White House Stands by 'Not Accurate' Quote in Dispute

[sabra]

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001477236

White House Stands by 'Not Accurate' Quote in Dispute


NEW YORK Presidential Press Secretary Scott McClellan's short answer to a question at his daily press briefing last week has prompted a dispute between the White House press office and two news organizations that offer transcripts of the events.

A spokeswoman for McClellan's office told E&P today that the White House is standing by its version of what he said.

At the Oct. 31 briefing, David Gregory of NBC News stated the following question to McClellan about White House aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis Libby: "Whether there's a question of legality, we know for a fact that there was involvement. We know that Karl Rove, based on what he and his lawyer have said, did have a conversation about somebody who Patrick Fitzgerald said was a covert officer of the Central Intelligence Agency. We know that Scooter Libby also had conversations."

The official White House transcript states that McClellan's response was "I don’t think that's accurate."

But two outside news agencies, Congressional Quarterly and Federal News Service - which provide transcripts for a fee -both reported the response as "that's accurate."

more from ThinkProgress:

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/11/09/wh-alters-transcript/

That’s Not Accurate: White House Alters Transcript of Press Briefing
There is a brewing controversy about what exactly was said at the White House press conference on October 31. Everyone agrees NBC’s David Gregory said this:

Q Whether there’s a question of legality, we know for a fact that there was involvement. We know that Karl Rove, based on what he and his lawyer have said, did have a conversation about somebody who Patrick Fitzgerald said was a covert officer of the Central Intelligence Agency. We know that Scooter Libby also had conversations.

Congressional Quarterly and FNS both transcribed Press Secretary Scott McClellan’s answer as “That’s accurate.” The White House transcript lists McClellan’s answer as “I don’t think that’s accurate.”

We’ve isolated the clip so you can judge for yourself:

[texpatriot2004]

1. Is this the deal where the WH is altering the transcript? nm

[sabra]

2. yep, and they are standing by their version...

ignore what you hear, believe them :sarcasm:

[texpatriot2004]

13. Uh, they are standing by their altered version? nm

[MADem]

29. Well, who ya gonna believe? Scotty's crew, or your own lying ears? nt

[cliss]

16. Does this remind anybody else of the movie

"Used Cars" with Kurt Russell?

Remember the part with Luke Fuch's daughter, who tried to make a commercial for the used cars. Roy Fuchs took the tape recording of her ad, and stuck in the word "miles of used cars".

The doctored tape was so ridiculous. It was so obvious that it was forged.

That's what the White House tampering is reminding me of.

[sendero]

25. Wow....

.... I'd fogotten that comedic gem! Have to see that one again!!!!

[For PaisAn]

3. They're really desperate now

It can be heard CLEAR AS DAY "That's Accurate". Are they truly insane?!

[PerceptionManagement]

12. Absolute inability to tell the truth ..on ANYthing

I am constantly amazed at what the administration lies about. It's breath taking.

[For PaisAn]

15. This one really takes the cake

The audio doesn't lie.

[unblock]

4. i've listened to it carefully. they're both wrong. he actually said:

"george w. bush is the greatest president EVER!"

:sarcasm:

[sabra]

5. I played it back wards, and it said Bush Satan Bush Satan 666 ?

[thefloyd]

7. JESUS!

We were typing the same heavy metal joke at the same time. WOW. What are the chances of THAT

[sabra]

8. LOL - and your post count is currently 699? weird stuff :-)

peace.

[thefloyd]

6. Actually

If you play Scotty's Press conference in reverse all I hear are stories about the devil and 666. Thought I would throw out some Heavy Metal jokes

[Canuckistanian]

9. Who do you believe? Me or your lying ears?

That's another one for ths list.

[mod mom]

10. The Stephanie Miiler song "Lying Sack of Crap" comes to mind.

[gulliver]

11. I guess if they admit he said "That's accurate" (which he did) ...

... then Bush would have to fire Karl Rove. So they are actually disputing what is clear as a bell. They don't want the next question: "Since you admit it is accurate to say that Karl Rove was involved, does the President plan on firing Rove as he originally said he would do with anyone in his administration who was 'involved'?"

