http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/Press+Briefing+by+Scott+Stanzel/3666722.htmlPress Briefing by Scott Stanzel
May 19, 2008 2:41 PM EDT
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Q The White House has denied that it knew about the Pentagon program that used TV military analysts --
MR. STANZEL: We've been through this before. Do you have a question?
Q Yes. There's something new. Last week emails surfaced that showed that Pentagon officials, including Donald Rumsfeld, communicated with White House officials, including Karl Rove and Stephen Hadley, about the program. One email written by a Pentagon official mentioned that Rove was approached about arranging a meeting between the military analysts and the President --
MR. STANZEL: Your question is?
Q My question is, what was the nature and extent of the involvement of Karl Rove, Stephen Hadley and President Bush in the military analyst program?
MR. STANZEL: Well, the idea that people in the administration would brief people who are talking to reporters about our programs and our policies doesn't seem like to be that far-fetched of an idea to me. So in terms of the emails, I haven't been monitoring the staff emails here, so I can't tell you what their conversations were like. But it's not unusual for administration officials to brief people who are talking about our plans and our policies. Much like I'm standing here today, briefing all of you --
Q Right, and why was the program kept secret?
MR. STANZEL: -- and much like I'm standing here answering your question, and you go out on your liberal blog and talk about the way that you see things; we brief people who talk about the President's policies.
Q Why was the program kept secret?
MR. STANZEL: You can talk to the Defense Department. It was their program -- which they've discontinued.