War Room

What Scott McClellan said, Part 2

We noted yesterday that the White House has engaged in some revisionist history of late by trying to persuade editors at Congressional Quarterly and the Federal News Service that Scott McClellan didn’t say what he said at a press briefing last week. At a press briefing on Oct. 31, NBC’s David Gregory listed what we know now about the administration’s involvement in leaking Valerie Plame’s identity. McClellan interjected the words, “That’s accurate.” But the White House insists that what McClellan really said — despite transcripts from CQ and FNS to the contrary — was, “I don’t think that’s accurate.”

You’d think it would be easy enough to answer the question by watching the videotape of the press conference, and indeed it is. If you watch the tape on the White House Web site, you’ll see McClellan say, “That’s accurate,” and you won’t see or hear any sign of the words “I don’t think.”

But that’s only if you have time to sit through the whole video and watch for the magic moment. If you pull up just about any other White House press briefing on the White House site, you’ll get a Real Player window with a slider that allows you to move instantly to the portion of the briefing you want to see. But as a War Room reader notes, that functionality just doesn’t seem to exist for the Oct. 31 briefing in question. Coincidence? You decide.

Update: The Real Player slider is working now. A War Room reader reports that it wasn’t working yesterday, and it wasn’t working when we checked it ourselves earlier today.

Has Rezko started talking?
The real estate developer, who was closely tied to Barack Obama, was convicted this summer — he’s likely talking about other politicians, however.
John Lewis: McCain, Palin “sowing seeds of hatred and division”
Discussing the Republican campaign, the civil rights icon invokes the memory of George Wallace’s rallies.
McCain camp responds to Troopergate report
Sarah Palin denies that she abused her power, while a campaign spokeswoman derides the investigation as partisan.
Report: Palin abused her power
The investigator looking into Sarah Palin’s firing of Alaska’s public safety commissioner comes up with one conclusion that will make the McCain camp cringe, but another that will help them.

Current Salon Politics Stories

  • Meet Sarah Palin’s radical right-wing pals

    Extremists Mark Chryson and Steve Stoll helped launch Palin’s political career in Alaska, and in return had influence over policy. “Her door was open,” says Chryson — and still is.

Salon Politics Blogs

Recent Posts

John Lewis: McCain, Palin “sowing seeds of hatred and division”
Discussing the Republican campaign, the civil rights icon invokes the memory of George Wallace’s rallies.
McCain camp responds to Troopergate report
Sarah Palin denies that she abused her power, while a campaign spokeswoman derides the investigation as partisan.
Report: Palin abused her power
The investigator looking into Sarah Palin’s firing of Alaska’s public safety commissioner comes up with one conclusion that will make the McCain camp cringe, but another that will help them.
Previous Posts…

War Room RSS Feed

Posts by date

October 2008
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031

About War Room

War Room is written and edited by Alex Koppelman, with contributions from Salon reporters around the country.