DNC: Bush Should Hold His Administration Accountable...To His Own Standards; New DNC Web Video Reminds Bush of His Promise on Ethics

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In the wake of last Friday's indictment of I. Lewis Libby on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements, the Democratic National Committee unveiled a new web video to remind President Bush of the standard that he himself set for conduct in his administration. DNC Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement calling on President Bush to apologize for his Administration's actions, fire Karl Rove, and adhere to the ethical standards he professed during his campaign:

"Given the serious nature of the charges against Scooter Libby, and the significant questions that remain regarding the actions of Karl Rove and the White House Iraq Group, President Bush should take responsibility for this lapse in conduct. He should start with an apology to the American people for those in his Administration who acted on his behalf to manipulate intelligence to win support for the war in Iraq, smear opponents of that war, and cover up that smear campaign. President Bush must also keep his promise to fire anyone involved in the outing of Valerie Wilson by terminating Karl Rove and anyone else in the White House Iraq Group who participated in this conspiracy.

"During his campaign for president, Bush promised to hold himself and his aides to the highest ethical standards, promising to 'put conscience above what the lawyers tell us.' But, in handling the most serious national security decisions, the Bush White House has dramatically failed to meet the standard they set. Despite hosting numerous White House photo-ops vowing to uphold the highest ethical standards, the Bush White House has blatantly compromised our moral code by placing its political agenda ahead of America's national security. America deserves better than empty rhetoric and meaningless photo-ops. The President must hold himself and his administration accountable."

For a new DNC web video showing the ethical standards President Bush set for himself and his Administration go to http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=55909&Link=http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v001/democratic1.download.akamai.com/8082/video/20051031_honoranddignity.wmv

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=55909&Link=http://www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.