White House 'pranks' taken seriously

Could this be the "Office of Strategerie"?

Outgoing US administrations often leave surprises for their successors, but this time aides to George W Bush are not amused.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said numerous acts of apparent vandalism, blamed on departing staff, were being catalogued. But no legal action would be taken, he added.

Reported pranks

Signs for the offices of "Strategerie" and "Subliminable messages"

Removal of W from keyboards

Filing cabinet drawers glued shut

Missing champagne glasses

Severed phone and computer lines

Misdirected phone lines

Obscene messages

Earlier this week, Mr Fleischer confirmed that W keys were missing from keyboards, threatening to leave George W Bush without the middle name which earned him the nickname "Dubya" and a three-finger signature salute.

New reports talk of severed computer cables, misdirected telephone lines, obscene messages and stolen champagne flutes.

One office is said to have been adorned with a makeshift sign reading "Office of Strategerie" - a reference to a Saturday Night Live television spoof of George W Bush.

Glued

There was also reported to be an "Office of Subliminable Messages" - a phrase used by Mr Bush during the campaign - along with a "Division of Uniting."

Filing cabinet drawers were said to be glued stuck and printers found to have pornographic images hidden among stacks of white paper.

Bush: It's not funny

Other reports said obscene messages were left on answering machines, while incoming calls were misdirected to other offices.

Champagne flutes embossed with the presidential seal were said to have gone missing from the Air Force One plane in which Mr Clinton left Washington with some of his staff.

Some former Clinton staff confirmed that pranks were played on the incoming Republicans, but said they were not intended with malice.

They said they were meant to be funny or, in some cases, were just a manifestation of the frustration felt by people about to lose their jobs.

Mr Fleischer did not share their sense of humour, but declined to give details of the damage.

"I choose not to describe what acts were done that we found upon arrival, because I think that's part of the changing tone in Washington," he told reporters.