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FYI, Bill By KEN
GUGGENHEIM, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON -
CIA (news
- web
sites) Director George Tenet told members of Congress a White House official
insisted that President Bush (news
- web
sites)'s State of the Union address include an assertion about Saddam
Hussein (news
- web
sites)'s nuclear intentions that had not been verified, a Senate
Intelligence Committee member said Thursday. Sen. Dick Durbin, who was present
for a 4 1/2-hour appearance by Tenet behind closed doors with Intelligence
Committee members Wednesday, said Tenet named the official. But the Illinois
Democrat said that person's identity could not be revealed because of the
confidentiality of the proceedings. White House
spokesman Scott McClellan was quick to dispute Durbin's account. "That
characterization is nonsense. It's not surprising, coming from someone who was
in a rather small minority in Congress who did not support the action we took,"
McClellan told reporters. Durbin,
appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America," said that Tenet "certainly told us
who the person was who was insistent on putting this language in which the CIA
knew to be incredible, this language about the uranium shipment from Africa."
"And there
was this negotiation between the White House and the CIA about just how far you
could go and be close to the truth and unfortunately those sixteen words were
included in the most important speech the president delivers in any given year,"
Durbin added. |
