White House Denies Conflict Of Interest

When George W. Bush visited the Santa Clara production facility of United Defense last week, most reports focused on Bush's praise for the company and its products. What wasn't covered was that the maker of the Bradley fighting vehicle and the Hercules tank recovery vehicle is controlled by the Carlyle Group and that George H.W. Bush is a paid adviser to United Defense. The Corporate Crime Reporter writes that the White House denied any impropriety in Bush Jr.'s visit to the plant. "[W]hat if the President's father was the President of United Defense," White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was asked. "Would that be unethical?" Fleischer responded, "What if the President's father was on Social Security, and the President wanted to strengthen the Social Security system so that all Americans could have a strong retirement?" Financial journalist Dan Briody, who wrote The Iron Triangle: Inside the Secret World of the Carlyle Group, told CCR, "Ari is very good at what he does. In this case his job is to dismiss and diffuse an obvious conflict of interest by using humor and logical fallacies."