»» Columnists

White House Refutes Confidence Men Book, Suggests Portion Lifted From Wikipedia

video

by Tommy Christopher | 4:20 pm, September 19th, 2011

» 69 comments

The pushback against Ron Suskind‘s upcoming (but leaked) book Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President continued today, as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney fielded questions about some of the book’s tales of intrigue. Geithner flatly denied that he disregarded an order from the President, while Carney attacked the book as fundamentally unreliable, and possibly plagiarized from Wikipedia.

When portions of the book leaked Friday, officials quoted by name in the tome began backpedaling, or flatly denying, Suskind’s reporting. Former Communications Director Anita Dunn, quoted in the book as calling the Obama White House a “genuinely hostile workplace for women,” told WaPo that she told Suskind “‘point-blank’ that the White House ‘was not a hostile environment.’”

Former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Christina Romer, quoted in Confidence Men as saying, after being excluded by top economic adviser Lawrence H. Summers at a meeting, “I felt like a piece of meat,” told The Washington Post Friday, “I can’t imagine that I ever said this.”

At today’s White House briefing, Geithner and OMB Director Jack Lew opened up for Carney to flesh out the President’s debt and deficit reduction plan, but the subject quickly turned to Confidence Men. ABC News’ Jake Tapper talked about Geithner’s portrayal, in the book, as a “cagey political operative,” to which Geithner cracked, “That’s what my mother would say.”

Tapper asked about allegations that Geithner and the economic team “slow-rolled” the President’s orders to prep a plan for the possible dismantling of Citigroup, and a Pete Rouse memo that seemed to support them.

Geithner began by saying that he hasn’t read the book, but “I lived the reality, and the reports I’ve read about this book bear no resemblance to the reality that we lived together.”

NBC News’ Chuck Todd then followed up, asking Geithner to address the specific charge that he ignored the President’s orders.

“I would never do that,” Geithner replied. “I’ve spent my life in public service. My great privilege to serve this president, and I would never contemplate doing that.”

Geithner took another shot at the book, saying that the reality “bears no relation to the sad little stories I heard reported from that book.”

Later in the briefing, during Jay Carney’s headlining spot, Tapper asked about the book again, telling Carney he wanted to “make sure you had an opportunity to respond.”

Carney got a laugh by thanking Tapper for the chance, then said, “Look, I, too, have not read the book, although I’ve read a lot about it. What we know is that very simple things, facts that could be ascertained — dates, titles, statistics, quotes — are wrong in this book. So I think that — in fact, one passage seems to be lifted almost entirely from Wikipedia, in the book.”

“Based on that,” Carney continued, “I would caution anyone to assume that if you can’t get those things right, that you suddenly get the broader analysis right. That analysis is wrong.”

Tapper followed up on the Wikipedia reference, and explained it on his blog.

Some might be surprised that the allegations about a West Wing “boy’s club” never came up, and even though Carney would definitely have referred any such questions to the statements by Romer and Dunn, you would think someone would have taken the shot, anyway. This is, of course, not the last we’ll hear about this book.

As Tapper points out, the author conducted scores of interviews, including one with the President, for the book, and while the White House might disagree with how the events were contextualized, disavowing specific quotes from it is going to be a tough sell.

Here’s the clip of Geithner’s and Carney’s responses, followed by the transcript:

Transcript: (via email from The White House)

Q Okay. At this point I’ll ask one other question. I wanted to give you an opportunity — there is a big splashy book out this week called, “Confidence Men,” which talks about you, portrays you as a cagey political operator. I know you’re going to take issue with your portrayal, and I’ll give you –

SECRETARY GEITHNER: Cagey political operative?

Q Those might be my words. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY GEITHNER: It’s what my mother would say.

Q There is a memo written in February 2010 by White House senior advisor Pete Rouse, who talks about — it’s a year-one review that looks at the economic plans, and it talks about a number of efforts by, in his view, the economic team here in the White House to kind of slow roll, per the President’s orders. But it does say, once a decision is made, implementation by the Department of the Treasury has at times been slow and uneven, and that, along with the other factors, adversely affect execution of the policy process. So if you could respond to the book and also what Pete Rouse said about your execution.

SECRETARY GEITHNER: Well, obviously I do disagree with that characterization. I haven’t read this book, but to borrow a phrase, I lived the reality. And the reports I’ve read about this book bear no resemblance to the reality we lived together. No resemblance.

