blondbraintrust

TALLAHASSEE · Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday that he was surprised by a
report that U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts played an influential role
in Florida's 2000 presidential recount, insisting that "my relationship with him
lasted about 30 minutes."

I don't know if it's true or not; it hasn't been confirmed by anybody other than some guy in Texas."Gov. Bush said

The governor, whose brother, President Bush, won the
White House after the high court stopped the Florida recount by a 5-4 vote, said
he huddled briefly with Roberts during the 36-day legal standoff for a "very
arcane discussion."

The governor made the remarks after Texas Solicitor General
Ted Cruz, a former domestic policy adviser to George Bush's campaign, told
reporters that he brought Roberts, then a Washington lawyer, to Tallahassee to
take part in the frenzied legal battle that followed the Florida contest.

Cruz said Roberts arrived in Tallahassee a week into the recount, writing and editing legal briefs before eventually helping prepare Bush's argument before the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I am surprised," Gov. Bush said of Roberts' apparently expanding
role. "But since I wasn't part of all the inner workings of the Bush campaign
after the election, it was news to me that he was. I don't know if it's true or
not; it hasn't been confirmed by anybody other than some guy in Texas."

# posted by blondbraintrust @ 1:20 PM