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Q: Ari, on these pictures, the DNC says that it's grotesque -- their word -- that congressional Republicans would use a photograph of the President on Air Force One in the hours after the September 11th attacks as part of a fundraising appeal, accompanied by a letter from the Vice President. Does the President think it's appropriate for that photo to be used, and did he sign off on it? And does the White House know about this?
MR. FLEISCHER: David, there are three photos that I understand are a part of the Republican National Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee's fundraising efforts. One is the President's State of the Union; one is an inaugural address; and the third is a September 11th, the President aboard Air Force One. And each of the pictures is a representation of the President of the United States doing his job for the American people. And it's an event for the party committees to decide if they want to make those pictures available to their contributors, they have that right to do so. These pictures represent the President at work for the country.
Q: Doesn't it smack, however, of using September 11th and the war on terrorism for political gain?
MR. FLEISCHER: David, I think that the party committees are free, if they decide to use pictures of the President doing his job for the American people.
Q: They may be free to do so, but do you think it's proper, morally correct to use these photos to raise money for a political party? To use 9/11 to raise money?
MR. FLEISCHER: The White House was generally aware of the fact that they wanted to use pictures for fundraising purposes, and no objections were raised.
Q: Are there any objections now to the fact that they're selling these pictures?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, as I indicated, these three pictures, the President's inaugural, the President's State of the Union, and the President on September 11th, are part of the President's job, serving all the people of this country.
Q: Were there any federal employees involved in taking the pictures, producing the pictures, distributing the pictures?
MR. FLEISCHER: I've looked into the question of who took the pictures, and here is the following information. The State of the Union picture was a picture taken by the White House press pool, a photographer who works here, in this room, for the media. And then it was released by the Reuters wire. The inaugural picture is a Reuters picture. And the September 11th picture was a White House photographer's picture, which is a standard practice, was then released to the press pool. The press pool, in this case, Reuters, put it out on the wire. And all three pictures were then provided by the media, themselves, as part of a transaction -- commercial transaction to a commercial photo vendor. So the media provided these pictures to a commercial photo vendor. And then --
Q: Do you know who the vendor was?
MR. FLEISCHER: Corbis.com. And then the party committee has made payment to the commercial vendor.
Q: It was the work of a federal employee who took the picture of the President on Air Force One?
MR. FLEISCHER: The picture taken on Air Force One was taken by the White House photographer, and then, as standardly done, was released free of charge, as always, to the media. What the media does with these pictures after they are released by the White House is the media's business, between the media and a commercial vendor, not the White House's business.
Q: But, Ari, back to what congressional Republicans are doing with it, the President has no problem with what the Democrats are portraying as blood money here?
MR. FLEISCHER: Blood money? And how is that blood money?
Q: That's how they're portraying it, using the tragedy of September 11th as a fundraising tool.
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think that -- I'm hard-pressed to see how that characterization can be anything even closely resembling anything accurate or fair.
Q: But the President has no problem with using the events of September 11th as a fundraiser?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, as I indicated, these are three pictures of the President doing his job for the American people. And these pictures have appeared in numerous forms and numerous ways. And the pictures represent the President --
Q: But it's the first time they've appeared as a fundraising tool. So, to be straight here, he doesn't have a problem with it?
MR. FLEISCHER: As I indicated, the pictures represent the President at work for the American people.
Q: Ari, did the White House know which pictures were going to be --
MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, Helen.
Q: That's all right, she had a follow-up. I'll go after. MR. FLEISCHER: I'm sorry?
Q: I was going to follow up. Does the White House know which pictures the Republican Campaign Committees were going to use?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, the specific pictures were not run past the White House first.
Q: No one was signed off from the White House on using the specific picture of the President on Air Force One?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, specific pictures were not run by the White House first.
Q: So you and the White House were just made aware that the campaign committees wanted to use pictures in terms of a fundraising tool, to raise money for the GOP?
MR. FLEISCHER: A couple different staffers, I'm not -- a couple different staffers.
Q: Is it something that Karl signs off on?
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't know if Karl, himself, knew ahead of time, or not.
Q: Can you find out?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'll try to find out.
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