Bush Administration Lies about Jack Abramoff

It was only last week that we blogged on Scott McClellan's claim that George W. Bush didn't know Jack Abramoff.

His exact words: "The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him."

Well, now we're supposed to believe that Jack Abramoff attended staff-level meetings at the White House, but that Bush has no idea who he is:

The Bush administration said Tuesday that convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff had a "few staff-level meetings" at the White House but refused to disclose who met with Abramoff or what they talked about.
"We don't get into discussing staff-level meetings," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

Abramoff also attended two Hanukkah receptions, he said.

Staff members spent weeks scouring White House records for traces of Abramoff, the center of a federal ethics investigation that has roiled Washington. Abramoff pleaded guilty Jan. 3 to fraud and conspiracy charges and agreed to help prosecutors investigating alleged corruption on Capitol Hill and in the Bush administration.

"I can't say with absolute certainty that that is everything," McClellan added. "But that's what I looked into, and that's what we were able to learn."

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and three Senate Democratic colleagues sent a letter to President Bush pressing for information, saying Abramoff "may have had undue and improper influence within your administration."

McClellan said, "This president expects everybody in his administration to adhere to the highest ethical standards"

So McClellan would rather paint a picture of a president so out of touch he doesn't know who on his staff is having his palms greased than to admit he knows Jack Abramoff.

As for the expectations of high ethical standards, I'm still waiting for Karl Rove to be fired.