You saw from today’s TPMtv episode below that the White House has had a hard time explaining what exactly the President was told about the new intelligence assessments of Iran’s nuclear program and when exactly he was told it.
Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto was confronted by reporters on this issue in this morning’s press gaggle aboard Air Force One:
Q Just to clarify one point from the press conference yesterday, the President was — said that he was told by Mr. McConnell, just generally, that there had been some new intelligence and that people were taking another look at it. Did the President at that point ask any follow-up? Did Mr. McConnell offer any comments that, in fact, there might have to be a serious reevaluation of the whole intelligence?
MR. FRATTO: What Director McConnell said is that we’re going to go back and do rigorous analysis of this intelligence, and when we can be certain of it, we’re going to come back and talk to you — and that’s what they did. I’ve seen some criticism of, number one, of the international — I mean, of the intelligence community in the last couple days, which I think is just incredibly misguided. The intelligence community is out there doing very difficult, courageous work to try to get the intelligence right. They’re doing it in some of the most hardened places to try to acquire this intelligence, and they’re doing an astounding job of it, under Director McConnell’s leadership.
And then I’ve seen some criticism of the leadership of the intelligence community for not being more forthcoming, and I think this is also unfounded. It is important, if you’re going to tell the Congress and the American people and the President of the United States an important piece of intelligence information, that it be rigorously analyzed, that you have the highest degree of confidence. And that’s what they went back and did and they took the extra time to do that.
And then I’ve seen criticism that the President should have either changed his rhetoric or asked more. What he asked of his intelligence community was to tell him what was right when you know it’s right, and that’s what they did. In terms of rhetoric, there is no rhetoric to change when the facts on the ground still suggest to any reasonable observer that Iran poses a threat and is a destabilizing force, unless they change their activities.
Q In that conversation did McConnell tell him that our previous intelligence could be all wrong? How — (inaudible) — was he about that?
MR. FRATTO: I don’t have anything on that.
The headlines should read: White House Won’t Deny that President Was Told of Iran Intel Months Ago. Or perhaps something a little pithier. But that’s the gist of it. Will we see that in tomorrow’s papers?
