Doan defends Bush on conference spending

Lurita Doan, former head of the General Services Administration, reappeared on the GSA scene April 9 as a guest on the Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends morning show to combat the Obama administration.

She came to the defense of the George W. Bush administration as a scandal broke out recently about a lavish conference hosted by her former agency in 2010 in Las Vegas.

Doan said the Obama administration has “diverted attention” away from the scandal by blaming the previous administration.

“They love to blame George Bush for all of their problems,” Doan said on the show. Video is available. “The fact of the matter is that there can be no comparison whatsoever, and when you look at it, it’s one of these situations where there’s simply no way that you can excuse the kinds of excesses that went on.”

She was reacting to a statement a White House official had given Fox News that apparently contrasted the Obama administration's response with Bush's. "At least we have taken, bold, swift forceful action to hold those responsible accountable and put in place protections to make sure this never happened again,” the official said.

Doan resigned from GSA in 2008 after her own scandals, including frequent dust-ups with the same inspector general whose work led to Johnson's resignation.