What Is The White House Trying To Hide?

Michelle Malkin blogs The Bush administration will not let Education Department investigators interview current and former White House officials about the hiring of commentator Armstrong Williams, Rep. George Miller asserts.

Legally, the White House is on solid ground, according to Alan Morrison, a former U.S. attorney and a law professor at Stanford University. "The inspector general has no right to tell anyone outside Education that they have to talk to him," he told USA Today. However, there is apparently no legal reason why President Bush cannot order White House officials to speak to the investigators. If President Bush will not do so, he should explain why.

I will tell you why. It is the principle of Executive Privilege. The Inspector General of the Education Department, was asked by a Democratic member of the Education Committee to investigate something the Education Department did. That is within their oversite responsibilities. But if Bush set a prescient and ordered all White House officials to speak to the Education Department's Inspector General, then any minority member of any committee of the Legislative Branch could institute any investigation he wanted to try to embarrass the Executive Branch.

This does not say what was done was right. But it was stopped, and Armstrong Williams paid the price.

Mark Tapscott blogged It makes absolutely no difference that the administration has the law on its side in matters like this.

It makes a significant difference. Executive Privilege is very important, and we can't have the White House Staff interrogated every time someone screws up in some executive branch department.

In 1965, when Washington wanted to keep something behind closed doors it was easy because the MSM was for the most part willing to abide just about anything in the interest of advancing the New Frontier/Great Society. In 2005, there is no way to keep something behind closed doors for long. If it is damaging to Republicans, odds are good the MSM and the Left side of the Blogosphere will find it sooner or later. If it is damaging to the Democrats, odds are good Talk Radio and the Right side of the Blogosphere will find it sooner or later.

It is already out.

Bottom line: Trust is earned through transparency. Distrust is earned through evasion. When is Washington going to get this?

What makes you think the Democrat ordering the IG of the Education Deparatment to do something would be impressed if Bush rolls over. It will just cause Dems in other committees to try to find other things to embarrass the White House.