Tim Ryan: “Why should we talk about Mr. Chalabi? Why should we talk about his relationship to President Bush? Why should we talk…”

“Why should we talk about Mr. Chalabi? Why should we talk about his relationship to President Bush? Why should we talk about his relationship to Vice President Cheney? This gentleman stood up in the gallery during the State of the Union address as a friend of the President of the United States; and now we see in the paper today, from CNN's Inside Politics, Condoleezza Rice is now downplaying the relationship that this administration had with Mr. Chalabi. And she says, we had a relationship with Mr. Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress just like we have relationships with a number of Iraqi organizations devoted to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. That is not true. It is not just like every other relationship they had, because this gentleman was sitting in this gallery during the President's State of the Union address which, as we know, it is an honor to be recognized here in this Chamber, whether it is legally or illegally acknowledged. But he was acknowledged as a friend of the administration.”