Cheney: 'I'm the Guy Who Pulled the Trigger'
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
By Jane Roh
NEW YORK Vice President Dick Cheney said he and he alone was responsible for a weekend hunting accident that left a 78-year-old attorney hospitalized.
"Ultimately I'm the guy who pulled the trigger, that fired the round that hit Harry," Cheney said in his first interview since the incident. "I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend."
Cheney's first interview about his accidental shooting of a man in the face comes more than 72 hours after it occurred. The interview will be broadcast on "Special Report With Brit Hume" at 6 p.m. EST.
Austin attorney Harry Whittington, the man Cheney shot on Saturday, was in stable condition on Wednesday, hospital officials said. But the 78-year-old was moved back into the intensive care unit because of concerns for his privacy.
"He's doing extremely well," said Peter Banko, administrator of Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Speaking to reporters alongside David Blanchard, one of Whittington's doctors, Banko said that Whittington was tired but able to sit up and eat food.
Whittington suffered a minor heart attack Tuesday morning due to a birdshot pellet that had migrated to his heart. Banko would not comment on how many BBs remained in Whittington's body, but said of the ammunition lodged in Whittington's heart, "We're 100 percent satisfied that where the BB is it will remain."
Blanchard said Whittington was recovering well from the heart attack but would be closely monitored over the next six days and possibly longer. Whittington is "hemodynamically stable," meaning his blood circulation is normal, which is "the best situation you could possibly have."
When asked if their patient would be tuning in to the vice president's first on-air interview about the shooting, Banko said, "There is no television in his room at this point in time."
While the story has launched innumerable jokes from comic strips and late-night comedy shows, the narrative took a decidedly more somber tone Tuesday when Whittington's condition turned for the worse.
Following news of the heart attack, pressure intensified for Cheney to publicly discuss the shooting. Cheney and his aides have been silent since the incident occurred Saturday, and the White House has come under fire for waiting nearly 24 hours to acknowledge the incident had even occurred.
"I believe the vice president should hold a press conference to talk about the incident in Texas and the other things," Harry Reid, D-Nev., said after meeting with Cheney, President Bush and other congressional leaders Wednesday morning. The Senate minority leader stressed that Cheney had not given a press conference since 2002.
"I guess I'm kind of old-fashioned. I think he hasn't had a press conference in three-and-a-half years ... it's time to have one. It's not just the hunting incident, it's I think you folks have a lot of questions you'd like to ask him," Reid said.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration of running a closed government that disrespects the public.
"Open government would demand that the vice president come clean on what happened there. Our hearts and our prayers, every night, go out to the gentleman who was hurt in this incident ... But we have to break this habit of the administration of closed government without the openness that is healthy for a democracy," Pelosi, D-Calif., said.
Asked whether she had brought up her views on the hunting incident with the vice president, Pelosi said she brought up Hurricane Katrina instead "because it is a very big issue for our country, and it's one that needs immediate attention and has an impact on so many lives in the country."
Republicans, too, have been quietly complaining about the vice president's unwillingness to explain publicly what occurred during the weekend hunting trip.
Vin Weber, a former Minnesota Republican representative, told The Washington Post: "I cannot believe he does not look back and say this should have been handled differently."
Whittington was hit with more than 200 birdshot pellets by Cheney, an experienced hunter, at Armstrong Ranch, a 50,000-acre property in south Texas that is known as one of the best quail-hunting sites in the state. Not aware that his hunting partner had returned from retrieving a bird he had shot, Cheney turned right to shoot a covey of quail and sprayed his hunting partner with shotgun pellets instead.
Carlos Valdez, district attorney of the county in which the shooting occurred, told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times on Wednesday that he did not foresee a criminal investigation. An incident report from the Kenedy County Sheriff's Office is pending.
In only its second public acknowledgment of the incident, the vice president's office issued a statement on Tuesday saying Cheney had called Whittington around 1:30 p.m. EST to check on him.
"The vice president wished Mr. Whittington well and asked if there was anything he needed. The vice president said that he stood ready to assist. Mr. Whittington's spirits were good, but obviously his situation deserves the careful monitoring that his doctors are providing. The vice president said that his thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Whittington and his family," the statement read.
