John Shadegg: “I have long believed and indeed kind of grew up with the notion that the unrefuted lie becomes the truth. And in this…”

“I have long believed and indeed kind of grew up with the notion that the unrefuted lie becomes the truth. And in this case, I want to make this point very clear. Today in sworn testimony before the 9-11 Committee, Richard Clarke said, ``The briefing I gave actively misled the press because I told the press there was a fivefold increase in funding, and now I am telling you some 2 years later that that was not correct.'' If Mr. Clarke was willing to actively mislead the press 2 years ago and lead the press to believe that there had been a fivefold increase in funding when he knew darn good and well that no such fivefold increase existed, then I would suggest that his willingness to mislead the press then and admit it today, acknowledge ``I made this claim, I was trying to explain the Bush administration's position,'' it absolutely was not true because it was only in discussion or in, as he called it, authorization, not spending, an acknowledgment that he was willing to actively and aggressively mislead the American press and the American people 2 years ago, and what does that say about the validity of the claims he is making today?”