MAKING SCANDALS OUT OF NON-CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR:

Inquiry Finds White House Role in Contract: An aide apparently knew of the Education Department's $240,000 deal with a journalist. (Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten, April 16, 2005, LA Times)

The 20-page report by the inspector general provided no indication that Bush or his senior staff knew about the contract when it was issued in late 2003 and renewed in mid-2004.

But the report said that shortly before the renewal, a midlevel White House aide received calls from Education officials concerned about the contract's cost, its effectiveness and Williams' dual role as journalist and government public relations man.

Despite those discussions, the Education Department renewed the contract.

The report did not identify the aide, but Education officials later said it was David Dunn, a former special assistant for domestic policy. An administration official said it was unrealistic to expect someone with Dunn's broad responsibilities to act on a relatively small contract.

When Bush was asked about the Williams contract in January, he criticized it and said, "We didn't know about this in the White House, and there needs to be a nice, independent relationship between the White House and the press."

The revelation that a White House official was aware of the contract received only glancing attention in the inspector general's report. The inquiry concentrated on problems in the Education Department's handling and review of the contract.

It found no violations of law...

So what's the big deal? They legally paid a communications professional to help them communicate--government should always act so sensibly. It's revealing that this Administration has been so bereft of the kind of scandals that Washington has become accustomed to that nonsense like this, the Cheney Energy plan, and the Palme affair have been turned big stories.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 16, 2005 7:59 AM