Entries for May 07, 2007

Despite criticism from some administration insiders about his new book, George Tenet's At the Center of the Storm has already sold over 65,000 copies in the first week and is expected to open at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

At a private book party Friday night at Georgetown University, where the former CIA director teaches, a top executive at HarperCollins Publishers unveiled the figure to gasps in the crowd of Tenet friends and government dignitaries, including FBI Director Robert Mueller. The executive, Publisher Jane Friedman, added that 300,000 copies have been printed and that she expects a big sales push around Father's Day.

Tenet also spoke, mostly thanking his family and friends and heaping praise on the CIA employees. He singled out coauthor Bill Harlow for special thanks and said that while agent-lawyer Robert Barnett is "high priced," he is also "the best lawyer in town."

Few White House officials were in attendance, likely because they didn't come out so well in the book. Instead, there were several CIA officials and top intelligence aides who had worked with Tenet.

First lady Laura Bush and her team of cooks and social aides tell reporters that before the state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II, she had to double-team President Bush to persuade him to hold a super-formal white-tie dinner. Mrs. Bush said she called on Secretary of State Condi Rice to convince the president that it was the right thing to do considering the guest. Mrs. Bush joked that her Texan guests were also down on the idea--probably, she added, because they don't own a white-tie outfit and likely had to rent one.