For those who missed it, Bush's statement/short press conference
probably won't do much to improve the things for the
administration.
President Bush said that he was offering Congress a path to find
out what happened by releasing 3,000 pages of emails today and
providing more access to information, but said he would "not go
along with a public fishing expedition." He said repeatedly that
Democrats were using the issue to score partisan political points,
and regrets that the matter became such a "public spectacle." His
explaination for why he won't let White House staffers (most
prominently, Karl Rove) testify was rather weak, in my view: if it
became precedent that staffers were forced to testify under oath in
public, it would impair their ability to be candid and thus make it
more difficult for a president to get good advice. When asked
whether the firings were the result of White House pressure, he
answered with the stock phrase that there was "no indication that
anybody did anything improper." Meanwhile, he stood by Gonzales
when asked about the AG losing support among Democrats and some
Republicans: "He's got support with me," Bush said.
I want to learn more before I decide whether or not the
controversy over the firings is justified or overblown, and
President Bush's statement doesn't change that, but it didn't
engender much confidence either.