Dick Cheney hunting incident

According to White House Press secretary Scott McClellan, news at the White House about the shooting "...was coming into people back here, all the way at 3:00 a.m. in the morning[Sunday] and beyond." McClellan would not state when the President first learned that Cheney had shot Whittington. When McClellan was asked if Andy Card had told Karl Rove that Cheney was the shooter, McClellen said: "...we still didn't have all the details at that point and additional details were coming into Andy Card at even 3:00 a.m. in the morning and beyond."

The White House did not disclose the accident until a press conference on Sunday afternoon. McClellan said he did not know that Cheney had shot someone until that Sunday morning. He remarked that he did ask the Vice President's office to release the information earlier. He said: "I think you can always look back at these issues and look at how to do a better job."

On February 15, Cheney agreed to comment publicly about the accident on the Fox News Channel. He had previously avoided reporters by leaving an Oval Office meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Cheney visited Whittington in the hospital on Sunday, February 13, and at other times, telephoned him.

On the Fox News interview, Cheney accepted full responsibility for the accident.

Cheney acknowledged that White House Counselor Dan Bartlett and Scott McClellan "urged us to get the story out", but Cheney said he was more concerned about accuracy and felt that Armstrong was the best person to make the announcement.

Investigation

Kirk had called Salinas while en route to the Armstrong Ranch to investigate a possible hunting accident. The ensuing official investigation was performed by the Kenedy Count Sheriff's department and published in an Incident Report written by Chief Deputy Gilberto San Miguel Jr, a Supplement Report written by Salinas and several witness statements.

After Salinas finished his call with the Secret Service, Kirk called Salinas a second time to report that he couldn't get any information about the shooting at the Armstrong gate. Salinas told Kirk: "that it was fine and I [Salinas] would contact someone at the Ranch". Multiple news sources reported that local law enforcement officers were initially barred by United States Secret Service agents from interviewing Cheney.

After dismissing Kirk, Salinas called a Constable Ramiro Medellin Jr to ask for information about the accident. None of the police reports say why Salinas thought to call Medellin, or where Salinas thought Medellin was. In that first call to Medellin, Salinas reports Medellin saying only that he would call Salinas back. Medellin did called Salinas back and said that "This is in fact a hunting accident" and that he[Medellin] had spoken with some of the people in the hunting party who were eyewitnesses and that they all said that it was definitely a hunting accident. Salinas says he [Salinas] also spoke with another [unnamed] eyewitness and he[the witness] said the same thing, that it was an accident. Salinas states in his report: "After hearing the same information from eyewitness and Constable Medellin, it was at this time I decided to send my Chief Deputy first thing Sunday morning to interview the Vice-President and other witnesses.

On Sunday morning, Kenedy County Chief Deputy Gilbert San Miguel Jr. interviewed Cheney and other members of the hunting party. He said that Cheney characterized the incident as a "hunting accident".

On Monday, Miguel and Lt Juan J Guzman went to Spohn Memorial Hospital to interview Whittington. Whittington requested not to be recorded 'due to his voice being raspy', but agreed to supply a written affidavit as soon as he returned back home to his office. Whittington characterized the incident as an accident and said no alcohol was involved and that everyone was wearing proper hunting attire. Whittington described shooting at the first covey of quails, searching for a bird, then being sent by Katharine [Armstrong] to shoot the second covey. At that point, "a nurse came into the room and asked Guzman and Salinas to hurry up so Whitington could rest". The officers then left telling Whittington "I [Miguel] would give him a call in a few days to get the written affidavit". There is no public record of the promised affidavit being taken or released.

The Kenedy County Sheriff, Ramon Salinas III, has since cleared Cheney of any criminal wrongdoing in the matter [Kenedy Country Sheriff's Office Press Release], posted in The Smoking Gun.

Bush appointed Katharine Armstrong a commission member of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Steve Hall, education director for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said that the department would classify the shooting as an error in judgment by Cheney.

The news of the shooting wasn't released to the press for 21 hours until 1:48 p.m. (07:48) Sunday, February 12. Kathryn Garcia, a reporter for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, broke the story after receiving a call from Armstrong at 11am, after confirming it with the White House and hospital.

While he has a Texas non-resident hunting license, a report from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department states that Cheney was in violation of Texas law in that he did not have a US $7 "upland game bird stamp." A warning citation, which state officials described as routine and carries no fine or penalty, will be issued to Cheney, because the requirement is new. Cheney has since sent a $7 check to the Texas Fish and Wildlife Department to cover the cost of the missing stamp. [Statement by the Office of the Vice President] 13 February 2006.

A top Republican close to the White House said to Time magazine, "This is either a cover-up story or an incompetence story."

Hunting safety

The owner of the ranch, however, stated that Whittington should have announced the fact that he had yet to return from retrieving his quail to the Vice-President.

