Thad Allen, Obama's Oil Point Man, STILL Trusts Discredited BP CEO Tony Hayward

Thad Allen, Obama's Oil Point Man, STILL Trusts Discredited BP CEO Tony Hayward

The Obama administration's new get-tough-with-BP public relations campaign was badly undercut Friday morning when Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen reaffirmed his confidence in the oil giant's widely-despised and discredited CEO, Tony Hayward.

Three weeks ago, Allen, who is leading the response to the massive oil spill poisoning the Gulf of Mexico, famously told CBS News: "I trust Tony Hayward."

It became a rallying cry for those who believe the Obama administration has been too deferential to a company whose interests are not at all aligned with the public's.

Now, after 53 days during which BP has just made the leak worse while spreading misinformation intended to minimize its possible liability, Allen is sticking to his earlier statement.

Asked at a Friday news conference if he still trusts Hayward, Allen responded: "The fact of the matter is, we have to have a cooperative, productive relationship for this thing to work moving forward. When I talk to him and ask for answers, I get them. You could characterize that as trust, partnership, cooperation, collaboration, whatever. But this has to be a unified effort moving forward if we are to get this thing solved."

So does that mean yes? "If you call that trust, yes," Allen said.

The White House has been trying to convey a tougher attitude lately, with Obama talking about kicking ass and saying of Hayward in particular, that -- after comments such as "I want my life back" and that the Gulf is "a big ocean" -- "he wouldn't be working for me."

BP in general and Hayward in particular have squandered the public trust. The company was absurdly overconfident about its ability to stop a blowout in the first place, has been deceptive about steps it's taken to plug it, and has been constantly low-balling flow estimates. Hayward, meanwhile, has cemented his status as "the most hated and most clueless man in America", as the New York Daily News called him, with a series of gaffes.

So why does Thad Allen still trust Tony Hayward? Is it genuine deference -- or conflict aversion? Is it a wrong-headed attempt at pragmatism?

By contrast, one suspects the American public would be much happier if Allen -- or Obama, for that matter -- simply said: No, we don't trust BP. They have proven they are not to be trusted. We have no choice but to work with them, but we are making it clear in every interaction that their assertions are being verified, their facts are being double-checked, their motives are suspect, and we are the ones setting the priorities, not they.

But apparently it's just not so.

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Dan Froomkin is senior Washington correspondent for the Huffington Post. You can send him an e-mail, bookmark his page; subscribe to RSS feed, follow him on Twitter, friend him on Facebook, and/or become a fan and get e-mail alerts when he writes.

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