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McClellan Says He And Bush Were Misled By White House Aides
By KEN HERMAN
Cox News Service
Saturday, March 10, 2007
WASHINGTON — Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Friday that he and President Bush were misled by top administration aides who assured them they had not been involved in the leak of a CIA operative's identity....
He said he plans to write a book that will include more of the "back story than what has come out."
Avoiding the word "lied," McClellan referred to "additional information" that came out during the investigation of White House aides' role...
In September and October 2003, McClellan told reporters that Rove, Libby and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams had told him they were not involved in the leak.....
"I spoke with those individuals, as I pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this," he said on Oct. 10, 2003. "And that's where it stands."....
"Additional information," as McClellan called it, "did change things." But by then, he noted, the White House had decided to stop commenting on the matter while it was the subject of a criminal investigation.....
McClellan, asked if he was flat-out lied to by Rove and Libby, said, "I don't want to at this point go further than what I've said. There is certainly enough in the public domain for people to draw their own conclusions. I've made clear what the truth is from my standpoint."...
"My belief is that continuing not to comment on it is only raising more questions in the public's mind and it only increases suspicions. It makes people say: 'What are you hiding?'" McClellan said.
