McClellan Changes His Tune

Q: How do you know when White House spokesman Scott McClellan is lying?
A: His mouth is open.
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Now that email from Time's Matt Cooper confirms that BushCorp™ caporegime Karl Rove leaked information about Valerie Plame to him, White House Spokesdroid Scott McClellan is clamming up.

"No one wants to get to the bottom of it more than the president of the United States," he said.

"And I think the way to be most helpful is to not get into commenting on it while it is an ongoing investigation."

But back in 2003, McClellan somehow had no problem commenting on an ongoing investigation:

In 2003, McClellan said it was "totally ridiculous" to suggest that Rove played any role in the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity. He also said Bush has insisted that his staffers cooperate with the investigation by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, and that anyone responsible would be fired.

The White House correspondence corp, smelling blood in the water, has finally shed its credulity:

The White House spokesman faced sharp questions not only about Rove, but also about his own statements in the nearly two-year-old criminal probe.
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"You stood at that podium and said that Karl Rove was not involved, and now we find out that he spoke about Joseph Wilson's wife," one reporter said. "So don't you owe the American public a fuller explanation?"

"There will be a time to talk about this, but now is not the time to talk about it," McClellan replied.

I suppose this is McClellan's way of trying to retain a few remaining shreds of a credibility now long lost. But at least we know one thing, if he's not talking, he's not lying. Or at least lying a little less.

(Editor and Publisher has a transcript of today's briefing with weasel-in-chief McClellan, if you enjoy black humor it's a worthwhile read.)