RAW STORY Quotes Flynt Leverett on Secretary Rice and Iran

Communications — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 22:23:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Former Bush National Security Council official Flynt Leverett, speaking on Wednesday at a forum held by the New America Foundation, told a crowd in a Senate office building that in 2003 then-Secretary of State Colin Powell received a “grand bargain” offer from Iran and was rebuffed by the White House, RAW STORY can reveal.

“I know as a fact from multiple sources this went all the way up to Secretary Powell,” Leverett said, citing multiple sources at the State Department and the NSC. “In [Secretary Powell’s] words, he ‘couldn’t sell it at the White House.’”

Leverett said the letter was also delivered to the National Security Council. Rice told Congress last week that she'd never seen it.

“The document went over to the NSC” and “it is unthinkable” that it wouldn’t have gone to then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Leverett asserted. “She owes Congress an apology for saying she had not seen the document.”

"The statements she is making before Congress are not true," Leverett added, noting that Rice almost certainly "knows" they aren't true.

Leverett, who served as the senior director for Middle East affairs on the National Security Council from March 2002 to March 2003, added that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was probably lying when she said she had not seen the offer Iran made, which was channeled through Tim Guldimann, the Swiss ambassador to Iran. The Washington Post printed a pdf of the offer in today's online edition of the paper...

For the complete article, please visit the RAW STORY website.

Michael Dannenberg on Sallie Mae Stock Sale in RAW STORY

Communications — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 01:35:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Following a sale of 400,000 shares of stock by the chairman of the board of a major student loan corporation just before its stock prices dipped, two Congressional committees have initiated an investigation into communications between the White House, Education Department, and the Sallie Mae Corporation...

Mutliple news sources reported last week that Sallie Mae Corporation Chairman Albert Lord had sold 400,000 shares of his stock in the nation's largest student loan provider on Thursday, Feb. 1, and Friday, Feb. 2. The following Monday, Feb. 5, the federal government released its Education budget, which included a substantial cut in federal subsidies for aid providers.

Sallie Mae's stock price, which closed on Friday the 2nd at $46.46, fell to $42.37 on Monday the 5th. The sale before the roll out of the federal education budget saved Lord more than $1.5 million.

"This is reminiscent of Martha Stewart," said Michael Dannenberg, Director of the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation, who also produces the Higher Ed Watch blog.

"The sale of 400,000 shares is an irregular sale by Mr. Lord," he added. "I don't know if there's fire behind the smoke, but there's certainly smoke."

For the complete article, please visit the RAW STORY website.