I’ll get the transcript so you wont have to watch.
here's part of it...
“Scott, on Claude Allen, was there any indication from Claude Allen to anyone in this building that there was financial trouble at any time, maybe months prior to his departure?
MR. McCLELLAN: Not that I'm aware of.
Q Well, according to a high-ranking Bush administration official, he allegedly was told by Claude Allen two months prior to Claude Allen's departure that he needed to find other means of employment for financial purposes. So no one in this building had heard anything, but some other people outside of this building heard that.
MR. McCLELLAN: I just said, not that I'm aware of. I don't know who you're specifically referring to. It's hard for me to address an anonymous source.
Q Can I follow up on that?
Q Had anyone seen anything different in Claude Allen, in the two months prior to his departure?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, let me just lay out the facts for you, April. Maybe that's the best way to start here.
On January 2nd, there was an incident that took place. Claude Allen immediately reported that evening to Andy Card that an incident had taken place at a store. He spoke with Andy Card the very next morning. Andy Card then directed him to speak with Harriet Miers, the White House Counsel. And he assured both Andy and Harriet that this was a misunderstanding. The way he explained it to Harriet was that he was returning some merchandise, and there was some confusion with some credit cards because he had moved a number of times.
Now, within a few days of that time period -- and this would have been early January -- Claude came to Andy and Harriet and indicated that he had been thinking about leaving for some time. He said that he had been putting in long hours, he wanted to be able to spend more time with his family, and he thought the right thing to do would be to resign, so that he could spend more time with his family.
Now, he is someone who has gone through a number of background checks. His background has been investigated. And given his history and based on those background checks, I think he was given the benefit of the doubt. He assured them that he had done nothing wrong, and that he was working to get the matter cleared up.
Back in -- going back to what he said, in terms of leaving the White House, he was also working on a number of initiatives at the time that the President was finalizing for the State of the Union, particularly on the competitiveness agenda, the education side of that. So when he made the decision that he was going to leave the White House he indicated to Andy that he wanted to find a good time to transition. And he felt a good time to transition would be after the State of the Union. And so then we announced that he would be leaving, I believe it was on February 9th, and his last day at the White House was on February 17th.
And then we learned just Friday about the felony charges that had been brought in this matter. And as the President said Saturday, if it is true he would be deeply disappointed and he would feel a lot of sadness for the family. And he talked about how this would be very sad and something would have gone wrong in Claude Allen's life, if it is true. And I know that Harriet and Andy would be shocked, as well, as many of us on staff would be if it is true.
Q Well, I'm trying to put the pieces together on a couple of things. One, why was he visibly absent from the Coretta Scott King funeral? Also that was on February 7th, I believe. February 6th he was missing from the African American --
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't think that had anything to do with anything you're talking about. There was a very small number of staff that actually traveled on that day, and certainly when it came to the President, we had two Presidents traveling on that day on Air Force One --
Q -- African Americans from this administration were missing. Secretary Rice was missing from the African American event, because she had just gotten back from --
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't think that had anything to do with this.
Q -- and he was missing from the event.
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't think it has anything to do with this matter.
Q How much of a pay cut did he take when he left HHS to come to the White House?
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know. I imagine that's public record.
Q Scott, if I can just follow this. Does the President feel duped by Claude Allen? You said before, they gave him the benefit of the doubt. Is that still the case?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, if it's true, you heard what the President said the other day, that he told something to Andy and Harriet that simply is not true.
Q And could you just clarify what it was that he told Andy and Harriet? You said there was an incident that took place. How did he describe that incident? What did he say took place?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, what we knew was that he had been apprehended by security personnel at the store, and that they had made a report to the police. And that's what we knew. I think I said what he specifically referred to, that it was a confusion over some credit cards when he was returning some merchandise.
Q Is there any cause for an investigation at the White House, whether or not there was any kind of theft that went on while he was here? Or is there anybody who --
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not aware of anything. “
<Snip>
Q I have a question on the speech, but first, let me see if I understand. You said, based on the background checks that Claude Allen had been through, based on his history, he was given the benefit of the doubt by Andy Card and Harriet Miers?
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, because he had gone through a number of background checks, that's right. His background had been investigated.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060313-5.html
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