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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Four days after shooting and wounding a friend during a hunting trip, Vice President Dick Cheney publicly addressed the incident for the first time Wednesday in an interview with a cable network.
"Ultimately, I'm the guy who pulled the trigger that fired the round that hit Harry [Whittington]," Cheney said in a Fox News interview, adding that Saturday was "one of the worst days of my life."
"You can talk about all of the other conditions that existed at the time, but that's the bottom line. (Watch why secrecy has been Cheney's modus operandi -- 1:43)
"It was not Harry's fault. You can't blame anybody else. I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend. It's a day I'll never forget."
When asked if he missed the bird at which he was firing, Cheney said he had no idea. <<<<LMAO WTF?? What dumbfuck would ask that???
"You know, you focused on the bird, but as soon as I fired and saw Harry there, I mean, everything else went out of my mind. I don't know whether the bird went down or didn't."
The vice president said he ran over to Whittington, who was bleeding, and Cheney's own medical team -- which always travels with him -- administered first aid.
"I said, 'Harry, I had no idea you were there,'" Cheney recounted. "He didn't respond."
The vice president added, "The image of him falling is something I'll never be able to get out of my mind. I fired and there's Harry falling."
Cheney stood by his decision not to inform the national media directly of the incident, instead allowing Katharine Armstrong, on whose ranch the shooting occurred, to tell a Corpus Christi newspaper about the shooting the next morning.
"I thought that made good sense because you can get as accurate a story as possible from somebody who knew and understood hunting, and then it would immediately go up to the wires and be posted on the Web site, which is the way it went out," Cheney said. "And I thought that was the right call."
Since the first day, many of President Bush's aides, according to senior officials, thought the vice president did not handle the situation correctly.
That frustration mounted, and in private conversations Bush aides had become more open about saying they were trying to find a way to persuade the vice president to speak out, rather than letting the issue linger.
Meanwhile, Whittington was in a Corpus Christi hospital recovering from a minor heart attack he suffered after one of the pieces of birdshot that hit him lodged in or near his heart, his doctors said Wednesday.
Armstrong told CNN she had talked to Whittington on Wednesday and he is "up and walking around."
On Saturday, Cheney accidentally shot Whittington, 78, a prominent Austin lawyer, on a farm near Kingsville, Texas, southwest of Corpus Christi.
Whittington is in intensive care and will remain hospitalized for up to seven days, officials at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial said. (Watch what alerted doctors to the birdshot in Whittington's heart -- 2:32)
Dr. David Blanchard, the hospital's emergency room chief, said Whittington suffered an asymptomatic heart attack without suffering chest pains or breathing difficulty.
Cheney cleared
Authorities have cleared Cheney of wrongdoing in the accidental shooting of Whittington, but questions remain around the incident. (Timeline)
During Tuesday's White House news conference, spokesman Scott McClellan was asked if waiting 14 hours after the shooting before Cheney spoke with police was appropriate, and whether an average citizen would have been afforded the same amount of time.
"That was what was arranged with the local law enforcement authorities," McClellan said. "You ought to ask them that question."
McClellan referred other questions about the shooting to the vice president's office. (Watch reporters pepper McClellan with questions -- 2:03)
"This department is fully satisfied that this was no more than a hunting accident," the Kenedy County Sheriff's Department said in a statement Monday.
Kenedy sheriff's deputies questioned Cheney on Sunday and Whittington on Monday.
News slow to get out
Cheney's office did not disclose the shooting until Sunday afternoon after a member of the family that owns the ranch told a Corpus Christi newspaper about it. (Time.com: How Cheney stalled news reportsexternal link)
McClellan said Monday that Whittington's condition was the focus in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
Armstrong said no one discussed informing the public until Sunday morning when she and her mother raised the matter with Cheney. On Saturday night, she said, "The only concern we all had was about Harry."
She said Cheney made it clear he knew it had to be made public.
Whittington, a donor to the Bush-Cheney campaigns in 2000 and 2004, has been active in Texas GOP politics since the 1960s and was chairman of the state Board of Corrections from 1979 to 1985.
In 1999, Bush, then Texas governor, named Whittington to the state Funeral Services Commission, which had been stung by allegations of widespread corruption and mismanagement in the industry. (Whittington profile)
.
