Here's exactly what was said:
Unidentified reporter: On the Robert Novak-Joseph Wilson situation, Novak reported earlier this year quoting "anonymous government sources" telling him that Wilson's wife was a CIA operative. Now, this is apparently a federal offense, to burn the cover [of] a CIA operative. Wilson now believes that the person who did this was Karl Rove. He's quoted from a speech last month as saying, "At the end of the day, it's of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs." Did Karl Rove tell that...
McClellan: I haven't heard that. That's just totally ridiculous. But we've already addressed this issue. If I could find out who anonymous people were, I would. I just said, it's totally ridiculous.
Unidentified reporter: But did Karl Rove do it?
McClellan: I said, it's totally ridiculous.
Putting aside my jubilation that someone finally followed up on this, let's look at the substance of McClellan's response.
First, the idea that "we've already addressed this issue" is completely wrong. A few questions were raised at a White House press briefing in July, but McClellan evaded the questions and refused to address the substance of the controversy. Besides, this is a new angle that hasn't been addressed by the White House at all -- a former ambassador who played an important role in the Niger-gate scandal has accused the president's top political advisor of leaking classified information to a sympathetic journalist.
Second, it's hilarious that McClellan would emphasize that he wishes he could identify "anonymous people." That's great, Scott, but the question wasn't about an unnamed White House official, it was about Karl Rove. (McClellan obviously studied at the Ari Fleischer school of answering questions.)
Lastly, labeling the accusation "totally ridiculous" is an odd response since 10 seconds prior McClellan hadn't even heard of the accusation. How does he know it's ridiculous unless he goes to find out if it's true?
Of course, I know McClellan can't exactly say that. If in response to the question about Rove, he told the White House press corps "I'm not sure if my boss committed a felony by outing an undercover CIA agent but I'll ask him and get back to you" the reporters would smell blood. As Tim Noah put it, McClellan knows to "deny damaging stuff well before you know whether it's true."
Nevertheless, McClellan didn't answer the question. Wilson's accusation still stands without a direct White House response. I'm delighted an enterprising reporter dared to bring this issue up yesterday, but I'm afraid the press corps still has some follow-up to do.
These questions still deserve answers.
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