Greg Sargent reports that Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) stood up in front of fellow House Republicans this morning and apologized for, as Sargent put it, “putting them in a bad spot.”
After Barton apologized to his colleagues today, Minority Leader John Boehner stood up and said that it’s time to move on, a source told Sargent. Boehner also announced that Barton would keep his post as ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Last week, at an energy subcommittee hearing on BP’s role in the Gulf oil leak, Barton apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward and called the company’s $20 billion escrow fund a government “shakedown.”
Barton apologized to the public last week for using the word “shakedown” and retracted his apology to BP.
However, after today’s meeting Barton tweeted a link to an American Spectator post about his comments. Barton took the title of the post for his tweet:
Joe Barton Was Right http://amplify.com/u/75gf
Late update: Barton has now deleted the tweet. Here’s a screengrab of the tweet, via Twhirl:
