Lawrence Ari Fleischer (born October 13, 1960) is an American media consultant and political aide who served as the 23rd White House Press Secretary, for President George W. Bush, from January 2001 to July 2003.

[citation needed] Upon his graduation from Middlebury, Fleischer worked as press secretary for Jon S. Fossel, a Republican candidate for a New York congressional seat.

Senator Pete Domenici's press secretary from 1989 to 1994 and as spokesman for the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee for five years.

The Saudi telethon, as they have told it to us, is to provide assistance to the Palestinian people, and that isn't – no money is going to go to provide the homicide bombers with any assistance from the Saudi government.On May 19, 2003, he announced that he would resign during the summer, citing a desire to spend more time with his wife and to work in the private sector.

Some of the cases of exposure were hushed up at the time, as the military did not want to reveal that there were chemical agents around lest they be used by terrorists in conjunction with IEDs.

[18] In 2009, when the Department of Justice of the Obama administration launched a probe into alleged CIA interrogation abuses, Fleischer described the decision as "disgusting.

On July 7, 2003, in the James S. Brady Briefing Room, Fleischer was asked about Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador who had recently written an editorial for The New York Times criticizing the intelligence information the Bush administration had relied upon to make its case for invading the nation of Iraq.

Specifically, Fleischer was asked to respond to Mr. Wilson's assertion that he had been sent to Niger to investigate claims that Saddam Hussein had sought yellowcake uranium and found no evidence that such events had ever occurred.

[23]Fleischer testified in open court on January 29, 2007, that Libby told him on July 7, 2003, at lunch, about Plame, who is Wilson's wife.

MSNBC correspondent David Shuster summarized Fleisher's testimony on Hardball with Chris Matthews: Ambassador Wilson was sent to Niger by his wife.

Fleischer had then relayed this information to Time correspondent John Dickerson and NBC's David Gregory in Uganda during the African trip.

On July 18, 2005, Bloomberg reported that in his sworn testimony before the grand jury investigating the leak, Fleischer denied having seen a memo circulating in Air Force One on July 7, 2003, which named Plame in connection to Wilson's mission and which identified her as a "CIA" covert agent.

After receiving an immunity agreement, Fleischer testified that he had revealed Plame's identity to reporters after learning it from Libby.

"[30] Today he works as a media consultant for various corporations and sports organizations and players through his company, Ari Fleischer Communications.

[31] He has consulted for former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper,[32][33] Mark McGwire, the Washington Redskins,[34] Tiger Woods and the Green Bay Packers.

[35] In 2005, Fleischer published a memoir, Taking Heat: The President, the Press and My Years in the White House.

Michiko Kakutani wrote in The New York Times, "[T]his book does not provide any new insights into the workings of the current White House.

"[36] In Salon.com, Eric Boehlert declared that despite "a few curious nuggets," the book is "long on praise for his boss and criticism of the 'liberal' media, and short on revelations.

"[36] In November 2002, Fleischer married Rebecca Elizabeth Davis, an employee in the Office of Management and Budget, in an interfaith ceremony.