[Mb-civic] Bush Orders Staff to Attend Ethics Briefings - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Bush Orders Staff to Attend Ethics Briefings
White House Counsel to Give 'Refresher' Course

By Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 5, 2005; Page A02

President Bush has ordered White House staff to attend mandatory 
briefings beginning next week on ethical behavior and the handling of 
classified material after the indictment last week of a senior 
administration official in the CIA leak probe.

According to a memo sent to aides yesterday, Bush expects all White 
House staff to adhere to the "spirit as well as the letter" of all 
ethics laws and rules. As a result, "the White House counsel's office 
will conduct a series of presentations next week that will provide 
refresher lectures on general ethics rules, including the rules of 
governing the protection of classified information," according to the 
memo, a copy of which was provided to The Washington Post by a senior 
White House aide.

The mandatory ethics primer is the first step Bush plans to take in 
coming weeks in response to the CIA leak probe that led to the 
indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's former 
chief of staff, and which still threatens Karl Rove, the deputy White 
House chief of staff. Libby was indicted last week in connection with 
the two-year investigation. He resigned when the indictment was 
announced and on Thursday pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to 
federal investigators and a grand jury about his conversations with 
reporters.

A senior aide said Bush decided to mandate the ethics course during 
private meetings last weekend with Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. and 
counsel Harriet Miers. Miers's office will conduct the ethics briefings.

The meetings come as Bush faces increasing pressure from Democrats to 
revoke a security clearance for Rove as punishment for Rove's role in 
unmasking to reporters a CIA operative whose husband was critical of the 
White House's prewar assessment of Iraq's weapons capabilities. The 
five-count indictment against Libby maintains that other government 
officials were aware of, if not involved in, leaking the identity of 
Valerie Plame to the media.

Bush's domestic woes followed him to a meeting of Western Hemisphere 
leaders in Argentina yesterday, where he sidestepped questions on 
whether Rove will keep his job.

Speaking to reporters before the official opening of the two-day Summit 
of the Americas, Bush refused to discuss Rove's future while the probe 
is ongoing.

"We're going through a very serious investigation," Bush said. "And I . 
. . have told you before that I'm not going to discuss the investigation 
until it's completed."

Bush also refused to address a question about whether he owes the 
American people an apology for his administration's assertions that Rove 
and Libby were not involved in leaking Plame's name, when it later 
became clear that they were.

Plame is the wife of Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former diplomat who became a 
vocal critic of the administration's rationale for invading Iraq.

"It's a serious investigation, and it's an important investigation. But 
it's not over yet," Bush said. "I think it's important for the American 
people to know that I understand my job is to set clear goals and deal 
with the problems we face."

The case has apparently helped erode public confidence in Bush's 
integrity. Among those responding to a recent Washington Post-ABC News 
poll, 40 percent said they viewed the president as honest and 
trustworthy -- a drop of 13 percentage points in the past 18 months.

Half of those surveyed said they believed Rove did something wrong in 
the case, and about 6 in 10 said Rove should resign. But Bush attempted 
to wave away those findings yesterday.

"I understand that there is a preoccupation by polls by some," the 
president said. "The way you earn credibility with the American people 
is to declare an agenda that everybody can understand, an agenda that 
relates to their lives, and get the job done."

Some senior aides have privately discussed whether it is politically 
tenable for Rove to remain in the White House even if he is not charged. 
Others raised the possibility of Rove apologizing for his role, 
especially for telling White House spokesman Scott McClellan and Bush 
that he was not involved in the leak. McClellan relayed Rove's denial to 
the public.

A senior Bush aide said the "mandatory sessions on classified material 
is a result of a directive by the president in light of the [CIA] 
investigation."

Next week's meeting is for West Wing aides with security clearance, 
which allows them to view and discuss sensitive or classified material. 
Information about Plame was classified. Rove is among those aides who 
must attend.

"There will be no exceptions," the memo states.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/04/AR2005110402040.html?nav=hcmodule
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