Mike Brown is blackmailing the White House. Publicly:
Former disaster agency chief Michael Brown is indicating he is ready to reveal his correspondence with President Bush and other officials during Hurricane Katrina unless the White House forbids it and offers legal support.
Brown’s stance, in a letter obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, follows senators’ complaints that the White House is refusing to answer questions or release documents about advice given to Bush concerning the August 29 storm.
Brown quit as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency days after Katrina struck. He left the federal payroll November 2.
In a February 6 letter to White House counsel Harriet Miers, Brown’s lawyer wrote that Brown continues to respect Bush and his “presidential prerogative” to get candid and confidential advice from top aides.
The letter from Andrew W. Lester also says Brown no longer can rely on being included in that protection because he is a private citizen.
“Unless there is specific direction otherwise from the president, including an assurance the president will provide a legal defense to Mr. Brown if he refuses to testify as to these matters, Mr. Brown will testify if asked about particular communications,” the lawyer wrote.
Brown’s desire “is that all facts be made public.”
Hehe.
All joking aside, I am hoping they don’t defend him. I want to know all the facts.
Pb
What makes you think that he’d tell the truth in either situation? Anyhow, what Brownie is doing sounds like thinly-veiled blackmail to me. I’m not sure who to find more despicable here.
John Cole
There is nothing thinly veiled about it at all- it is blackmail through and through.
srv
Birds of a feather flock together. He probably should have thrown in a request for a Medal of Freedom too.
erez
Agreed. However, I don’t see the current administration holding itself accountable in any manner. Look for Mike Brown to receive a team of 70 high-powered attorneys who will work his case exclusively for the foreseeable future.
Paddy O'Shea
How many Bush admin worms will turn? Libby? Brownie? Abramoff?
And what if – oh dear God no – Jeff Gannon decides to tell all?
Is there no honor among thieves any longer?
What has become of this country?
a guy called larry
I predict he wakes up one morning with an Arabian horse head in his bed, and decides to forget all about facts being made public.
Richard Bottoms
Two words: Vince Foster
Davebo
Well John,
Considering that we as taxpayers are still paying Brown’s full salary, ostensibly for his cooperation with the investigation, I’d say fuck no they shouldn’t offer him defense representation. They should tell the little punk to go before congress and honestly answer their questions.
As a taxpayer, I think it’s only fair.
How about you?
KC
John, we already know something is wrong with the pre-Katrina information the WH had. Executive privelege is designed to protect the nation’s national security interests and presidential deliberations, not embarrassment. That the WH is claiming executive privilege over Katrina related information that it received from FEMA before and during the storm stinks to high heaven.
Lines
jesus srv, warn people before writing gold like that.
Pooh
Well, if we let Brownie testify about disaster preparedness, it would aid and comfort our enemies to know that we’re stupid. Sometimes they forget. Washington claimed the power to avoid having his appointees testify in televised hearings, too. His testimony would offend those attending funerals of disaster victims, as well. We’re learning disaster response procedures on the fly over here so we don’t have to learn it over there. “Browine, you’re going to the hearings with the lawyers you have, not the lawyers you wish you had.”
SeesThroughIt
Good one, Pooh!
I like this blackmailing angle. It’s funny, and perhaps it’s the only way to get the White House to be at all honest.
The Disenfranchised Voter
LOL.
The Other Steve
Being a Republican, I’m sure he sees nothing at all wrong with his behavior.
Cyrus
If Brown had done this in private then I’d agree with you, but it’s harder to say here. Which would look worse for the administration, to knuckle under when faced with blackmail or to let Brown tell the truth? It depends, of course, on what exactly is in these private conversations. Is it the kind of thing Lines would expect, the kind of thing John would expect, or something in between? Is he bluffing, and the evidence isn’t all that incriminating? Is there some way they can support Brown but make it look like they aren’t?
I know you meant it as a joke, larry, but following Mr. Corleone’s example just might be the best option open to them.
And if he testifies then they’ll have to discredit him, but where will they start? “He’s obviously an incompetent liar, look who gave him his job!”
This is not the worst situation the administration has been in, by far. But it might be the most entertaining. Let me know when it’s on C-SPAN so I can make popcorn.
jg
Help me avoid this or I’ll tell the truth about you. Classic. Even better is the way his ‘blackmail’ will be used to spin teh story away from whatever truth he’s hiding. The fact that he has something to say will be lost in the Darrell noises.
Otto Man
Yet another example of why it’s so hard to tell the difference:
Republicans … or the Mafia?
Marcus Wellby
Do not get on a small plane with Brownie!
Steve
Blackmail is the wrong word.
He has been lawfully summoned to testify.
If he refuses to answer on the grounds of executive privilege, he sets himself up for a long and expensive fight.
All Brown is saying is that if the White House wants him to fight this battle for them, they can’t expect him to pay for it himself.
If he was asking for something beyond reimbursement of his legal fees, then we might have a shady situation.
DougJ
I thought you were convinced it was Nagin’s and Blanco’s fault. Didn’t you do a post about how most of the flooding was caused by Nagin leaving a faucet running in City Hall? That was the part FEMA couldn’t have anticipated, as I recall.
Bruce Moomaw
As a palate cleanser preceding Brownie’s imminent E-mail knifing of Bush, we now have tonight’s NY Times story:
“White House Knew of Levee’s Breaching on Night of Storm”
“In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Bush administration officials said they had been caught by surprise when they were told on Tuesday, Aug. 30, that a levee had broken, allowing floodwaters to engulf New Orleans.
“But Congressional investigators have now learned that an eyewitness account of the flooding from a federal emergency official reached the Homeland Security Department’s headquarters starting at 9:27 p.m. the day before, and the White House itself at midnight.
“The Federal Emergency Management Agency official, Marty Bahamonde, first heard of a major levee breach Monday morning. By late Monday afternoon, Mr. Bahamonde had hitched a ride on a Coast Guard helicopter over the breach at the 17th Street Canal to confirm the extensive flooding. He then telephoned his report to FEMA headquarters in Washington, which notified the Homeland Security Department.
” ‘FYI from FEMA,’ said an e-mail message from the agency’s public affairs staff describing the helicopter flight, sent Monday night at 9:27 to the chief of staff of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and recently unearthed by investigators. Conditions, the message said, ‘are far more serious than media reports are currently reflecting. Finding extensive flooding and more stranded people than they had thought — also a number of fires.’
“Michael D. Brown, who was the director of FEMA until he resigned under pressure on Sept. 12, said in a telephone interview Thursday that he personally notified the White House of this news that night, though he declined to identify the official he spoke to.
“White House officials have confirmed to Congressional investigators that the report of the levee break arrived there at midnight, and Trent Duffy, the White House spokesman, acknowledged as much in an interview this week, though he said it was surrounded with conflicting reports.”
That Congressional investigation is turning up all sorts of fascinating tidbits — although these do confirm that the Louisiana state government and Mayor Nagin were fucking around just as lackadaisically as the federal government. The Administration can take pride in the fact that it is no more corrupt and incompetent than the state of Louisiana.
Otto Man
Listening to the hearings right now. Susan Collins, Joe Lieberman, and Mike Brown might have the three worst voices on the planet. It’s like an episode of Droopy Dog.