Armstrong's mother, Anne Armstrong, was on the board of directors of Halliburton, the oil field service company Cheney ran before becoming vice president. She also was U.S. ambassador to Britain in the Ford administration
"Ultimately, I'm the guy who pulled the trigger that fired the round that hit Harry [Whittington]," Cheney said in a Fox News interview, adding that Saturday was "one of the worst days of my life."
"You can talk about all of the other conditions that existed at the time, but that's the bottom line. (Watch why secrecy has been Cheney's modus operandi -- 1:43)
"It was not Harry's fault. You can't blame anybody else. I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend. It's a day I'll never forget."
When asked if he missed the bird at which he was firing, Cheney said he had no idea. <<<<LMAO WTF?? What dumbfuck would ask that???
"You know, you focused on the bird, but as soon as I fired and saw Harry there, I mean, everything else went out of my mind. I don't know whether the bird went down or didn't."
The vice president said he ran over to Whittington, who was bleeding, and Cheney's own medical team -- which always travels with him -- administered first aid.
"I said, 'Harry, I had no idea you were there,'" Cheney recounted. "He didn't respond."
The vice president added, "The image of him falling is something I'll never be able to get out of my mind. I fired and there's Harry falling."
Cheney stood by his decision not to inform the national media directly of the incident, instead allowing Katharine Armstrong, on whose ranch the shooting occurred, to tell a Corpus Christi newspaper about the shooting the next morning.
"I thought that made good sense because you can get as accurate a story as possible from somebody who knew and understood hunting, and then it would immediately go up to the wires and be posted on the Web site, which is the way it went out," Cheney said. "And I thought that was the right call."
Since the first day, many of President Bush's aides, according to senior officials, thought the vice president did not handle the situation correctly.
That frustration mounted, and in private conversations Bush aides had become more open about saying they were trying to find a way to persuade the vice president to speak out, rather than letting the issue linger.
Meanwhile, Whittington was in a Corpus Christi hospital recovering from a minor heart attack he suffered after one of the pieces of birdshot that hit him lodged in or near his heart, his doctors said Wednesday.
Armstrong told CNN she had talked to Whittington on Wednesday and he is "up and walking around."
On Saturday, Cheney accidentally shot Whittington, 78, a prominent Austin lawyer, on a farm near Kingsville, Texas, southwest of Corpus Christi.
Whittington is in intensive care and will remain hospitalized for up to seven days, officials at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial said. (Watch what alerted doctors to the birdshot in Whittington's heart -- 2:32)
Dr. David Blanchard, the hospital's emergency room chief, said Whittington suffered an asymptomatic heart attack without suffering chest pains or breathing difficulty.
Cheney cleared
Authorities have cleared Cheney of wrongdoing in the accidental shooting of Whittington, but questions remain around the incident. (Timeline)
During Tuesday's White House news conference, spokesman Scott McClellan was asked if waiting 14 hours after the shooting before Cheney spoke with police was appropriate, and whether an average citizen would have been afforded the same amount of time.
"That was what was arranged with the local law enforcement authorities," McClellan said. "You ought to ask them that question."
McClellan referred other questions about the shooting to the vice president's office. (Watch reporters pepper McClellan with questions -- 2:03)
"This department is fully satisfied that this was no more than a hunting accident," the Kenedy County Sheriff's Department said in a statement Monday.
Kenedy sheriff's deputies questioned Cheney on Sunday and Whittington on Monday.
News slow to get out
Cheney's office did not disclose the shooting until Sunday afternoon after a member of the family that owns the ranch told a Corpus Christi newspaper about it. (Time.com: How Cheney stalled news reportsexternal link)
McClellan said Monday that Whittington's condition was the focus in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
Armstrong said no one discussed informing the public until Sunday morning when she and her mother raised the matter with Cheney. On Saturday night, she said, "The only concern we all had was about Harry."
She said Cheney made it clear he knew it had to be made public.
Whittington, a donor to the Bush-Cheney campaigns in 2000 and 2004, has been active in Texas GOP politics since the 1960s and was chairman of the state Board of Corrections from 1979 to 1985.
In 1999, Bush, then Texas governor, named Whittington to the state Funeral Services Commission, which had been stung by allegations of widespread corruption and mismanagement in the industry. (Whittington profile)
.
Armstrong's mother, Anne Armstrong, was on the board of directors of Halliburton, the oil field service company Cheney ran before becoming vice president. She also was U.S. ambassador to Britain in the Ford administration
