SECRET SERVICE AGENTS SAY CHENEY DRUNK WHEN HE SHOT LAWYER

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The Rant

Secret Service agents say Cheney was drunk when he shot lawyer

By DOUG THOMPSON

Feb 22, 2006, 07:35

 

 

 

Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Dick Cheney when he

shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting outing two weeks ago

say 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.

 

According to those who have talked with the agents and 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 say they 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. "

 

One agent at the scene has been placed on administrative leave and

another requested reassignment this week. A memo reportedly written

by one agent has been destroyed, sources said Wednesday afternoon.

 

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

any evidence that shows the Vice President drunk as a skunk will

never see the light of day.

 

(Updated at 7:21 p.m. EST to reflect new information)

 

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