http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/09/katrina.email/index.htmlWASHINGTON (CNN) -- The former emergency management chief who quit amid widespread criticism over his handling of the aftermath Hurricane Katrina said he received an e-mail before his resignation stating resident Bush was glad to see the Oval Office had dodged most of the criticism.
Michael Brown, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Friday that he received the e-mail five days before his resignation from a high-level White House official whom he declined to identify.
The e-mail stated that Bush was relieved that Brown -- and not Bush or Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff -- was bearing the brunt of the flack over the government's handling of Katrina.
The September 2005 e-mail reads: "I did hear of one reference to you, at the Cabinet meeting yesterday. I wasn't there, but I heard someone commented that the press was sure beating up on Mike Brown, to which the resident replied, 'I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff.' "
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