07-17-2003, 05:21 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Democratic senator charged on Thursday CIA Director George Tenet told members of Congress a White House official insisted on including a disputed allegation about Saddam Hussein's push for a nuclear weapon in a presidential speech.
The allegation by Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin was quickly denounced by White House spokesman Scott McClellan, who called it "nonsense" in the latest exchange on the issue between the Republican White House and Democrats on Capitol Hill.
Durbin told ABC's "Good Morning America" program that Tenet told the Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed-door session on Wednesday that a White House official pushed for including a line about Iraq's attempt to get uranium from Africa in President Bush's State of the Union speech last January.
"He certainly told us who the person was who was insistent on putting this language in which the CIA knew to be incredible, this language about the uranium shipment from Africa. And there was this negotiation between the White House and the CIA about just how far you could go and be close to the truth," Durbin said.
McClellan responded: "I think that characterization is nonsense. It's not surprising coming from someone who is in a rather small minority in Congress that did not support the action that we took."
The allegation by Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin was quickly denounced by White House spokesman Scott McClellan, who called it "nonsense" in the latest exchange on the issue between the Republican White House and Democrats on Capitol Hill.
Durbin told ABC's "Good Morning America" program that Tenet told the Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed-door session on Wednesday that a White House official pushed for including a line about Iraq's attempt to get uranium from Africa in President Bush's State of the Union speech last January.
"He certainly told us who the person was who was insistent on putting this language in which the CIA knew to be incredible, this language about the uranium shipment from Africa. And there was this negotiation between the White House and the CIA about just how far you could go and be close to the truth," Durbin said.
McClellan responded: "I think that characterization is nonsense. It's not surprising coming from someone who is in a rather small minority in Congress that did not support the action that we took."
![[Image: 723475742_8cb2b0be6c.jpg]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1019/723475742_8cb2b0be6c.jpg)