From the White House, no news isn't good news.
Quote:
Originally Posted by swatchick
A White House spokesman said Bush had received the letter [requesting a private amnesty for Juan Gomez, a student whose parents were being deported] and ``we will be reviewing it.''
That's nice. Maybe Pres. Bush now has time to receive and review the thousands of petitions for release of political prisoners Ignacio Ramos and José Compean.
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Kinsolving asked Snow during a White House press briefing Monday whether Bush would consider using his power of pardon to free the agents.
"That's an unanswerable question, Les. The president is the person who is responsible for pardons. You can tell the network, which made you ask that question, that it is nonsensical," Snow said.
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Asked again at a recent White House press conference whether President Bush would consider a pardon for two Border Patrol agents facing long prison sentences for shooting in the rump a drug dealer they were pursuing, Tony Snow said: "Border guards must obey the law, too."
Apparently, Snow and the president are appalled about the fact that the agents retrieved spent shells at the scene – a violation of procedure in what was perceived as a cover-up of the incident. . .
Is the president obeying the laws of the land when he chooses not to enforce them?
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"...these two agents are in solitary. Why won't the president show the same mercy to them that he showed to Libby," Kinsolving asked.
"We do not discuss any of those matters, whether they're under consideration or not, and you know it," a terse Snow said.
"I've heard to you discuss them," Kinsolving said.
"No, you didn't."
Actually, Snow has defended the president's position, including during an interview with WND when he said that border agents must obey the law, too.
He suggested then that those who are seeking clemency for the agents should review the evidence in the case.
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"What we're doing is getting the entire trial transcript so everybody can see what happened in trial, and we can try to discern the real facts of the case," Snow told WND . . .
"I think what's happened is a lot of people have differing accounts of this, and the best way to resolve them is not by having people scream at each other but by finding out what the fact record is, and that's what we're going to do," said Snow.
It's about time. The finding of fact was supposed to take place at the beginning of the court proceedings, not after Mr. Ramos was half beaten to death in prison.
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Government officials will be held accountable for their statements regarding the federal case against two former U.S. Border Patrol agents, Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos, who are in prison for shooting a fleeing smuggler bringing drugs from Mexico into the United States, according to the White House spokesman [Tony Snow].
That should have the same chilling effect on the Border Patrol as sending José Compean and Ignacio Ramos to prison. Perestroika, anyone?
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"Sen. Feinstein said . . . 'I urge the committee to look into why these agents are not being protected in the federal prison system. It is not hard to predict that two federal agents would be targeted in a prison population.'
"And my question, what is the president's reaction to this upcoming investigation and Republican Congressman (Dana) Rohrabacher's warning of 'impeachment talk' if either of these agents is killed," [Kinsolving] asked.
"You know, this is a time when cooler heads ought to prevail and facts ought to be presented," Snow replied. "Therefore, we're perfectly happy with anything that will reveal the facts of this case. I think there are efforts ongoing and may yield fruit quite soon to get the full transcripts of the trial of agents Campion and Ramos out before the public, every syllable. You and your guys can read them."
Mr. Snow, the transcripts are available here.
Perhaps you and your guys can read them.
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Former vice presidential aide Scooter Libby is free from serving any part of a prison sentence on a conviction for lying about the Valerie Plame CIA case, while two U.S. Border Patrol agents remain in solitary for shooting at an escaping drug smuggler. And White House spokesman Tony Snow says that's the end of the conversation.
Maybe it is for you, Mr. Snow. But we'll still be asking questions
. . . and providing answers, in case you don't have any.
