If you’re going to lie, at least be honest about it.
During today’s press briefing White House press secretary, Dana Perino, spun herself into a knot with her own bafflegab in response to a Congress Committee investigative report released today.
The report, submitted by Oversight Committee chair, Henry A Waxman outlines a “…systematic effort to manipulate climate change science and mislead policymakers and the public about the dangers of global warming.”
Press Secretary Perino brushed off the report stating that the claims were “untrue.”
Of course, Perino’s denial would have been a little more convincing if she had first not admitted that she hadn’t even read the report. At the outset of questioning Perino stated that, “[she’d] seen reports about the report, and [she] hasn’t seen the Minority report…”
Here’s a transcript of the exchange with reporters:
Q The House Oversight Committee has come out with its bipartisan investigation – several months in the making – saying it is inescapable to conclude that the Bush administration engaged in a systematic effort to manipulate the climate change science and mislead the policymakers and the public about the dangers of global warming. Have you seen the report and can that –
MS. PERINO: I’ve seen reports about the report, and I haven’t seen the Minority report in terms of – when you say it’s bipartisan, I would challenge that and encourage people to look at the Minority report. I think that it’s inescapable that they issued this report on a day when they knew that the United States would be represented at the Bali conference, where we are currently talking about the next step for a framework after 2012, which is when Kyoto would end.
And the President started leading on that back many years ago, but especially if you point – look to one thing that was really key this year in the climate change debate is the President bringing together the meeting of the major economies on September 30th, here at the State Department, where he had the major economies of the world come together and all agreed that they should work forward, because we understand the urgent challenge that is posed by climate change. And I would submit to you, having worked on these issues for a long time, that it’s rehashed rhetoric that has come out of the Democrats beforehand, and we just reject it as being untrue.
Q Do you think – you don’t think it was released today because the United States is accepting a Nobel Peace Prize for work on climate change?
MS. PERINO: Well, I guess – I didn’t even know today’s Nobel Peace Prize was going to happen, in terms of those awards. But clearly, we’ve been in Bali for the last week, and today is really important – the next three days in Bali are very important because it’s at the foreign minister level, or environmental minister level.
Q Did the White House ever asked employees at agencies like NOAA to suppress climate change information and science?
MS. PERINO: Not that I’m aware and I do not believe that is true.
