Bush lied about his arrest, a reporter says

The Texas governor said he had not been arrested since a 1968 college prank, covering up the 1976 DUI incident.

By Jake Tapper

Nov. 03, 2000 | MILWAUKEE -- Sitting in the bar of the downtown Hyatt Hotel here Thursday night, Mark McKinnon, the media advisor to Gov. George W. Bush, was smoking a stogie, looking serene. He said he thought that his boss's disclosure earlier in the day that he had been arrested for driving while intoxicated in Maine in 1976, at the age of 30, would blow over.

"I did 13 one-person focus groups," McKinnon joked, saying that he'd called family and friends, who all reassured him that their positive impression of the governor hadn't changed as a result of the story, which was broken Thursday evening by the Portland, Maine, NBC station. McKinnon, who wouldn't say whether he had known of the arrest previously, did allow that the story could become more of a problem for the governor if it surfaced that he had ever lied about the arrest.

And by the next morning, it began to look as though Bush had, in at least once instance, lied about it.

In the media's breakfast room, Wayne Slater, a reporter with the Dallas Morning News, confirmed an account, first mentioned in the New Republic, that in the fall of 1998 Bush had lied to him about whether he'd ever been arrested after 1968.

In the midst of Bush's gubernatorial reelection effort, Slater reported that while in college, Bush had been arrested for stealing a Christmas wreath from a New Haven, Conn., hotel. Cornering Bush in the press room of the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, after a press conference, Slater pressed Bush on his arrest record.

"I asked him if he'd ever been arrested after 1968," when the wreath incident took place, Slater recalled. "And he said, 'No.'"

Slater emphasized the context of the conversation, however, and his gut feeling now that Bush was on the brink of disclosing the 1976 drunken-driving arrest to him. "When he said the word 'no,' clearly he wasn't telling the truth," Slater said. But, Slater said, he then asked Bush if "had he ever been arrested before 1968, and he said, 'Well ...,' and I felt he may have been ready to correct what he had just said, but [Bush spokeswoman] Karen Hughes stepped in and stopped the interview."

-- J.T. (jt@salonc.om), November 03, 2000

Answers

In desperation new tactics are used by Gore 2000...keep throwing stuff until something sticks.

Sad...very sad.

...while the clock continues to tick...tick...tick towards Tuesday.

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), November 03, 2000.

"I asked him if he'd ever been arrested after 1968," when the wreath incident took place, Slater recalled. "And he said, 'No.'"

That depends on what the meaning of "no" is.

-- (hmm@hmm.hmm), November 03, 2000.

Seems to me the Bush campaign is the one trying to throw enough stuff to get something to stick

-- FutureSHock (gray@matter.think), November 03, 2000.

That depends on what the meaning of "no" is.

Comparing this situation to a lie by Bill Clinton recorded under oath and then consciously and deliberately repeated to the American people is totally absurd!

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), November 03, 2000.

Ain't:

It seems to ME that YOU'VE engaged in pretty much a one-man/woman show in the past two weeks of slinging mud at Gore until something sticks. Has anyone accused YOU [or the pundits you chose] of being desperate?

McKinnon was the one who said it could be a problem if Bush ever lied about it. Tapper was simply responding with the facts.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), November 03, 2000.

YOU'VE engaged in pretty much a one-man/woman show in the past two weeks of slinging mud at Gore until something sticks.

The difference? I am not running for president nor am I a member of the Bush 2000 campaign staff.

C'mon Anita...you can do better than that.

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), November 03, 2000.

Comparing this situation to a lie by Bill Clinton recorded under oath and then consciously and deliberately repeated to the American people is totally absurd!

So then it depends on what the meaning of "lie" is.

-- (hmm@hmm.hmm), November 03, 2000.

Ain't:

I am not running for president nor am I a member of the Bush 2000 campaign staff.

Neither is Tapper running, nor a member of the Gore 2000 campaign staff.

I don't need to do better, BTW. I don't get emotional over elections.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), November 03, 2000.

What's the real issue here, Ain't? Who reported this fact, or who lied about it and covered it up from the American people?

-- Bush's Credibility at Stake (the@truth.com), November 03, 2000.

And by the next morning, it began as though Bush had, in at least once instance, lied about it.

First off, 'began to look' and 'has been confirmed' are two entirely different things.

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), November 03, 2000.

So then it depends on what the meaning of "lie" is.

A lie in the heat of the moment (IF it turns out to be true) is more excuseable than one that is premeditated and continually repeated.

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), November 03, 2000.

I don't get emotional over elections.

Apathy is far too common in this country. I guess thats why so few vote.

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), November 03, 2000.

1. BUSH LIED ON "MEET THE PRESS," 11/21/99

TIM RUSSERT: If someone came to you and said, "Governor, I'm sorry, I'm going to go public with some information." What do you do?

GOV. BUSH: If someone was willing to go public with information that was damaging, you'd have heard about it by now. You've had heard about it now. My background has been scrutinized by all kinds of reporters. Tim, we can talk about this all morning.

