I MEAN, THAT WAS VERY CLEAR.īUT AS FAR AS JOHN WEAVER OR ANYBODY ELSE, AGAIN, ALL ROADS GO BACK TO HIM. I DEBATED PEOPLE ON THE FACT THAT I THOUGHT HE SHOULD BE PRESIDENT. TO BE VERY CLEAR, I WAS A SUPPORTER OF SENATOR McCAIN'S BACK IN 2000. HE TOLD YOU - HE SCOLDED YOU FOR CRITICIZING THE SPEECH, BUT THAT WAS IT? HE NEVER SAID, STAY AWAY FROM THE SENATOR? YOU'RE GETTING TOO CLOSE TO HIM?
YOU HAD THAT ONE TRIP WITH HIM AFTER WHICH YOU HAD THAT MEETING WITH JOHN WEAVER. RODRIGUEZ: SO UP UNTIL THAT TIME, YOU ONLY SAW THE SENATOR OCCASIONALLY AS A LOBBYIST. POLITICAL GUY WHO DECIDED THAT, YOU KNOW, HIS EGO, I GUESS, HAD BEEN BRUISED SOMEWHAT AND THAT HE WAS GOING VERY AGGRESSIVELY AND ASSERTIVELY MAKE A POINT TO ME THAT MY OPINION WAS SOMETHING THAT I SHOULD NOT SHARE WITH THE SENATOR, WHETHER HE ASKED FOR IT OR NOT. AND SOMETIMES IT'S A SITUATION, THIS IS A POLITICAL GUY, NOT A STAFF GUY ON THE HILL, BUT A BUT JOHN WEAVER TOOK OFFENSE AT THAT AND DECIDED HE'D SIT ME DOWN. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES WERE. AN I SAID, "YOU KNOW, I LIKE IT WHEN YOU INTERACT WITH THE AUDIENCE BETTER." AND APPARENTLY I DON'T KNOW IF JOHN WEAVER HAD WRITTEN THE SPEECH. AND WHEN I MET WITH HIM, WE SAT DOWN, AND HE SAID HE HAD TAKEN UMBRAGE WITH A CONVERSATION,īRIEF WORDS, THAT I HAD WITH SENATOR McCAIN ABOUT THE FACT THAT SENATOR McCAIN JUST ASKED, "WHAT DID YOU THINK OF MY SPEECH?" JOHN WEAVER WAS THERE. ISEMAN: JOHN WEAVER DID ASK ME TO VISIT WITH HIM FOR COFFEE, WHICH I DID. AFTER THAT TRIP, JOHN WEAVER SAYS THAT HE CALLED A MEETING WITH YOU TO TELL YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM THE SENATOR. YOU WERE ON A PLANE FLYING BACK FROM AN EVENT WITH JOHN WEAVER AND SENATOR McCAIN. YOU SAY IT'S THE ONLY TIME YOU HAD CLOSE CONTACT WITH SENATOR McCAIN. LET'S TALK ABOUT THE TIME THAT YOU HAD CLOSE CONTACT. RODRIGUEZ: YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT JOHN WEAVER WHO IS THE ONLY SOURCE THAT IS NAMED IN THAT "NEW YORK TIMES" ARTICLE. THIS ALL WENT BACK TO ONE SINGULAR PERSON, A POLITICAL OPERATIVE WHO HAD LEFT THE SENATOR'S CAMPAIGN UNDER ACRIMONIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES, AND THIS IS WHERE EVERYTHING LED BACK TO HIM. RODRIGUEZ: SO WAS IT ANYTHING IN YOUR BEHAVIOR TOWARDS THEM THAT COULD HAVE GIVEN PEOPLE THAT IMPRESSION? AND FOUR "NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTERS, TWO EDITORS, THE ENTIRE INSTITUTION, 200 PEOPLE THAT THEY WENT OUT AND SOUGHT TO TRY AND FIGURE OUT IF THIS WAS TRUE OR NOT, CAME BACK AND SAID THERE WAS NOTHING THERE. DID YOU HAVE AN AFFAIR WITH SENATOR JOHN McCAIN? LET'S START WITH THE QUESTION THAT EVERYONE WANTS TO HEAR YOU ANSWER. RODRIGUEZ: WHEN THE ARTICLE CAME OUT IN "THE NEW YORK TIMES," WE HEARD FROM SENATOR McCAIN, BUT WE HAVE NOT HEARD FROM VICKI ISEMAN HERE THIS MORNING FOR AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW. To suggest anything else is wrong, a lie and meant to do nothing but harm."
VIKI ISEMAN HOW TO
From the moment I left the campaign until today, not one day - not one -has gone by that I haven't reactively or pro-actively talked with the campaign leadership, with state leadership about how the campaign and how to win. The country needs him at this perilous time.
Nothing more and nothing less.įrom the day I first approached John about running for President in 1997 and through today, I have always wanted John to be president. Her comments, which had gotten back to some of us, that she had strong ties to the Commerce Committee and his staff were wrong and harmful and I so informed her and asked her to stop with these comments and to not be involved in the campaign. I did not inform Senator McCain that I asked for a meeting with Ms. Iseman, from sources they didn't identify to me, and asked me about that meeting.
The New York Times asked for a formal interview and I said no and asked for written questions.
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