Ari Fleischer, 5/10/01: Bush & Cheney the first two to take the drug test

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer
The James S. Brady Briefing Room

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/briefings/20010510.html#Drug-Testing-WhiteHouse

Q Ari, who's been drug-tested at the White House, and what happens if -- first, has anyone failed, and what happens if they do?

MR. FLEISCHER: As part of the policy of working at the White House, all employees must be drug-tested, if you're going to work in the Executive Office of the President. And that means some 650 people were drug-tested upon a condition of employment. Since then, 127 White House employees have been randomly drug-tested. And its an ongoing random drug-testing program that this White House will continue to operate.

And I'm not going to get into anybody did or did not pass. That's going to be treated as a private personnel matter. I would suggest to you that in its entirety, this White House is a very professional operation, and there are no problems that have been brought to anybody's attention. Let me say that.

In the event that something -- somebody were to be tested positive, the White House policy is to treat this on an individual, case-by-case matter, to sit down and talk with the person whose test may have come back positive, to work with them to determine whether it was some type of casual usage or if there is a more serious problem, to determine what drugs were involved, and to work with that person and to help that person seek treatment and counseling. And if the situation is not resolved, the consequences could be anywhere from a letter of reprimand to firing.

Q Were there 650 drug tests to begin with and now you're doing random follow-ups --

MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct.

Q -- of another 127?

MR. FLEISCHER: No, that would include people who had previously been tested.

Q Yes, okay.

MR. FLEISCHER: Correct. It's an ongoing random drug-testing program at the White House.

Q Everybody was tested to begin with?

MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct.

Q And then random tests continue?

MR. FLEISCHER: That's exactly correct.

Q And that includes senior staff, that 650?

MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct.

Q And just to follow up, again, when you said there have been no --

MR. FLEISCHER: It also includes the President and the Vice President.

Q They were tested?

MR. FLEISCHER: They were tested as a condition of employment here. They were the first two to take the drug test.

Q Who imposed the condition of employment, if it wasn't the President?

MR. FLEISCHER: The people.

Q Oh, come on.

MR. FLEISCHER: No, it's true. The policy of the White House is all employees have to be drug-tested. And that policy extends to the President and the Vice President.

Q Some people might not have voted for him if they had known that. (Laughter.)

Q When did they take the test?

Q Is that the first time --

MR. FLEISCHER: The first week in the White House.

Q Ari, do you know, to your knowledge, have other Presidents been drug-tested?

MR. FLEISCHER: I don't know.

Q What if he would have failed, what would have happened, do you know? (Laughter.)

Q Ari, when you said that no problem has been brought to anybody's attention, are you suggesting that nobody failed the test?

MR. FLEISCHER: I'm suggesting from this podium -- I'm not going to get into counts and numbers on something that may involve counseling of employees. But the fact of the matter is that there are no problems.

Q Ari, another topic?

Q This is going to sound arcane, but when the President took this test, how was it administered? Who gave it? Was it a blood test?

MR. FLEISCHER: I'll be happy to talk to you about that somewhere other than this podium.

Q In the usual fashion, we assume?

MR. FLEISCHER: I'm sorry?

Q In the usual fashion, we assume?

Q There are two ways to do it.

MR. FLEISCHER: Let's take some other topics, and I'll be happy to help you with these questions.

Q Where's Lester when we need him? (Laughter.)

[unrepuke]

1. It has to be "random" - so if somebody is singled out for oh,

let's say "Coke Jaw" and you test him (or her ;-) ) it won't be random and it won't be fair and it won't count.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

2. All righty then

move along. Nothing here. No druggies.

[DemoTex]

3. Is that for real?

If so, I don't believe a word of it.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

4. It's a real, legitimate White House Transcript...

...so it's as "real" as Ari was capable of getting.

Just wanted to post a little contrast between Ari and McClellan.

:patriot: