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Bush orders officials to stop the leaks He warned of action if anonymous sources were quoted, a senior aide said. Bush told his senior aides Tuesday that he didnt want to see any stories quoting unnamed administration officials in the media anymore, and that if he did, there would be consequences, said a senior administration official who asked that his name not be used. Rumsfeld, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has generated an unusually bountiful crop of leaks in recent months, and one result is a criminal investigation of anonymous officials in the White House who are alleged to have leaked the name of a CIA covert officer. The infighting, backstabbing and maneuvering on such major foreign-policy issues as North Korea, Syria, Iran and postwar Iraq have escalated to a level that veterans of government say they have not seen in years. At one point, the senior official said, Bush himself asked how bad it was.
At one point, as he discussed the question of providing some of the money as a loan, Bush slammed his hand down on the table and said: This is bad policy. When Collins tried to ask a question, the President replied: Im not here to debate it. One participant told The Inquirer that some of the senators, particularly those who have never been on the opposing side of an issue with Bush, were surprised by his directness. It was clear he was not there to engage in any give-and-take, the participant said. Nevertheless, Bush failed to sway any of the pro-loan Republicans. That failure was in sharp contrast to the Presidents lobbying of House members last week. Zach Wamp, a Tennessee Republican who had pushed a loan plan, backed away after meeting with Bush. If his eyes had been lasers, mine would have burned out, Wamp said then. Whats most revealing is the extent of frustration taking hold, said historian Robert Dallek of Boston University, a biographer of Presidents Lyndon B.
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