Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Bush Didn't Know About Port Sale

OK, the truth is starting to dribble out as it usually does. According to the Washington Post today "President Bush was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates until the deal already had been approved by his administration, the White House said Wednesday."

It continues:
"He became aware of it over the last several days," McClellan said. Asked if Bush did not know about it until it was a done deal, McClellan said, "That's correct." He said the matter did not rise to the presidential level, but went through a congressionally-mandated review process and was determined not to pose a national security threat.

Well, it actually didn't quite go through the congressionally-mandated review process. According to the NYT: a 1993 amendment to the law stipulates that such an investigation is mandatory when the acquiring company is controlled by or acting on behalf of a foreign government. Administration officials said they conducted additional inquires because of the ties to the United Arab Emirates, but they could not say why a 45-day investigation did not occur.

The law is here.

Of course we have already been told that Bush does not have to follow any law he thinks is wrong.

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