2. BUSH LIED TO "DALLAS MORNING NEWS," 1998

"Just after the governor's reelection in 1998, [Dallas Morning News reporter Wayne] Slater pressed Bush about whether he had ever been arrested. 'He said, "After 1968? No."'"

3. BUSH LIED TO CBS, 1999. "Bush has often acknowledged past mistakes, but CBS News Correspondent Lee Cowan reports that in a 1999 interview with CBS station WBZ in Boston, he denied there was any so-called smoking gun."

-- More Lies (the@truth.com), November 03, 2000.

Apathy is far too common in this country. I guess thats why so few vote.

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), November 03, 2000.

Oh come on!!!! (looks around to see if any police are around and whispers to Aint "hey, wanna smoke one with me? Looks like you could use one")

Untwist them panties girlfriend. Its just an election. :-0

-- legalize the shit already (shh@aol.com), November 03, 2000.

A lie in the heat of the moment (IF it turns out to be true) is more excuseable than one that is premeditated and continually repeated.

Yes, as I said, it just depends on what the meaning of "lie" is.

-- (hmm@hmm.hmm), November 03, 2000.

"A lie in the heat of the moment...is more excuseable than one that is premeditated and continually repeated."

PARDON ME?!? You're establishing a hierarchy of lies to determine which is okay and which is not? Sorry, but a lie is a lie and is simply NOT excuseable (sic).

-- Truth (Honesty@BestPolicy.com), November 03, 2000.

Sorry, but a lie is a lie and is simply NOT excuseable (sic).

It is to me and many others if you regret telling the lie and seek to be forgiven for it.

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), November 03, 2000.

Just for you, sumer:

PETER TOSH * LEGALIZE IT

"Legalize it

Don't criticize it

Legalize it, yeah, yeah

And I will advertise it!"

These folks need to chill. Get the hookah a-bubbling, sistah!

-- Bingo1 (howe9@shentel.net), November 03, 2000.

It is to me and many others if you regret telling the lie and seek to be forgiven for it.

That's great. Clinton certainly regretted his lie and sought forgiveness from it, so his lie should be excusable under your rules.

-- (hmm@hmm.hmm), November 03, 2000.

Thanks Bingo.

puff, puff....Pass here ya go

-- legalize it and advertise it (shh@aol.com), November 03, 2000.

his lie and sought forgiveness from it,

Ehhhhh...WRONG!!! NEVER...no not ONCE did he come on TV and say #1 I was wrong #2 I am sorry #3 Ask the American public to forgive him.

NEVER!!

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), November 03, 2000.

Where were you, Ain't? Clinton apologized MORE than once.

Febr uary 12, 1999

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), November 03, 2000.

Ehhhhh...WRONG!!! NEVER...no not ONCE did he come on TV and say #1 I was wrong #2 I am sorry #3 Ask the American public to forgive him.

So then it depends on what the meaning of "sought forgiveness" is.

-- (hmm@hmm.hmm), November 03, 2000.

Dear Dubya; I forgive ya.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), November 03, 2000.

LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE!!

TREASON!

PERJURY!

TREACHERY!

DECEIPT!

CORRUPTION!

SCANDAL!

LIES, LIES, LIES!!!

-- Lush Pimbaugh (put.the.traitor@behind.bars!), November 03, 2000.

It is to me and many others if you regret telling the lie and seek to be forgiven for it.

A truly moral person wouldn't have told the lie in the first place.

"Forgiven" after the fact is a ploy developed by the "Christians" to justify bad behavior and perpetuate their self-image of Holier Than Thou. It's a cowardly attempt at saving face.

-- Get (Real@Truth.com), November 03, 2000.

It is to me and many others if you regret telling the lie and seek to be forgiven for it.

Are you suggesting that it's okay for me to go out and kill a few dozen people because it's "excusable" if I later regret it and manage to be "forgiven"?

-- What? (YouGottaBe@Kidding.com), November 03, 2000.

If you're gonna fuss about it, at least use the original source, the New Republic article quoting Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News in 1999: http://www.tnr.com/112999/cottle112999.html

THE WOMAN BEHIND GEORGE W.'S IRON BUBBLE. The Enforcer by Michelle Cottle

Post date 11.18.99 | Issue date 11.29.99

Other times Hughes simply shuts down the conversation. Just after the governor's reelection in 1998, Slater pressed Bush about whether he had ever been arrested. "He said, `After 1968? No.' I said, `What about before 1968?' He said, `Well ...' and at that moment Karen stepped in and said, `Wait a minute, I've not heard this.' She clearly wasn't prepared for whatever it was he was about to say, and he shut up." Slater argued that it was better for the governor to deal with any revelations sooner rather than later, and Bush agreed to get back to him on the matter. "To this day I have no idea what he was going to say," says Slater. "After she got to him, he shut up."

-- FactFinder (David@bzn.com), November 03, 2000.