White House Ticks Off Watchgate Rumors

ABC News’ Ann Compton Reports: President Bush was greeted in Albania by a boisterous crowd on Sunday, but did someone in the mob of supporters steal the president’s wristwatch?

ABC News video shows the president glad-handing with a tangle of enthusiastic hands, arms and bodies. One second the watch is visible, the next, among a flurry of adoring fans, the watch is gone.

White House aides say the president was wearing his watch the following day in Bulgaria and he does not carry a spare. Photos confirm Bush, in fact, did wear a watch on his wrist during his last stop in Eastern Europe and when arriving home in Washington.

So the mystery persists: Did Bush or one of his bodyguards unbuckle the watch and put it in a safe place? Did the watch accidentally fall to the ground? Or was it stolen and later replaced or borrowed from someone?

At a briefing this morning, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow denied reports of theft, saying that the president took off his watch, placed it in his pocket and that the watch returned safely home.

As they say, let’s go to the video tape…CLICK HERE.