The Trashing of the President

In January, George W. Bush entered office promising to change the tone in Washington, bringing dignity and respect back to the White House. But in less than a week, the new administration was actively involved in a deception and petty conspiracy against its enemies. Give Bush credit for hitting the ground running: It took Nixon almost four years to organize an efficient dirty-trick squad.

In the days following the inauguration, recall that Clinton still dominated the headlines. There were those questionable last-minute pardons (although it would still be a few weeks before the Marc Rich pardon would take the spotlight). There were accusations that the Clintons had accepted expensive and inappropriate gifts. But the tales that set tongues wagging were reports that embittered Clinton staffers had trashed the White House, and that the Clinton family had looted Air Force One on their farewell flight.

Most famously, the White House damage included "W" keys removed from some computer keyboards. But soon new details began to spill out. Fox News anchor Brit Hume told viewers that the vandalism included "pornographic pictures left in computer printers, scatological messages left on voice mail, and cabinets and drawers glued shut." And the Washington Times reports that the presidential 747 that flew Bill and Hillary Clinton to New York on inauguration day was stripped bare... silverware, and salt and pepper shakers, blankets and pillow cases, nearly all items bearing the presidential seal, were taken by Clinton staffers who went along for the ride.."

The New York Daily News quoted a "senior Bush official" as saying, "We've been told not to say anything about it... his command decision has been made not to comment in the hopes that it helps set the new tone we've been talking about. It's not very George W. Bush to discuss things like this. We prefer to be gracious rather than talk about the past."

It may not be "very George W. Bush" to trash the Clintons, but it was second nature to elements of the press. Soon the stories became the signature epilogue for the Clinton era. A cache of Colgate toothpaste was pilfered from the airplane. Vandalism was found throughout the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, with its hundreds of offices. Glass desktops were smashed. Obscene graffitti was found in bathrooms. Door locks were jiggered so that Bush staffers were locked inside. "Bush Sucks" was spray painted on a hallway. Computer keyboards were "doused with fluids." U.S. emblems were pried off of doors. Voice mail messages were changed to obscene greetings ("one Bush staff member's grandmother was horrified by what she heard on the other end of the line when she called," reported the Birmingham Post). The vice-president's office was in "complete shambles." The final bill to clean up the whole mess could reach up to $200,000.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer took the high road. The new adminstration was going to be "cataloging what took place," but the compassionate Bush was not going to pursue the issue. "The president understands that transitions can be times of difficulty and strong emotion," he said. "He's going to approach it in that vein." Pressed to describe more about the vandalism, Fleischer said, "I choose not to describe what acts were done that we found upon arrival, because I think that's part of changing the tone in Washington. I think it would be easy for us to reflect and to discuss these things, and to be critical... as far as we're concerned, it's over."

But this last Clinton presidential scandal was far from over. Letters and editorials appeared in newspapers for weeks. A sample:

- "While Clinton's staff was busy vandalizing taxpayer property, Clinton and his wife were looting Air Force One. We'll be paying for the last eight years for a very long time. Thank you Democrats. You must be very proud of your man. Please do us all a favor and tell Clinton he's not the president anymore." (Letter, Indianapolis Star, Feb. 5)

- "Clinton requested the big plane for his trip to New York, and he or his people took flatware, linens, jackets and any loot that had a Presidential Seal. Much of this has been offered for sale on eBay." (Letter, Lancaster, PA Intelligencer Journal, Feb. 12)

- When the loaned aircraft returned to its hangar at Andrews Air Force Base, it looked as if it has been stripped by a skilled band of thieves -- or perhaps wrecked by a trailer-park twister. Gone were the porcelain dishes bearing the presidential seal, along with silverware, salt and pepper shakers, pillows, blankets, candies -- and even toothpaste. It makes one feel grateful that the seats and carpets are bolted down. (Columnist Tony Snow, Jan. 26)

- Thurman Walden of Manchester, Tenn., is finishing his federal income taxes early. He's 74 and retired and has the time. With the marriage penalty, his wife still working and 85 percent of his Social Security benefits taxed, Walden and his spouse will be signing a big check to Uncle Sam. While unsettling, Walden says he expected it. But his discontent will flare into anger if any of his check goes to pay for repairing the damage left by departing Clinton and Gore staffers to White House offices. (Editorial, The Tennessean, Feb. 10)

Ex-president Clinton asked aides to look into the matter, offering to pay for any damages. That only seemed to enrage his enemies. Rep. Jim Traficant -- an Ohio Democrat who has the odd distinction of leaning farther right than most Republicans -- saw fit to make a little floor speech on the matter:

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Mr. Speaker, graffiti on the walls, furniture destroyed, doors glued shut, garbage in refrigerators. Sounds like Animal House, but I am talking about the Clinton White House. Now if that is not enough to wax your windows, former President Clinton has said, and I quote, he wants "a complete and thorough investigation into this crime at the White House." Beam me up. This is the same President that wanted no investigation into Chinese Communist cash being funneled to the Democrat National Committee, and we let him get away with it. Unbelievable.

Mr. Speaker, the White House was not the only American institution that was trashed. The Clinton administration not only trashed, they shredded our Constitution.

I yield back the garbage at the former Clinton White House.

(Traficant, by the way, was indicted earlier this month for bribery, tax evasion, racketeering, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice -- charges that have outraged the right-wing press, who seek to blame Janet Reno hold-overs in the Justice Department for the indictments.)

Another Clinton foe, Rep. Bob Barr (R - Georgia) -- an outspoken leader in the effort to impeach the president -- called for the General Accounting Office (GAO) to begin an "immediate investigation" into the cost of the vandalism. That agency finished its work last month, releasing its findings in mid-May.

