any way, then you would no longer be in this administration. And Karl was involved in it," McClellan said.

White House press secretary Dana Perino declined comment Sunday.

Keep reading here.

Watch McClellan on Meet the Press:

Comments

[wolf58]

Fire Rove? Sorry last time I checked outing of a CIA agent is a crime, ask daddy Bush on that one. Rove should be in jail for treason and nothing short of that.

[GiannaX]

So should Bush and Cheney.

[maschwab]

Exactly. Rove was doing what Bush and Cheney wanted, outing the wife of a person obstructing his propoganda march to war. The threat to fire was just a coverup of Bush and Cheney conspiring to out M. Plame, and would never have been carried out.

[dadw5boys]

And the head of the CIA who had to know!

[forpeace]

*

MoveOn to McClellan: Donate the proceeds from book to war vets.

Yesterday, MoveOn.org launched a petition drive “calling on former White House official Scott McClellan to donate the proceeds of his book to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The petition reads:

Coming clean is great — but profiting from lying to the public isn’t. McClellan was a critical part of the effort to sell us the war and now he’s poised to make millions of dollars for it. That’s wrong................

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/01/moveon-to-mcclellan-donate-the-proceeds-from-book-to-war-vets/

*

[Dianekkdi]

Sweet indeed.

Our mouths to God's ears.

I'll add my thanks to you Scott McClellan. Thank you.

[glaze]

This is not intended to sound funny by any means: If I were Scott McClellan, I would stay out of any extremely tall buildings for a long time.

[Jazzcomedian]

"The Republican Party, to be exact is twins and has been twins from the moment of its birth---but the twins who inhabit its name and shelter are Jacob and Esau: fratricidal, not fraternal, twins. Within the Republican Party are combined a stream of the loftiest American idealism and a stream of the coarsest American greed. These two political streams have mixed their waters from the days of the Party's birth."
............"The Making of the President 1960" by Theodore White

This was the fascinating account of the Kennedy/Nixon presidential campaign in 1960. The idealistic wing at that time was typified by Nelson Rockefeller and was referred to as "citizen Republicans". It's easy to see which stream has won out. Can't get any coarser or greedier than these last eight years.

It's a great book. I highly recommend if you're interested in a well written almost novelistic book about a historic election.

[ErnestineBass]

Oh, please...as if that rich pr*ck in the White House has EVER kept his word about ANYTHING.

[macbabe]

Collin Powell NEEDs to write a book!!!!

[ajax2]

The story that Armitage accidentally exposed CIA agent Plame is promoted by Armitage, Woodward, and the WH. It is self serving. The fiction that Armitage was first and therefore there could be no other leaks is nonsense. If mafia boss Cheney sent out hit men Libby, Rove and Armitage to murder Wilson, and Armitage is caught at the door, does that free the others? I don't think so.

[fourex]

"The senior official decided to cooperate with the investigation and told Fitzgerald that Libby and Rove spoke to reporters about Plame Wilson, the attorneys said.

The official has been identified by attorneys and four current and former White House officials as John Hannah, a senior national security aide on loan to Vice President Dick Cheney from then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs John Bolton."

[mbrownNY]

Where was this guy when when he could have actually done something?

[DRaymond]

You presume that Press Secretaries EVER are in a position to 'do something'.

Can you actually imagine the scene? Scott puts his hand up in a meeting and says 'oh by the way Mr President, I insist that you fire Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and Vice President Cheney because of their role in the leak affair because you made me promise that you wanted to get to the bottom of things and get rid of anybody involved'. Mighty guffaws of laugher follow.

[myshadow]

He is actually doing it. Look this guy was a loyalist, he is karen hughes nephew, he is standing up and TELLING the truth. All he got was a lousy 75K advance. Watching that quisling russert, cheney's 'go to' guy trying to play gotcha was pathetic. Olberman does a serious hour with him, and lil russ clocks in with less 24 min. All of these corporate hacks have blood on their hands. Mac was out of the white haus two weeks after bush told him it was his order.

