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Insider Report: Haig Denies Ford-Nixon Deal Special From NewsMax's Most Informed Sources
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories): 1. Haig Denies Ford-Nixon Deal Bob Woodward insists that then-White House chief of staff Al Haig offered Vice President Gerald Ford a deal to pardon Richard Nixon if he resigned the presidency. Haig flatly denies that assertion and calls it an "insult." Appearing on CNN's "Larry King Live" on Dec. 27, the day after Ford died, Woodward – who interviewed Ford extensively in recent years – was asked why he thought Ford pardoned Nixon. Woodward responded: "Well, first of all, one of the things Ford told me, which I published a number of years ago, is that he believes, he, Gerald Ford, believed that Al Haig offered him a deal.
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"Now, Al Haig will tell you and firmly and emphatically deny that. But Ford believed that the deal was offered and believed that he rejected it. And Ford's reasoning was essentially he wanted his own presidency. He had to get Nixon off the front page. The idea of an investigation, indictment, possible jailing of Nixon would consume the country for another two years. "And in fact, Ford, I think, has convinced most people and history and even myself that he did it – he did the right thing." Haig then jumped into the discussion and went straight to the point: "Let me tell you, it's an insult to the president himself, to President Ford, to suggest that he would take a deal. The call that he had – and I made it – was that he was going to be the next president of the United States. "Why in heaven's name any rational man would risk it all by even listening to a deal is beyond me… "In addition to that, I saw the sworn testimony that he gave. I read it before he gave it to the Judiciary Committee, the only president to have ever done so. And he firmly denied any deal. "So I think you hear what you want to hear when you want to hear it." Later on, after Haig left the air, Woodward reiterated his claim, telling King: "Well, I know what Ford said, that he felt Haig offered him a deal." But Haig got support from Thomas DeFrank, Washington bureau chief for the New York Daily News, who covered Ford's presidency. Said DeFrank: "For the last 17 years I have been going out to Colorado and California to interview President Ford, off the record, at least for the moment … And he has said there was no deal, period." Editor's Notes: 2. London Times: Saudi Arabia Bigger Threat than Iran The Times of London opinion piece is headlined: "You're attacking the wrong nation, Mr. Blair." In it, commentator Anatole Kaletsky argues that British Prime Minister Tony Blair's bellicose words about Iran in a recent speech are misguided – and that the real terrorist threat originates in Saudi Arabia, an "ally" of the West. In his December 20 speech in Dubai, Blair called Iran the greatest "strategic threat" in the Middle East and declared that it seeks "to pin us back in Lebanon, in Iraq and in Palestine. Our response should be to expose what they are doing, build the alliances to prevent it and pin them back across the whole of the region." But Kaletsky points to "the country that really is the financial and spiritual homeland of al-Qaida, the 9/11 terrorists and the majority of foreign insurgents fighting in Iraq. This country is, of course, Saudi Arabia… "The Saudis' ambivalence in the war against jihadi radicalism is hardly surprising, since extremist interpretations of Islam remain far more dominant in Saudi society than they have ever been in Iran or any Middle Eastern country other than Afghanistan under the Taliban. "Moreover, the radicalization of previously quiescent Muslim populations from Indonesia and Turkey to Britain, Spain and France continues to be directly funded by the Saudi money pouring into Sunni mosques and madrassas inspired by the extremist Wahhabi sect. "If, as Mr. Blair suggests, the 21st century will be marked by an ideological struggle between Western civilization and Islamic extremism, the main battles will have to be fought with Saudi Arabia, not Iran." Editor's Note: 3. Pentagon Bans Use of Outlook The Defense Department is blocking all HTML-based e-mail messages and has banned the use of Outlook Web Access e-mail due to an increased risk of an attack on its communications network. A statement from the Defense Security Service disclosed that the Joint Task Force for Global Network Operations (JTF-GNO) raised the network threat condition from Information Condition 5, which indicates normal operating conditions, to Infocon 4 "in the face of continuing and sophisticated threats" against Defense Department networks. The JTF-GNO ordered the use of plain text e-mail because HTML messages can be infected with spyware and code that could enable intruders to gain access to Defense Department networks, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle. A JTF-GNO spokesman said Infocon levels are adjusted to reflect