The vice president's only other statement since Saturday concerned his lack of a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department stamp for hunting game birds, which was publicized following the shooting. The statement said Cheney had mailed a $7 check to the department for a stamp, but did not mention Whittington or the shooting.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
By Jane Roh
NEW YORK Vice President Dick Cheney said he and he alone was responsible for a weekend hunting accident that left a 78-year-old attorney hospitalized.
"Ultimately I'm the guy who pulled the trigger, that fired the round that hit Harry," Cheney said in his first interview since the incident. "I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend."
Cheney's first interview about his accidental shooting of a man in the face comes more than 72 hours after it occurred. The interview will be broadcast on "Special Report With Brit Hume" at 6 p.m. EST.
Austin attorney Harry Whittington, the man Cheney shot on Saturday, was in stable condition on Wednesday, hospital officials said. But the 78-year-old was moved back into the intensive care unit because of concerns for his privacy.
"He's doing extremely well," said Peter Banko, administrator of Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Speaking to reporters alongside David Blanchard, one of Whittington's doctors, Banko said that Whittington was tired but able to sit up and eat food.
Whittington suffered a minor heart attack Tuesday morning due to a birdshot pellet that had migrated to his heart. Banko would not comment on how many BBs remained in Whittington's body, but said of the ammunition lodged in Whittington's heart, "We're 100 percent satisfied that where the BB is it will remain."
Blanchard said Whittington was recovering well from the heart attack but would be closely monitored over the next six days and possibly longer. Whittington is "hemodynamically stable," meaning his blood circulation is normal, which is "the best situation you could possibly have."
When asked if their patient would be tuning in to the vice president's first on-air interview about the shooting, Banko said, "There is no television in his room at this point in time."
While the story has launched innumerable jokes from comic strips and late-night comedy shows, the narrative took a decidedly more somber tone Tuesday when Whittington's condition turned for the worse.
Following news of the heart attack, pressure intensified for Cheney to publicly discuss the shooting. Cheney and his aides have been silent since the incident occurred Saturday, and the White House has come under fire for waiting nearly 24 hours to acknowledge the incident had even occurred.
"I believe the vice president should hold a press conference to talk about the incident in Texas and the other things," Harry Reid, D-Nev., said after meeting with Cheney, President Bush and other congressional leaders Wednesday morning. The Senate minority leader stressed that Cheney had not given a press conference since 2002.
"I guess I'm kind of old-fashioned. I think he hasn't had a press conference in three-and-a-half years ... it's time to have one. It's not just the hunting incident, it's I think you folks have a lot of questions you'd like to ask him," Reid said.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration of running a closed government that disrespects the public.
"Open government would demand that the vice president come clean on what happened there. Our hearts and our prayers, every night, go out to the gentleman who was hurt in this incident ... But we have to break this habit of the administration of closed government without the openness that is healthy for a democracy," Pelosi, D-Calif., said.
Asked whether she had brought up her views on the hunting incident with the vice president, Pelosi said she brought up Hurricane Katrina instead "because it is a very big issue for our country, and it's one that needs immediate attention and has an impact on so many lives in the country."
Republicans, too, have been quietly complaining about the vice president's unwillingness to explain publicly what occurred during the weekend hunting trip.
Vin Weber, a former Minnesota Republican representative, told The Washington Post: "I cannot believe he does not look back and say this should have been handled differently."
Whittington was hit with more than 200 birdshot pellets by Cheney, an experienced hunter, at Armstrong Ranch, a 50,000-acre property in south Texas that is known as one of the best quail-hunting sites in the state. Not aware that his hunting partner had returned from retrieving a bird he had shot, Cheney turned right to shoot a covey of quail and sprayed his hunting partner with shotgun pellets instead.
Carlos Valdez, district attorney of the county in which the shooting occurred, told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times on Wednesday that he did not foresee a criminal investigation. An incident report from the Kenedy County Sheriff's Office is pending.
In only its second public acknowledgment of the incident, the vice president's office issued a statement on Tuesday saying Cheney had called Whittington around 1:30 p.m. EST to check on him.
"The vice president wished Mr. Whittington well and asked if there was anything he needed. The vice president said that he stood ready to assist. Mr. Whittington's spirits were good, but obviously his situation deserves the careful monitoring that his doctors are providing. The vice president said that his thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Whittington and his family," the statement read.
The vice president's only other statement since Saturday concerned his lack of a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department stamp for hunting game birds, which was publicized following the shooting. The statement said Cheney had mailed a $7 check to the department for a stamp, but did not mention Whittington or the shooting.
