Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge’s backpedaling book tour continues!
As we’ve reported, Ridge’s new book, The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege, asserts that Attorney General John Ashcroft and Defense Secretary Donald Rumseld “strongly urged” him to raise the terror alert level — possibly for political reasons — just before the 2004 election. Ridge has since backpedaled and contradicted himself about whether the terror alerts might have been politicized.
Just now on Hardball, Chris Matthews, calling Ridge’s book “the Bible according to Tom Ridge” and “the Bible of truth,” asked Ridge, “Should we believe every word in this book?”
Ridge: “I stand by the words that I wrote, Chris. I stand by the process that I helped design. I stand by the notion that nobody pressured anybody.”
And then there’s the book jacket — which Rachel Maddow read to Ridge on MSNBC last night — that says, “He recounts episodes such as the pressure that the DHS received to raise the security alert on the eve of of the ’04 presidential election.” Last night Ridge disavowed that description, telling Maddow, “Those aren’t my words.”
He now tells Matthews that “if we go into paperbacks or the next edition, I’ll probably change the cover that says I was pressured, because there’s nothing in the book that says I was pressured.”
OK, no pressure. Just strong urging. Totally different.
Late Update: Here’s the video.
