So, Did Rummy Lie When He Said "He Had Just Learned About Port Deal"?

[kpete]

Wed, Feb 22, 2006 4:46pm EST

Reports on Bush administration review of UAE port deal failed to mention Rumsfeld "just heard about this over the weekend"

Summary: In detailing the evaluation process the Bush administration purportedly undertook before agreeing to permit a company owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to manage port terminals in six major U.S. cities, several media outlets reported that the administration approved of the deal only after a thorough review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). But none of the reports noted the glaring inconsistency in the administration's account: that Donald Rumsfeld, a key member of CFIUS, acknowledged in a February 21 press conference that he possessed "minimal information" about the deal because he had "just heard about this over the weekend."

In detailing the evaluation process the Bush administration purportedly undertook before agreeing to permit a company owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to manage port terminals in six major U.S. cities, major media outlets -- including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times -- reported that the administration approved the deal only after a thorough review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The Post further reported that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld persuaded Sen. John Warner (R-VA) that "the proper procedures were followed" in evaluating the deal. But none of the reports noted a glaring inconsistency in the administration's account, highlighted by the weblog Think Progress: that Rumsfeld, a key member of CFIUS, and one to whom national security considerations would presumably be highly relevant, acknowledged in a February 21 press conference that he possessed "minimal information" about the deal because he had "just heard about this over the weekend."

It follows, then, that none of those reports raised the question of how the CFIUS could have signed off on the deal if at least one of its members had never heard of it.

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http://mediamatters.org/items/200602220009