According to Texas state Parks and Wildlife Department, in 2005 there were 30 accidents and two hunting deaths in Texas. At the national level, according to the International Hunter Education Association, there were 744 shooting accidents with 74 deaths in 2002.

Doubts and rumors

There has been much doubt as to the events of the shooting accident, even as Kenedy County Sheriff's Office documents support the official story by Cheney and his party.

• Recreations of the incident were enacted by George Gongora, a photographer for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and a writer for Whidbey News-Times. ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} All tests seemed to prove that the distance was much closer than the 90ft claimed. Many familiar with quail hunting have also argued that the range was closer, while others, such as forensic expert Jon Nordby, confirm the plausibility of the official reports.
• Doug Thompson, a writer for the website Capital Hill Blue, has made unverified claims that a written report by Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Dick Cheney at the scene of the incident states that Cheney was "clearly inebriated" at the time of the shooting, and that delays in Cheney's testimony to the local authorities were engineered to conceal the level of his inebriation at the time of the accident, as it is a felony offense to hunt while intoxicated.
• The time of the shooting was estimated by Cheney and the other members of the hunting party to be variously between 5:30pm and 6pm. In the Kenedy County Sheriff's Report, Officer Ramone Salinas III states that he first heard news of the shooting from a Captain Charles Kirk (fellow officer) at about 5:30pm. Kirk had heard of the shooting prior to that phone call. In Salinas's statement, Salinas says he received official notice from the Secret Service 8-10 minutes after the 5:30pm phone call. The Secret Service is [reported] to have said that they gave notice to the Sheriff about 1 hour after the shooting, which would put the time of the shooting at approximately 4:40pm, 60-90 minutes before the entire hunting party's recollection.
• Some find it compelling that the victim is linked to Funeralgate.

Trivia

• The shotgun involved in the incident was the same model that Senator and Democratic Party Presidential candidate John Kerry was teased about using during the 2004 presidential campaign.
• According to Hardball with Chris Matthews on February 28, 2006, the hunting incident caused Dick Cheney's approval rating to drop to 18%.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}
• Cheney himself may have been hit by an accidental shotgun blast in the late 1990s.

Commentary and satire

Jon Stewart compares the incident to the Hamilton-Burr duel on The Daily Show.

The incident has been the subject of jokes, satire and public ridicule. [Cheney jokes] URL accessed on 14 February 2006 A number of these made reference to other controversies involving Cheney.

• On February 13, The Daily Show unloaded with an extended segment, first by Jon Stewart, then an "on-site" piece by Ed Helms who said Whittington's condition was "upgraded from stable, but still shot in the face by the vice-president", then with "analysis" by Rob Corddry who claimed "In a post 9/11 world the American people want their leaders to be decisive," and "to not have shot his friend in the face would have shown the quail that America is weak." One of the placards proclaimed "Cheney's Got a Gun" in parody of Aerosmith's song "Janie's Got a Gun." Jon Stewart urged viewers not to let their children go on hunting trips with the vice president: "I can't emphasize this enough, I don't care what kind of lucrative contracts they're trying to land, or energy regulation they're trying to get lifted. . . He'll shoot them in the face." Stewart referred to the incident once again at the 2006 Academy Awards, joking that "Björk couldn't be here tonight... she was trying on her Oscar dress and Dick Cheney shot her."
• In a later episode, Stewart would play a clip of Mr. Cheney claiming to want to have this accurately reported. Stewart then proceeded to mock Cheney, imitating his voice and saying "Yes, accuracy is very important to me. And rest assured, next time, I will kill Mr. Whittington."
• David Letterman began his Monday show on February 13 with "Good news, ladies and gentlemen, we have finally located weapons of mass destruction. ... It's Dick Cheney," and adding that "We can't get bin Laden, but we nailed a 78-year-old attorney."

• Jay Leno also had a piece on the Tonight Show in which he pretended to host a game show with footage of George W. Bush and Pervez Musharraf that was taken during Bush's visit to Pakistan. Towards the end of that segment, the sound of loud bird calls were played, and Leno asked Cheney to take care of the problem, with footage of the Vice-President shooting off a rifle then shown.
• Before the news on Whittington's heart attack became known on 14 February, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan was referring to President Bush's meeting with the University of Texas championship football team when he said "The orange that they're wearing is not because they're concerned that the vice president may be there." However he pointed to his own orange-striped tie and added that "Although that's why I'm wearing it."
• United States Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who was once the target of Cheney's obscenity on the floor of the Senate, said: "In retrospect, it looks like I got off easy."
• Radio host Tom Joyner created a Cheney's Valentine's Day poem: "Roses are red, Violets are blue, Say something I don't like, And I'll shoot you, too."