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July 25, 2005
What Do Facts Have to Do With It?
Mipe Okunseinde of Think Progress walks us through the history of the claims about John Roberts's membership in the far right Federalist Society. I avoided the controversy myself by using the word "involvement" because I couldn't figure out if he was ever a member but I was sure he had spoken before them several times.
It turns out that Judge Roberts was listed in the Federalist Society's 1997-1998 leadership directory. In fact, he was one of nineteen members of the steering committee. It seems that paying dues is not required to be part of the Society's leadership.
Before this was known, the White House had claimed that Roberts did not recall being a member and various news agencies retracted previous claims that he was a member.
Two July 20 articles on John G. Roberts Jr., the federal appellate judge nominated to the Supreme Court by President Bush, said Roberts is a member of the Federalist Society. The White House says Roberts does not recall ever being a member. [Washington Post emphasis added]
WASHINGTON - In a July 18 story about the Federalist Society and a July 19 story on the legal background of Judge John Roberts, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Roberts was a member of the Federalist Society. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that Roberts has given presentations before the conservative legal group but is not a member. . . [AP]
Unbelievably, even with the new evidence, the White House would still say the same thing.
Last Wednesday, the day after Bush announced Roberts's nomination, the officials working on the nomination asked the White House press office to call each news organization that had reported Roberts's membership to tell them that he did not recall being a member. Asked yesterday if the White House would have done so knowing about the leadership directory, Perino said "Yes." [ Washington Post emphasis added]
In other words, they would have said that he did not recall being a member even if they had known that he was on the leadership list of the Society. This is cutting the baloney just a little bit too thin for my taste. With a little practice, Perino could be a liar. (Hat tip to Mark Twain)
Posted by DuaneSmith at July 25, 2005 01:42 PM | Read more on Current Events |
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