Brown's lawyer claimed Brown was told that at a Sept. 6 cabinet
meeting, President Bush, after being informed the press was attacking
Brown, said:
"I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff."
The White House had no comment.
From NEWSWEEK, March 27, 2006 issue:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11902206/site/newsweek
Katrina: The 'Scapegoat'
Newsweek
March 27, 2006 issue -
The Bush administration maintains top officials were unaware until the
next day, but e-mails show that by the late evening of Aug. 29, some
policymakers were told the damage to New Orleans might be worse than
depicted on TV.
In an e-mail to Homeland Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson at 11:05
p.m., Patrick Rhode, a top aide to FEMA chief Michael Brown, reported
that a FEMA official in New Orleans had described a 200-yard levee
breach near Lake Pontchartrain, that people were being rescued from
housetops, that there were "unconfirmed random body sightings" and
that 60 percent of the city seemed flooded.
Earlier, in an e-mail to Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff's chief
and deputy chief of staff, Brian Besanceney, Chertoff's top media
adviser, warned that "unconfirmed" reports from New Orleans "are far
more serious than media reports are currently reflecting."
Still, Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke insisted to NEWSWEEK
his department was receiving "conflicting information."
And in the continuing feud between administration supporters and the
former FEMA chief, Brown's lawyer accused House GOPers and the White
House of making Brown the "designated scapegoat."
Brown's lawyer claimed Brown was told that at a Sept. 6 cabinet
meeting, President Bush, after being informed the press was attacking
Brown, said:
"I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff."
The White House had no comment.
____________________________________________________________
Georgie wimp: "You’re doing a heck of a job, Brownie"
Harry
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