PHHHHTTTTT....

Slow leak. How Cheney managed the news about his shooting his 78-year-old hunting partner Harry Whittington.

Vice President Cheney overruled the advice of several members of the White House staff and insisted on sticking to a plan for releasing information about his hunting accident that resulted in a 20-hour, overnight delay in public confirmation of the startling incident, according to several Republican sources.

"This is either a cover-up story or an incompetence story," said a top Republican who is close to the White House and has rarely been critical of the Administration in the past five years. "Karl was constrained, as was the entire communications operation, because the Vice President had arranged for how this was to come out."

UPDATE: Whittington has suffered a "minor heart attack" as a result of the shooting.

Tags: Dick Cheney, news management, shooting