worldwide social and political events and activities, Federal Computer Week reported. The raising of the network threat level to Infocon 4 came after an attack on the networks at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., forced the facility to take its systems offline, although the JTF-GNO spokesman said the two events were not related. Some officials reportedly suspect the attack on the Naval War College was the work of Chinese hackers. Editor's Note: 4. John Edwards Building Anything-But-Humble Home John Edwards tried to cozy up to America's poor by announcing his presidential candidacy Thursday in the Lower Ninth Ward of Hurricane Katrina-ravaged New Orleans. It's doubtful that any on hand live in splendor comparable to the $3.1 million mansion the former senator and vice presidential candidate is building in North Carolina. Edwards, worth upwards of $30 million thanks to a career as a personal injury lawyer, is building the home on a 100-acre estate outside Chapel Hill, the New York Post reported. The 10,700-square-foot mansion boasts 10 rooms, 6 1/2 baths, two garages, and verandas with sweeping views of the surrounding countryside. Edwards is also building two smaller homes on the estate – a two-story, 6,366-square-foot mini-mansion with a $570,000 price tag, and a 2,817-square-foot, $193,000 house. One home is for Edwards' 22-year-old daughter Cate and the other is for visiting friends and family, according to the Post. On top of all that, the White House hopeful is constructing a 1,180-square-foot pool house. In the 2004 campaign, Edwards often spoke of "Two Americas," one wealthy and privileged and the other struggling to survive. There's no doubt which America Edwards belongs to. Editor's Note: 5. Jeb Bush: I'll Miss Towels Outgoing Florida Gov. Jeb Bush admits he'll miss life in the governor's mansion after leaving office, specifically citing the food … the beauty of the residence … and an endless supply of fresh towels. "Most people take showers and you use towels six or seven times," he told reporters. "But here, although I've been trained to do otherwise, any time I want, I can have a new towel." Bush and his wife Columba left the mansion shortly before Christmas and were expected to spend the holidays elsewhere in Florida, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. As for his political future, Jeb recently told a group of reporters in Miami: "I have no future." Editor's Note: 6. We Heard... THAT NewsMax has found a place at the United Nations. The U.N.'s Department of Public Information each day distributes to key U.N. management a summary of reports on the world body's activities. For the most part, this summary is based on reports in major newspapers and magazines in more than a dozen languages. But NewsMax's United Nations correspondent Stewart Stogel has learned that NewsMax is now included in the news sources regularly scanned by this operation.
THAT at least one self-proclaimed presidential candidate objects to the mainstream media's characterization of Hillary Clinton as the "mom candidate" for the White House. "I am the first black, first woman, first mom, and first grandma independent candidate for president of the United States for 2008, and I made that announcement on the Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly show in February of 2006," Ruth Bryant White told NewsMax. White, a non-denominational minister and Nevada resident, founded an organization to support interracial families, A Place for US/National. Hillary said during an appearance on ABC's "The View" that "we've never had a mother who ever ran for or held" the presidency. White said: "It's not accurate reporting to constantly put Hillary out there as the mom candidate when I was the first mom and grandmother, black and female candidate." THAT radio talk show host Mike Rosen has a recipe for success at struggling CBS News: Go conservative. Rosen, who hosts Denver's most popular local radio show, published in his Rocky Mountain News column an "open letter" to Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports. It reads in part: "Unfortunately, CBS News has been mired in last place behind NBC and ABC in recent years. Your response has been to hire Katie Couric to ‘perk up' your evening newscast. That was a mistake… "When you finally give up on Couric, I have a rescue plan if you're willing to take a chance … Here it is: Go conservative. Not right wing, mind you. Just mainstream conservative. "Couric's nightly audience is about 7 million. There are at least 20 million (that's the size of Rush Limbaugh's radio audience) American grown-ups who are sick and tired of the pervasive liberal bias that dominates the so-called ‘old' mass media… Let [NBC's Brian] Williams and [ABC's Charles] Gibson split the liberal audience and you'll have the conservative audience all to yourself… "It could propel CBS to the top of the nightly news ratings. And it might just be good for America, too." Editor's Notes:
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