Pressure from the blogosphere has forced the White House to answer more questions about the transcript of the October 31 press briefing. Video of the briefing clearly demonstrates that, after NBC’s David Gregory described the involvement of Karl Rove and Scooter Libby in the CIA leak scandal, McClellan said “that’s accurate.” Nevertheless, the White House transcript lists McClellan’s answer as “I don’t think that’s accurate.”
Editor and Publisher asked the White House spokeswoman Dana Perino about the discrepancy:
When asked about the fact that the White House version contradicts video accounts of the briefing, Perino added, “the White House stenographer was in the room and I was in the room” and they heard McClellan say “I don’t think that’s accurate.”
You’d think from Perino’s answer that this was the early 20th Century and video had just been invented. In 2005, however, no one can seriously argue that their recollection is more reliable than a video recording.