Scott McClellan hearings, liveblog: Part 7

By GottaLaff

Steve King: This isn't a democracy... There were impeachment hearings in 1998. Charlton Heston said to Clinton, when you say something that's wrong, and you don't know that it's wrong, it's a mistake. If you know that it's wrong, it's a lie. You made reference to Bush's SOTU address, about the uranium from Africa.

Scott: He might have thought it was credible.

King: It was accurate, even today it is.

Scott: The CIA disagrees.

King: I have a CIA report in my hand, re: Wilson, 2002. This report directly contradicts Wilson.

Scott: I don't know if I've seen that before, but the CIA director told Bush to take the Niger info out of his speech.

King: The SOTU is factual today. If your life depended on it, would you trust Wilson or Bush?

Scott: I won't answer that hypothetical.

King: What's your advice to your successors as to how they should handle telling the world, and will the president have to be worried about revealing info?

Scott: By speaking up, the country can learn from what went wrong. I want to see things change here.

Hank Johnson: Commutation of Libby's sentence... He denied many, many petitions, granted Libby's. He presided over executions in Texas, only commuted one sentence. Now we have W.H. confidant Scooter Libby. Many Americans believe there was an attempt to silence him, a misleading of them on the War, lying to them... that Wilson was punished by the administration, ordering the revealing of his wife as a covert agent... in return for Libby putting his head in a meat grinder, after he was convicted... and sentenced to 30 mos. in prison... and his appeals denied... Libby headed to prison imminently... on the same day Libby found out the Court of Appeals wouldn't reverse, that's when Bush issued a commutation... inconsistent with his previous history. ... Without consultation with his own Justice Dep't. ... he decided to issue a commutation. ..Some believe he did that to stop Libby from spilling te beans on Cheney. Do you agree?

Scott: I don't know, I can understand viewing it that way. It's the President's right to do that, though.

Hank: What were the administration's real motives in misleading us to war?

Scott: In Bush's view, the idea of transforming the Middle East. Change Iran into a democratic state with Afghanistan and Iraq on either side, being democratic.

Hank: Ever hear about possibilities of controlling Iraq's oil?

Scott: Not personally.