AP

: CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying the fellow hunter in the face and chest with shotgun pellets.

Harry Whittington, a millionaire attorney from Austin, was in stable condition in the intensive care unit of a Corpus Christi hospital Sunday. story

Truthdig says: It strains credulity to suggest, as the White House has, that the vice president couldn’t inform the national media of the incident while also ensuring proper medical care of the guy on the receiving end of his shotgun blast. | story

UPDATE: NBC’s David Gregory gets into verbal fisticuffs with White House spokesman Scott McClellan about Cheny’s late disclosure.

  • transcript of the exchange
  • video excerpts
  • longer transcript
  • Washington Post’s Dan Froomkin: “Why isn’t Dick Cheney on TV right now?”
  • UPDATE #2:

    Editor & Publisher probes Cheney’s late disclosure. UPDATE #3:The Smoking Gun surfaces the Texas hunting accident report (hat tip: Huff Post) UPDATE #4: The AP has the lowdown on what rules Cheney broke.

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