(2004-08-02) — President George Bush denied Democrat charges that he doesn’t want the new National Intelligence Director’s office in the White House because he’s “hiding something.”

“Vice President Cheney and I have nothing to hide,” said Mr. Bush. “We just know that if the White House were crawling with intel people misunderstandings might arise about the late night visits from Halliburton executives and members of the House of Saud royal family. Having the spy guys down the hall might also have a chilling effect on the free speech that we enjoy in the privacy of the White House, and I’m sure the Democrats don’t want to chill our speech or restrict our civil rights.”

Mr. Bush proposed instead that the new Office of National Intelligence be headquartered in Massachusetts, “where it should be easy to recruit a boatload of smart guys.”