U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., (D-NJ-08) released the following statement concerning the former White House press secretary’s claims that top administration officials misled the public about their involvement in leaking CIA operative Valerie Plame's name:

“Scott McClellan’s admission that President Bush and the administration’s highest-ranking advisors directly provided him with false information to mislead America is a disturbing violation of the public trust.  It is also a legitimate constitutional concern.  The President’s premeditated plot to defraud America of the truth about weapons of mass destruction is no longer questionable.  It is the absolute truth according to too many former administration insiders.  The abuse of executive power in this White House has set a dangerous precedent that I believe can only be duly addressed through formal congressional hearings.  It is one thing to share the troubling antics of the Bush Administration in a book; it is another to share them under oath and under the scrutiny of America’s public.”

 
 

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