Secret Service agents say Cheney was drunk when he shot lawyer
By DOUG THOMPSON
Feb 22, 2006, 07:35
A written report from Secret Service agents guarding Vice President
Dick Cheney when he shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting
outing two weeks ago says Cheney was "clearly inebriated" at the time
of the shooting.
Agents observed several members of the hunting party, including the
Vice President, consuming alcohol before and during the hunting
expedition, the report notes, and Cheney exhibited "visible signs" of
impairment, including slurred speech and erratic actions, the report
said.
According to those who have read the report and talked with others
present at the outing, Cheney was drunk when he gunned down his friend
and the day-and-a-half delay in allowing Texas law enforcement
officials on the ranch where the shooting occurred gave all members of
the hunting party time to sober up.
We talked with a number of administration officials who are privy to
inside information on the Vice President's shooting "accident" and all
admit Secret Service agents and others saw Cheney consume far more than
the "one beer' he claimed he drank at lunch earlier that day.
"This was a South Texas hunt," says one White House aide. "Of course there was drinking. There's always drinking. Lots of it."
Cheney has a long history of alcohol abuse, including two convictions
of driving under the influence when he was younger. Doctors tell me
that someone like Cheney, who is taking blood thinners because of his
history of heart attacks, could get legally drunk now after consuming
just one drink.
If Cheney was legally drunk at the time of the
shooting, he could be guilty of a felony under Texas law and the
shooting, ruled an accident by a compliant Kenedy County Sheriff, would be a prosecutable offense.
But we will never know for
sure because the owners of the Armstrong Ranch, where the shooting
occurred, barred the sheriff's department from the property on the day
of the shooting and Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon Salinas III agreed to
wait until the next day to send deputies in to talk to those involved.
Sheriff's Captain Charles Kirk says he went to the Armstrong Ranch
immediately after the shooting was reported on Saturday, February 11
but both he and a game warden were not allowed on the 50,000-acre
property. He called Salinas who told him to forget about it and return
to the station.
"I told him don't worry about it. I'll make a
call," Salinas said. The sheriff claims he called another deputy who
moonlights at the Armstrong ranch, said he was told it was "just an
accident" and made the decision to wait until Sunday to investigate.
"We've known these people for years. They are honest and wouldn't call us, telling us a lie," Salinas said.
Like all elected officials in Kenedy County, Salinas owes his job to
the backing and financial support of Katherine Armstrong, owner of the
ranch and the county's largest employer.
"The Armstrongs rule Kenedy County like a fiefdom," says a former employee.
Secret Service officials also took possession of all tests on
Whittington's blood at the hospitals where he was treated for his
wounds. When asked if a blood alcohol test had been performed on
Whittington, the doctors who treated him at Christus Spohn Hospital
Memorial in Corpus Christi or the hospital in Kingsville refused to
answer. One admits privately he was ordered by the Secret Service to
"never discuss the case with the press."
It's a sure bet that
is a private doctor who treated the victim of Cheney's reckless and
drunken actions can't talk to the public then the memo that shows the
Vice President was drunk as a skunk will never see the light of day.
And we're not gonna go to war with Iran. 