christian grantham
Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later was a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD.
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March 15, 2005

When the General Accounting Office (GAO) ruled the Bush Administration violated appropriations laws by not disclosing government agency roles in pre-packaged propaganda, White House lawyers told the American people the law no longer applies to what they are doing.

But Joshua B. Bolten, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Steven G. Bradbury, principal deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department, said in memos last week that the administration disagrees with the GAO's ruling. And, in any case, they wrote, the department's Office of Legal Counsel, not the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, provides binding legal interpretations for federal agencies to follow.

The legal counsel's office "does not agree with GAO that the covert propaganda prohibition applies simply because an agency's role in producing and disseminating information is undisclosed or 'covert,' regardless of whether the content of the message is 'propaganda,' " Bradbury wrote. "Our view is that the prohibition does not apply where there is no advocacy of a particular viewpoint, and therefore it does not apply to the legitimate provision of information concerning the programs administered by an agency."
[Administration Rejects Ruling On PR Videos - Washington Post - 03-15-05]

Are Bush Administration policies sold in fake news packages so weak that full disclosure of the author and agencies for which they were produced would undermine the message? It's not a surprise that thwarting the law is the only way this Administration can sell its policies to the American people.