Bernie, we hardly knew ye

I couldn't resist this:

December 15, 2004
Missteps Cited in Kerik Vetting by White House
By ELISABETH BUMILLER

This article was reported by Elisabeth Bumiller, Eric Lipton and David Johnston and written by Ms. Bumiller.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - Despite hours of confrontational interviews by the White House counsel, Alberto R. Gonzales, the Bush administration failed to get a full picture of the legal and ethical problems of Bernard B. Kerik, its nominee for homeland security secretary, a government official said on Tuesday.

In addition, the White House did not consult with the one person in the West Wing who knew the most about Mr. Kerik's background, Frances Townsend, because Ms. Townsend, President Bush's adviser on homeland security and a former federal prosecutor in New York, was under consideration for the position herself, said the official, who would speak only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Those problems, law enforcement officials and Republicans said, were just two of the factors that led to the collapse of the Kerik nomination and surprised a White House focused on changing more than half the cabinet.

The story of Mr. Kerik's nomination is one of how a normally careful White House faltered because of Mr. Bush's personal enthusiasm for Mr. Kerik, a desire by the administration to quickly fill a critical national security job and an apparent lack of candor from Mr. Kerik himself.

A Republican close to the White House who has participated in background reviews of presidential nominees said the fault lay both with Mr. Kerik and with "whoever's job it was to check him out."

A major problem, law enforcement officials said, was that the White House did not have the benefit of any F.B.I. investigation into Mr. Kerik's past. Mr. Kerik, as New York City's police commissioner on Sept. 11, 2001, had been offered a high security clearance by federal officials so he could receive classified intelligence about the city's security, a law enforcement official said. But he failed to return a questionnaire needed for the F.B.I. to conduct a background check, and he never received that clearance, the law enforcement official said.

Okay, Gonzales subjected Bernie to "hours of confrontational interviews" (I wonder if he made Bernie wear underwear on his head?). And they didn't bother to check the intelligence on Bernie. And they went ahead "because of Mr. Bush's personal enthusiasm ...." Oops.

Gee, where have I seen this before?

And I love the line by the always sycophantic Bumiller about the "normally careful White House." Ha, ha, ha. That's a good one, Liz! Humor on the front page!

[Update: I forgot to link to James Wolcott's same-titled posting on the issue. I swear I didn't steal my title from his, though maybe subconsciously....]