White House Accuses Woodward of Bias

Oct. 1, 2006 — -- President Bush counselor Dan Bartlett accused Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward of bias in "State of Denial", the third book in Woodward's series about the Bush administration's execution of the war in Iraq, in an appearance on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

"I was really stuck by the fact that the central thesis of this book, the claim that the president was in a state of denial, that he was misleading the America people about what was happening in Iraq," Bartlett told ABC News. "Quite frankly, is not backed up with the own facts in his book."

Woodward, who gained fame for his reporting during the Watergate scandal, previously penned "Bush at War" and "Plan of Attack", both of which were produced with the cooperation of the Bush White House. Neither President Bush nor Vice President Cheney, however, sat down for an interview with Woodward for "State of Denial".

"On this project, it was unfortunate that we felt he had already formed some conclusions even before the interviewing began," Bartlett claimed. "I didn't say that he wasn't an honest reporter," the counselor continued, adding that after interviews with other key members of the Bush administration, "There was just a sense that, despite spending hours with him, their points weren't getting across."

One of the book's most explosive charges involves the pursuit of Osama bin Laden prior to the 9/11 attacks. In "State of Denial", Woodward describes an urgent, unscheduled meeting that took place on July 10, 2001, between then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, then-CIA Director George Tenet, and Cofer Black, a counterterrorism chief within the State Department.

In that passage, Woodward describes Tenet and Black. "They both felt they were not getting through to Rice. She was polite, but they felt the brush-off. A coherent plan for covert action against bin Laden was in the pipeline, but it would take some time."

Bartlett refuted the claim, saying he had spoken with Secretary Rice about Woodward's assertion. The told ABC News "That's Secretary Rice's view, that that type of urgent request to go after Bin Laden, as the book alleges, in her mind, didn't happen."