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08/31/2003 Archived Entry: "Whitman: 'Not told to lie'"
Whitman: 'Not told to lie'
In a perfect world, there would be numerous people on their way to prison right now for subjecting the residents of Lower Manhattan to potentially life-shortening illness. And Whitman would be right behind Bush on the prison bus.
In her first interview since the release of the report, Whitman tells NEWSWEEK that she did not object when the White House edited out cautionary notes by EPA scientists. “We didn’t want to scare people,” she said, explaining that spikes in asbestos readings tended to return quickly to acceptable levels. She believes that much of the data were open to interpretation, and that the public wasn’t harmed by the White House’s decision to adopt the more reassuring analysis. But New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is calling for an investigation, saying she knows how the White House works and that somebody surely leaned on the EPA to lie. “We were not told to lie,” says Whitman.
I'm with Hillary - at this point, everybody knows how this White House operates. So, even accepting what Whitman says at face value, there's still the distinct possibility that they were asked to lie or ordered to lie or commanded to lie.
Besides, how believeable is Whitman when you consider that there was family money involved?
EPA’s former ombudsman said soon after 9/11 that Whitman had a conflict of interest because of her husband’s connection to Citigroup, which owns Travelers Insurance. By pronouncing lower Manhattan safe, critics say, Whitman saved the insurance giant millions in cleanup costs. Whitman was cleared of the conflict by the EPA inspector general. “There’s no way in hell—excuse my language—that I would ever, ever play games with this kind of information.”
Well, that last statement could be true as well, depending on which end of the telescope you're peering through. Everybody knows that big corporations like Citi don't play games when it comes to their bottom line.
Replies: 2 people speak up
I am no fan of this administration (understatement), and I am working my ass off to see that George Bush is given a pink slip in 2004; but Christine Whitman had enough integrity to cut her ties to these people so I would like to see a little more substance before her integrity is attacked.
Posted by Tony Dorsano @ 09/01/2003 12:47 AM NY
Tony,
I think Whitman cutting her ties had more to do with wounded pride than any substantial difference in opinion.
And look at that quote about 'not wanting to scare people' - that's about as disingeuous as one can get. The WTC had just been taken down with a pair of jumbo jets - how much more scared could people get?
Bottom line - they were under pressure to portray 'business as usual,' or people like Whitman's husband's boss would have lost a lot of money. So they lied.
This interview is, AFAIC, an effort to put this particular genie back in the bottle, and I have my doubts as to whether it's going to work.
Posted by editor @ 09/01/2003 04:00 AM NY
