9/11 COMMISSIONER DOUBLES AS BUSH ADMINISTRATION P.R. FLACK

John Lehman appears on Sean Hannity's radio show and makes an in-kind donation to the Bush campaign, as NewsMax reports:

Lehman: Rice Testimony Will Be 'Compelling'

Sept. 11 Commissioner, former Navy Secretary John Lehman is predicting that tomorrow's testimony by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice will be "compelling," based on her previous testimony to the Commission behind closed doors.

"We had four hours with her in private and she was so articulate and so credible and so compelling that all of us felt that the American people had to hear her discuss what the Bush policies were," Lehman told radio host Sean Hannity.

The 9/11 Commissioner complained that the hearings so far had been "monopolized by a view that basically accused Condi Rice of being asleep at the switch."

For credibility's sake," he explained, "the administration needed to have her appear in public to refute what is really a distorted view."...

Two days ago, we had this from NewsMax:

9/11 Commissioner former Navy Secretary John Lehman said Monday that President Bill Clinton's decision not to accept Sudan's offer to extradite Osama bin Laden to the U.S. in 1996 was probably the biggest blunder in the war on terrorism.

Reacting to NewsMax.com's audiotape of Mr. Clinton admitting he turned down the Sudanese, Secretary Lehman told radio host Sean Hannity, "[Clinton's comments offer] a very good insight into the overall policy during the Clinton administration, which was essentially dominated by lawyers [who treated bin Laden] as a law enforcement, not a foreign policy or a prevention issue."...

("Clinton's mistake was to treat terrorism as a law enforcement issue" is one of the Right's favorite spin points.)

Lehman's unabashed pro-GOP politicking seems to be under the radar so far -- he's not mentioned at all in an "9-11 Panel Struggles to Keep Politics Out," an AP story that appears today.