The White House set up a response for that by having the president mouth the words that only someone who committed a crime would be fired. But they know perfectly well that it won't hold water. What's McClellan going to say "Sure the president said he would fire people who were involved, but if you remember, he later said he would only fire those who had committed a crime." That makes Bush look like an asshole (another thing that is accurate) and makes it even more likely that he would have to fire Rove because of the sheer flimsiness of Bush's little flip flop on the matter.

[hobo_baggins]

14. and we inch a little closer to 1984

im sick to my stomach

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

32. Welcome to DU!

:bounce:

[truthisfreedom]

17. bushco isn't doing itself any favors with the make-believe world they

pretend we're willing to live in. they pretty much wing everything now, and rely on spin to cover their asses, but when we observe them sitting in a steaming pile of their own filth and smearing it around, no amount of spin can clear the stench from this offal office.

they're like the 3-year-old who says "no i didn't" over and over in the hopes that one more iteration will make it true.

[texpatriot2004]

20. "No I didn't, nuh-uh...no I didn't" hee hee hee nm

[rodeodance]

18. nothing new--the WH does what it wants when it wants!

[punpirate]

19. Jane Hamsher at firedoglake says of McClellan...

... "Poor sad bastard. You know he's probably still got Dubya's faux cowboy boot wedged up his ass all the way to the fancy double stitching just for that."

http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/

[me b zola]

21. Typical abuser

They knock the fuck out of you. The next day, according to them, you beat yourself up---"what, are you insane?--don't you remember beating yourself up????"????????

[ShockediSay]

22. Since when was the White House Accurate?

I mean what's the big deal?

[jobycom]

23. Most interesting aspect is McClellan's expression when he says it

Watch the clip. He is listening to the question, you can see his gears churning as he tries to grasp the question as it's being asked, so he can formulate an answer. Then, just after the point about Rove, he mutters "that's accurate." His expression is that old "I hate to admit it but you're right" look.

I don't think he meant to say it aloud. I think it slipped out as he was trying to think his way through a denial. It looked to me like one of those "What am I doing here, why am doing THIS for THEM?" kind of moments.

A moment of clarity for Scottie? Yeah, but it's over.

[FlashHarry]

31. Actually, I think you're right, partially.

I think he was spinning along in his head and it spilled out, tourette's-like.

However, knowing the liar as we do, I actually think he may have been trying to say, "I don't think that's accurate." I seriously doubt he'd come right out and confirm Gregory's statements. This guy never tells the truth, ever. Why would he have done so at that point?

Just a question.

[jobycom]

33. I don't think he meant to

It looks like something I do sometimes. He's listening along, trying to find some little flaw in the statement to discount it, or maybe he's thinking ahead, expecting the question to go in a different direction. So he's got a mental checklist, and he says to himself, "Okay, where's the flaw, where can I say that's not accurate." The reporter finishes his point of Rove, and McClellan says to himself "that's accurate," and then the reporter adds the part about Libby, and McClellan says "that's accurate." Only this time he forgets he's talking to himself, and it comes out.

Look at his expression, he's caught up in what's being said, he's not on script there. You can see the script before as he does his stern little nod, but by this point he's trying to keep up, not stay on script.

That's the bottom line. He said something real, instead of staying on script. He got caught thinking on camera, against all the advice of the Rove machine. I wonder if it will be fatal to McClellan. You think it's an easy job to stand up there all day and stonewall and lie, but it's harder to lie consistently to tell the truth. Scottie's burning out.

[0007]

24. The fixers are kept real busy these days! n/t

[rodeodance]

26. so are the shredders.

[progressoid]

28. Yep, Winston must be working overtime at the Ministry of Truth.

[progressoid]

27. That's easy to explain.

"Congressional Quarterly and Federal News Service" are both communist organizations and hate FREEDOM.

[MojoXN]

30. WTF?

I can understand lying about a lot of thigs, from the Shrubyite point of view, but why lie about something that you're BOUND to get caught on? If the average American voter saw this for themselves, and the subsequent attempted White House cover-up, it would do wonders for Democratic Congressional candidates in '06.

Just a thought...

MojoXN

[The Night Owl]

34. McClellan has no incentive to tell the truth...

The Bush administration has little use for the truth because zombified Bush supporters believe everything the administration says.