Secret Service Agents Say Cheney Was Drunk When He Shot Lawyer

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_8184.shtml


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)

Comment on this story



© Copyright 2006 by Capitol Hill Blue

 

yet another reason why texans often die on high country colorado hunts. is this another darwin award in the making? is there a category for political darwinism? because i see cheney's political career dying...

 

Dick Cheney drunk when hunting.Like President Bush arrested for drunk driving in Texas in 1976.

 

The guy who was shot was an idiot. When hunting, you don't walk out of the line, especially without informing others. Its his own damn fault he was shot.

 

But if Cheney wasn't drunk off his ass, he likely would have seen the guy, who, as ballistics evidence proves, was much closer to Whittington than the 90 feet claimed by the White House. If you look at Whittington's injuries, it would appear that Cheney was just feet away from Whittington when he was shot. Birdshot does not penetrate one's skin from 90 feet away.

This video does a great job of debunking the official story that Cheney was 90 feet away (a total lie):

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=926863823219485944&q=Alex+Jones

It was Cheney who broke the number 1 rule in hunting: Be sure of what you're shooting at.

 

uhh, rule # 1 in hunting, you don't use a firearm while intoxicated nor do you fire without knowing where your companions are at all times.

It's not the guy who got shot's fault - the person in possession of a firearm has to know where people are at all times. It's not as if the man was flying around pretending to be a quail. He was standing, on the earth - and Cheney shot him!!!

 

The cardinal rule of hunting is that you know what you are shooting at all times. Cheney is a lifelong hunter, if he wasn't the dude would be dead (the type of shot cheney was using was for more skilled hunters).

 

well, if you don't wanna be responsible for where you happen to be standing when someone else is in possession of a gun, that's just fine. me, i'm gonna take my personal safety into my own hands, thanks.

 

Seems and error on both sides, but certainly more on Cheney. Sounds like a rookie mistake, but i guess it wasn't. those guys are far too old to be out shooting guns drunk

 

Booze comes out only after all firearms are safely secured.
Firearms then stay secured until BAC is again back to 0.000.

Anything other than that sequence n you're a dumbass - a prosecutable offense...

 

there's no getting around the fact that cheney was a major fucking moron, but i can't see much smarts in going out hunting with drunks and morons.

 

Was there ever any doubt that Cheney was drunk when he shot him?

Was there ever any doubt that there was more to the story than was reported?

Was there ever any doubt that there would be no relevant backlash at Cheney for this major "fuck-up"?

 

I find this story may be dubious, as I have done a bit of searching and discovered that Capitol Hill Blue has sometimes apparently been known for having made up stuff. It wouldn't surprise me that he was drunk, but I would much rather prefer to conclude that Cheney was just plain ol' stupid.

 

My question is: do you think the "American People" will even notice?

I mean, after all the fuck up's of the last few years, people still believe in the guy! Only 37% but still!

I'm waiting for him to come running out of the White House drunk and roll on the lawn like that pig from 'Animal Farm'. The next day it's as if nothing happened.
It really seems like we have about THAT much knowledge of what the man is actually doing behind closed doors.
Maybe that's a good thing.

 

i'd hardly say this is being ignored.

 

ala tom delay?