And they found that nothing had happened.

Yes, there were a few pranks (more about that below), but there was nothing that could be called vandalism, much less "sabotage" -- a favorite term used in angry letters to the editor. Bernie Ungar, director of physical infrastructure issues at the General Services Administration wrote a four-paragraph memo to Rep. Barr. "The condition of the real property was consistent with what we would expect to encounter when tenants vacate office space after an extended occupancy."

The memo continued, "No wholesale slashing of cords to computers, copiers and telephones, no evidence of lewd graffiti or pornographic images. GSA didn't bother to nail down reports of pranks, which were more puckish than destructive."

Ungar told the New York Times, "my sense is there probably was some phones pulled or whatever; I don't have a way to determine that. But there wasn't indication of real, significant, widespread damage."

Barr was not mollified. "This is very disappointing," he wrote to the GAO. "And it is a disservice to the American taxpayers who deserve a full accounting of taxpayer property."

Given the outrage over the vandalism claims just a few months before, you might expect the debunking of the story to be a bombshell. But the news was consistently downplayed in the media; when it was mentioned, it usually appeared in catch-all "News in Brief"-type summaries. Most often used were snippets from the NY Times and the Kansas City Star.

Okay, so Clinton aides didn't trash the White House; ol' Slick Willie still looted Air Force One, right?

No, it turns out that those stories were made up, too.

A spokesman at Andrews Air Force Base, where Air Force One is maintained, said that the only things missing after the Clinton's last flight were 15 glasses and 6 hand towels. Total value: about $140. "The allegations of missing china and silverware during the Jan. 20, 2001, flight are incorrect."

As with the White House vandalism story, few in the press bothered with offering a correction. The only newspaper in the country that apparently reported the petty $140 value of the damaged or missing items was the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

While the Air Force One story was a complete lie, some feeble excuses can be made for the White House rumors. The offices really were in disarray -- but not because of Clinton staffers. The new Bush administration had insisted on a complete remodelling job to be done in 48 hours. Furniture was moved about as carpets were replaced and walls painted. It certainly must have looked like chaos.

And as the GSA memo noted, there were "puckish" jokes left by Clinton staffers. Signs were placed on a few doors mocking Bush-speak: "Office of Strategerie" and "Division of Uniting." Bumper stickers for "GORE 2000" were placed at the bottom of printer papertrays -- pretty harmless stuff. (By comparison, the departing 1993 Bush-Quayle troops had their stickers glued to many desks and had cut pencils into inch-long stubs, according to The Washington Post.) So combine the redecorating mess with the real pranks, add the Washington Rumor Mill and stir well: If you're the generous sort, perhaps you'll say that it was an innocent mixup. If you believe that, you would be wrong. Both stories offered classic examples of how the right has manipulated truth to advance its agenda.

The White House vandalism story first appeared in Rich Galen's newsletter, " Mullings." Galen -- a former staffer for Dan Quayle and Newt Gingrich and former executive director of Newt's controversial GOPAC -- wrote on January 24: "Vice President Dick Cheney's staffers trying to move into the Office of the Vice President space in the Old Executive Office Building right next to the White House found the offices had been left in complete shambles by the Gore staff on its way out on Friday and Saturday. Every cord and wire, in many offices -- telephone, power, computer and lamp -- was slashed. Furniture was tossed..."

Hours later, the story was oozing down the same pipeline that had dumped on the Clintons so many times before. There was an item in the Drudge Report: "The Bush Administration has quietly launched an investigation..." It was then quickly picked up by Fox News and the viciously anti-Clinton Washington Times. From there, it made the jump to CNN, the Washington Post, and other mainstream media sources. Soon the concocted story was being reported with no doubt of its accuracy. From U.S. News & World Report, Feb 5: "It resembled a scene from the movie Animal House, where the frat boys from Delta trashed their own house before being thrown off campus. Only this time the frat boys were Bill Clinton's aides..."

As far as can be determined, the Air Force One story began January 25 with a column in the Washington Times, where John McCaslin claimed that he was told that the presidential plane was "stripped bare." Wrote McCaslin, "Missing from the plane on arrival in New York, Inside the Beltway is told, was all the porcelain china, silverware, salt and pepper shakers, blankets and pillow cases -- most of it bearing the presidential seal. What most astonished the military steward was that even a cache of Colgate toothpaste, not stamped with the presidential seal, was snatched from a compartment beneath the presidential plane's sink..."

Both stories leaned entirely on anonymous sources -- "Bush officials," "a well-place source," "an air force steward," "an outraged member of the Bush team," "a GSA worker." But when Reuters reported on January 25 about the prank removal of "W" keys and Ari Fleischer added that they were "cataloging what took place," the appearance of a White House investigation and the report of a true prank were exploited to lend gravitas to the bogus reports. From that point on, it snowballed, with new embellishments added by everyone who repeated the stories.

Although the Bush Administration may not have had a role in spreading the lies, it clearly was responsible for not stopping them. At any point, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer could have said, "look, there was no vandalism here, nor looting of Air Force One. These are unfounded rumors." Instead, he not only allowed the falsehood to stand unchallenged, but also dishonestly used the fib to make his boss appear victimized, yet gracious. It was not only a dishonest trick, it was cheap.

No one on the Bush team will likely ever admit their role in the development of these anti-Clinton propaganda tales (and that is the other skill they have learned so well from Richard Nixon: Plausible deniability), but the Bush White House is as culpable for spreading the lies as The Washington Times. Mr. Bush has set a new tone in Washington, indeed.