House Press Secretary

Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, will campaign for Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele today at a private reception in Potomac that will raise $65,000 for the Republican's Senate bid. Tickets to the soiree were $250 to "mix and mingle" and hear Snow's remarks, or $1,000 for a VIP reception and photo opportunity with President Bush's spokesman, a former TV and radio personality. It's Snow's 17th such event since he began stumping for Republican candidates, becoming the first White House press secretary to take on that role.

WASHINGTON - The Bush White House, long accused by outside critics of misrepresenting the facts to make the case for the war in Iraq and other matters, has launched a personal counter- attack against harsh accusations of "deception" from a longtime insider who worked closely with the president. White House aides past and present are strongly dismissing the words of Scott McClellan, who served as President Bush's press secretary and has written a book accusing Bush of misleading the public about the war and more.

The Chicago Tribune wrote in an editorial Wednesday.SPECIAL Counsel Kenneth W. Starr is raising hackles these days for misusing his authority in an attempt to prove wrongdoing by the Clintons. But he may have met his match in the arrogant-overreach department -- and it's Hillary Rodham Clinton.According to a report in the Washington Post, in 1996 Mrs. Clinton ordered White House lawyers to prepare a report critiquing the work of Susan Schmidt, the Post's Whitewater reporter. Mrs. Clinton wanted the report released as a public document, the Post said, but cooler heads prevailed; it was kept confidential.

WASHINGTON -- Harriet E. Miers, a member of a diminishing circle of allies who came to Washington in 2001 with George W. Bush, is resigning as White House counsel at the end of this month, the White House announced yesterday. The ill-fated nomination of Miers to the Supreme Court in 2005 left President Bush tangled in complaints of cronyism and in dispute with his conservative allies. Her departure comes as the administration copes with the challenges of demonstrating its relevance during its final two years, with attention shifting to the new Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, and renewing its energy among senior aides for whom time in office is ticking away.

WASHINGTON -- Harriet E. Miers, a member of a diminishing circle of allies who came to Washington in 2001 with George W. Bush, is resigning as White House counsel at the end of this month, the White House announced yesterday. The ill-fated nomination of Miers to the Supreme Court in 2005 left President Bush tangled in complaints of cronyism and in dispute with his conservative allies. Her departure comes as the administration copes with the challenges of demonstrating its relevance during its final two years, with attention shifting to the new Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, and renewing its energy among senior aides for whom time in office is ticking away.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton and his family are still stuck in the capital, where they can only dream about their postponed beach vacation on Martha's Vineyard. But taxpayers have already begun to foot the bill.Since Monday, when the Clintons had planned to hole up on the Massachusetts island that Hillary Rodham Clinton remembers as just perfect," the tab has quietly been running for dozens of rooms and residences rented for the presidential entourage.Lodging space is so scarce at the height of the summer season, aides to Mr. Clinton say, that the White House had no choice but to make its best guess about when Congress might wrap up business and then agree to pay for the rooms regardless if they were used.

WASHINGTON -- A controversial proposal to tighten White House security is making the Clinton administration feel more vulnerable politically.A draft of the soon-to-be-released security study calls for closing Pennsylvania Avenue to vehicles in front of the president's home, CNN reported yesterday. The idea sent President Clinton officials ducking for cover."I'd refer you over to the Treasury Department," said Michael McCurry, the White House press secretary. But Treasury officials had "no comment."

WASHINGTON -- The White House announced yesterday that President Clinton would deliver remarks at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Monday, despite the risk that the visit could revive the debate over his draft record, which dogged his campaign.Administration officials said the White House had received postcards from veterans sent as part of what the officials called an organized protest campaign. The veterans charged that Mr. Clinton would "engage in hypocrisy" if he visited the memorial.

CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush declared that Tuesday will be a day of mourning for former President Gerald R. Ford, and the White House announced yesterday that Bush will return to Washington earlier than planned, pay his respects at the Capitol and speak at Ford's memorial service. The announcement capped a day of political sensitivity about Washington's four-day farewell for the 38th president. Yesterday, newspapers published Ford's previously unreported condemnation of Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq as "a big mistake."

WASHINGTON - The Bush White House, long accused by outside critics of misrepresenting the facts to make the case for the war in Iraq and other matters, has launched a personal counter- attack against harsh accusations of "deception" from a longtime insider who worked closely with the president. White House aides past and present are strongly dismissing the words of Scott McClellan, who served as President Bush's press secretary and has written a book accusing Bush of misleading the public about the war and more.

CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush declared that Tuesday will be a day of mourning for former President Gerald R. Ford, and the White House announced yesterday that Bush will return to Washington earlier than planned, pay his respects at the Capitol and speak at Ford's memorial service. The announcement capped a day of political sensitivity about Washington's four-day farewell for the 38th president. Yesterday, newspapers published Ford's previously unreported condemnation of Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq as "a big mistake."

Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, will campaign for Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele today at a private reception in Potomac that will raise $65,000 for the Republican's Senate bid. Tickets to the soiree were $250 to "mix and mingle" and hear Snow's remarks, or $1,000 for a VIP reception and photo opportunity with President Bush's spokesman, a former TV and radio personality. It's Snow's 17th such event since he began stumping for Republican candidates, becoming the first White House press secretary to take on that role.

WASHINGTON - Yielding to bipartisan pressure, President Bush reversed himself yesterday and agreed to allow his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, to be questioned in public and under oath by the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks. In addition, the White House agreed to let all 10 members of the bipartisan commission question Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in private, though not under oath. Previously, the White House had insisted that only the chairman and vice chairman participate.

Martha Joynt Kumar moves confidently through the White House press office and toward the West Wing, a press pass swinging from a chain around her neck. She looks like a reporter, in her wrinkle-resistant knits and smart, black flats. She kibitzes like the reporters. To some extent, she acts like a reporter, buttonholing White House officials for interviews. Even former White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater assumed she was a reporter, although he had never seen a member of the Fourth Estate arrive in a Jaguar.

The Chicago Tribune wrote in an editorial Wednesday.SPECIAL Counsel Kenneth W. Starr is raising hackles these days for misusing his authority in an attempt to prove wrongdoing by the Clintons. But he may have met his match in the arrogant-overreach department -- and it's Hillary Rodham Clinton.According to a report in the Washington Post, in 1996 Mrs. Clinton ordered White House lawyers to prepare a report critiquing the work of Susan Schmidt, the Post's Whitewater reporter. Mrs. Clinton wanted the report released as a public document, the Post said, but cooler heads prevailed; it was kept confidential.

WASHINGTON -- Former White House Press Secretary James S. Brady was taken to a suburban Washington hospital yesterday morning after suffering cardiac arrest while receiving dental treatment.He was listed in critical condition last night, but a hospital official said doctors were "very hopeful" that he would recover.Mr. Brady gave his name to the nation's anti-gun crusade after he struggled to recover from devastating wounds inflicted during the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

The flap over the White House travel office is serious if the White House staff tried to oust career employees without just cause. It is serious if the White House staff suggested criminal transgressions when there was no evidence of that. It appears both those things happened, but the full story is not known. At this point, we suggest reserving judgment.But the full story -- or at least enough of it -- is known concerning the White House staff's improper use of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in this affair, and that is very serious indeed.

DALLAS -- President Bush denounced Ross Perot for reportedly authorizing investigations that may have included the Bush family, saying such activity was not "particularly American.""There's something not very pleasant about all this," Mr. Bush told reporters at the White House. "If the reports are true of investigating my children, my family . . . I don't think that's particularly American."Perot aide Tom Luce disputed a story in Sunday's Washington Post, saying Mr. Perot has never investigated either Mr. Bush or members of his family.

WASHINGTON -- The notes of a presidential aide, revealed at yesterday's Senate Whitewater hearing, show that Attorney General Janet Reno was among those who were uneasy about the White House's actions after the suicide of deputy White House counsel Vincent W. Foster Jr. two years ago.Ms. Reno was "worried" that it had taken four days for investigators to find in Mr. Foster's briefcase a torn-up note he had written lamenting the cruelty of political life in Washington, according to the notes and testimony of Mark Gearan, the White House communications director.

WASHINGTON -- A controversial proposal to tighten White House security is making the Clinton administration feel more vulnerable politically.A draft of the soon-to-be-released security study calls for closing Pennsylvania Avenue to vehicles in front of the president's home, CNN reported yesterday. The idea sent President Clinton officials ducking for cover."I'd refer you over to the Treasury Department," said Michael McCurry, the White House press secretary. But Treasury officials had "no comment."