[renoir]

is that true? he's karen hughes' nephew? LOL! that's delicious!

[research]

MoveOn is dead wrong to attack McClellen.

Do we want more whistle blowers or not?

Thank you McClellen! You we a lousy liar as press secretary, that's why I believe you now.

McClellen will need that book royalty just to survive the GOP conservative smear campaign.

Don't begrudge him his reward for telling all and risking all.

[Dap]

STOP !

ol'Scotty, is the antithesis of what it means to be a whistle-blower. Jeeeesh!

[bluesnot]

McClellan is brave for coming out against Bush and also for coming out late. Surely he knew he would draw criticism from all quarters.

[crossoverwriter]

Better late than never.
Go McClellen, you've just given Obama some excellent talking points!

[JackNasty]

Unfortunately, Obama is not running against George Bush.

[OldDawg]

He never could do anything. Press Secy's are not policy makers. They are waterboys. The Bush gang road over anyone D, I or R to push there message. McClellen was just another talking head controlled by The Gang That Could'nt Talk Straight.

[renoir]

he could of walked and then immediately talked. or better yet, come onto the rostrum at at white house press briefing and told the truth right then and there. "good morning ladies and gentlemen of the press. i have an announcement...". imagine.

he told the truth now, which is good. but someone brighter and with more integrity would of stood up sooner.

[AxelDC]

Bush said he would fire whomever authorized the Plame leak. He leaked it himself, therefore he should have resigned.

Of course, this is just a minor lie compared to the lies he has told over the years. Why should he care about one more?

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Please lord, prove you exist.

Provide even ONE LOUSY STINKIN accountability moment for the Bush/Cheney junta.

[darker]

Haven't you heard "god is DEAD"? You'll never get your accountability moment.

Bush would never fire Rove willingly, or any of his PERSONAL SHIT WIPERS who enabled the Bush-DUNCE "pretzeldency".

[bluesnot]

The 10th Psalm is apropos.

[Dayahka]

Sorry, old chap, but there is no god. If you want justice, you'll have to do it yourself.

[circusfifthfloor]

Isn't there an obscure law that gives a president in times of dire national emergency the power to void any elections in order to restore calm and balance? Anyone???

[research]

only if we let him.

[robXdion]

McClellan better have all of this on tape and in print somewhere in a safety deposit box. His life is in serious danger, me thinks. These people are in too deep to just give up and go to jail because of a little thing like"proof' or his testimony.

[research]

That's part of why he wrote and published a book.

[bluesnot]

Now would be a good time to ask your representatives what they are doing about the Don Siegelman situation. Our country has truly gone down the tubes when a dirty trickster like Rove can get a Democratic politician imprisoned.

"New Developments in Siegelman Appeal
New developments to report in Don Siegelman's prosecution appeal. A surge in support of Siegelman is good news for the Governor. A bipartisan group, 54 Democrat *and* Republican former Attorneys General, filed a brief with a Federal Appeals court in support of Don Siegelman. They wrote that Siegelman's prosecution and sentencing quote: "raise serious First Amendment concerns". Their brief requests the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Siegelman's conviction. Siegelman was convicted in 2006 after what more and more people are describing as a politically-motivated prosecution. Former White House advisor Karl Rove has been linked to targeting Siegelman. In an unusual move, Siegelman was sent straight to prison by Republican Federal Judge Mark Fuller. Now, Siegelman is free awaiting his appeal."

Geez, Scott, is this the type of integrity the White House had? Rove denied involvement in the Plame incident just like he's denying involvement in the Siegelman situation. 54 Attorneys General know differently.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Huzzah re Siegelman.

Justice would be Rove serving out Siegleman's term, prison term that is.

[bluesnot]

No, man, that wouldn't be enough. Rove needs to feel the pain that he has inflicted on us.