NYT: “White House Knew of Levee’s Failure on Night of Storm”
From the New York Times:
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Bush administration officials said they had been caught by surprise when they were told on Tuesday, Aug. 30, that a levee had broken, allowing floodwaters to engulf New Orleans.
Investigators have found evidence that federal officials at the White House and elsewhere learned of the levee break in New Orleans earlier than was first suggested.
But Congressional investigators have now learned that an eyewitness account of the flooding from a federal emergency official reached the Homeland Security Department’s headquarters starting at 9:27 p.m. the day before, and the White House itself at midnight.…
Michael D. Brown, who was the director of FEMA until he resigned under pressure on Sept. 12, said in a telephone interview Thursday that he personally notified the White House of this news that night, though he declined to identify the official he spoke to.
White House officials have confirmed to Congressional investigators that the report of the levee break arrived there at midnight, and Trent Duffy, the White House spokesman, acknowledged as much in an interview this week, though he said it was surrounded with conflicting reports.
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February 10th, 2006 at 9:36 am
This marks the launch of a new category for posts, Ade Just Read, which you’ll recognize as the name of the list on the sidebar where I put articles I find interesting.
I’m doing this because I don’t have as much time to write as I’d like to, but I want to keep discussion going because I find the comments here insightful and entertaining. After all, there is no shortage of things to talk about, whether I’ve had the time to write about them or not.