Administration Stonewalls Katrina Investigation
by TChris
Even some Republicans are growing weary of the administration's efforts to stonewall any investigation that might shed light on its poor performance. Rep. Thomas Davis III leads a Congressional panel investigating the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. On Sept. 30, the panel asked for "e-mail and other correspondence between officials in the White House and other agencies during the response to the hurricane, as well as agency documents dealing with specific preparations for and responses to Hurricane Katrina." A month would seem more than adequate to collect and produce that information, but the administration has stalled.
To his credit, Davis "threatened to issue subpoenas to compel administration officials to release the documents if they did not comply with the committee's request." The emails disclosed to date reveal that Michael Brown and his deputy director of public affairs at FEMA were more interested in Brown's dining plans and attire than the disaster at hand.
In an e-mail message sent on Aug. 29, the day the hurricane struck, Mr. Brown exchanged messages about his attire with Cindy Taylor, deputy director of public affairs at the agency, according to the report.
"My eyes must be deceiving me," Ms. Taylor wrote to him, apparently referring to public appearances he had made. "You look fabulous - and I'm not talking about the makeup."
Mr. Brown, in turn, responded: "I got it at Nordstroms ... Are you proud of me?" An hour later, he added: "If you'll look at my lovely FEMA attire you'll really vomit. I am a fashion god."
Democrats said that Mr. Brown also found time to e-mail his assistant to inquire about a sitter for his dog. "Do you know of anyone who dog-sits," he wrote on Aug. 30, the day after the hurricane struck. "If you know of any responsible kids, let me know. They can have the house to themselves Th-Su."
In another instance, on Aug. 29, he sent Ms. Taylor a message that Democrats said suggested he was overwhelmed. "Can I quit now," he wrote. "Can I come home?" A few days later, he wrote a similar message to an acquaintance, saying, "I am trapped now, please rescue me."
You've been rescued, Mr. Brown. Now it's time to rescue the rest of the country from the administration's incompetence. That process starts with a full investigation, whether or not the administration wants one.
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