Dodging the Niger Question

As we now know from the indictments handed down last Friday, there will not be any investigation into the origins of the forged document that had the Bush administration so worried that they clumsily outed an undercover CIA agent. What we do know about the origins of the document is that it was passed on from a former Italian intelligence official to a reporter from a Berlusconi newspaper. As it happens, Berlusconi himself was here in Washington yesterday and had this to say about the dodgy documents:

"Bush, himself, confirmed to me that the U.S.A. did not have any
information from Italian agencies."

But when asked about the President's words, Scott McClellan said this:

Q After his meeting with the President on Monday, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was asked whether the Italian government had provided the United States with intelligence on alleged Iraqi purchases of uranium, or from Niger. Berlusconi replied, “Bush, himself, confirmed to me that the U.S.A. did not have any information from Italian agencies.” Does the White House stand by that statement?

MR. McCLELLAN: Stand by what? say the statement again

And this:

MR. McCLELLAN: I think I addressed that question yesterday. I responded to that. You’ve got to go back and look at exactly what I said.

And this:

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry? I addressed that question yesterday. I responded to it.

I doubt we're going to get an answer from the White House, just more squirming and dodging. But at least they can't use the excuse that the Niger story is a part of an ongoing investigation, because for the moment it's not. What gifted reporter will be able to get the Artful McClellan to lie on the record?

Again.

| +Save/Share | |