Q Specifically, though, Mr. Secretary, did you slow walk on the President’s effort to –

SECRETARY GEITHNER: Absolutely not –

Q And why not –

SECRETARY GEITHNER: I would never do that. I have spent my life in public service. It’s my great privilege to serve this President, and I would never contemplate doing that. But, again, I lived the original, and the reality I lived, we all lived together, bears no relation to the sad little stories I heard reported from that book.

…Jake, and then — yes.

Q I just wanted to give you the opportunity to respond to the book — the Ron Suskind book, which the entire — what seems like almost the entire White House participated in. You guys gave the author a 50-minute interview with the President. It seems like he did first-person interviews with most, if not all, of the senior players involved. He paints a picture of a President who is rolled by his advisors, and, at times, does not make tough decisions when asked, and I wanted to make sure you had an opportunity to respond.

MR. CARNEY: Thanks for that. (Laughter.) Look, I, too, have not read the book, although I’ve read a lot about it. What we know is that very simple things, facts that could be ascertained — dates, titles, statistics, quotes — are wrong in this book. So I think that — in fact, one passage seems to be lifted almost entirely from Wikipedia, in the book.

I think, based on that, I would caution anyone to assume that if you can’t get those things right, that you suddenly get the broader analysis right. That analysis is wrong. Tim Geithner, who lived it, just told you that it bears no resemblance to the reality he lived. And what I just talked about goes right to that.

The extraordinarily difficult times that this country was going through when this President took office, and the extraordinarily complex and difficult decisions that this administration — this President — took, they weren’t easy, but they were necessary. And it took decisive leadership. It took clarity of vision about where we needed to move the country. And it took a willingness to suffer political risk in order to do the right thing for the country. And that was absolutely at the heart of all the decisions the President made, and the President made them.

Q What part was lifted from Wikipedia?

MR. CARNEY: We can get that for you. It just — there’s almost a word-for-word Wikipedia.

Confidence Men, Jake Tapper, Jay Carney, Ron Suskind, timothy geithner, Wikipedia

Michelle

I look forward to seeing how the liberal media deals with the book. Will they ignore it? We shall see.
Anonymous

Sounds like normal Republican dirty tricks. Either get it from Wikipedia or change Wikipedia to meet their narrative. Yes, I’m talking to you Heritage Foundation.
Anonymous

Obama once said you shouldn’t raise taxes during bad economic times, now he’s trying to raise taxes. One time Obama said he was pivoting to jobs, 7 I think the Washington Post said. Today, Lew was unable to say how raising taxes with the American Jobs Act would help with unemployment. Conclusion? They lie. A lot. This is another lie.
Anonymous

They are SO guilty!
Anonymous

“disavowing specific quotes from it is going to be a tough sell” you can do it tommy, you are one hell of a salesman
http://gregingleright.weebly.com/ Greg

I wonder how many documented false claims have been leveled against the Obama’s? Would be interesting to see the numbers.
NomoBeeHO

Yep – Must be TOTALLY true.

-Without Democrats, child molesters would have NO ONE to look down upon-
Anonymous

Ummmm… the White House cooperated with the author. Ron Suskind is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and has written for Esquire and NYT Magazine. Not exactly a right wing hatchet man.
Anonymous

You shouldn’t lower taxes when going to war. We’re at war.
Anonymous

I knew it wouldn’t take long for Tommy brown nose to come to the community organizers defense…haha…Liberals are so predictable!!!

Too late Tommy, everyone, who isn’t a Liberal Obot, knows that we have a bunch of incompetent idiots i the WH!!
Anonymous

,.. awesomee ..
I just got a $827.89 iPad2 for only $103.37 and my mom got a $1499.99 HTV for only $251.92, they are both coming tomorrow. I would be an idiot to ever pay full retail prîces at places like Walmart or Bestbuy. I sold a 37″ HTV to my boss for $600 that I only paid $78.24 for.
I use http://alturl.com/khhu3
Anonymous

Didn’t Obama also once say that raising the debt ceiling was unpatriotic? And some wonder why a book like this was written?
Anonymous

Sounds like he took a lot of quotes out of context and wikipedia is not a credible source.
Anonymous

And your buying the White House (and Tommy’s) spin on this? Did you believe the Bush White House this easily??? I tend to distrust those in power. No matter the party.
JB

christina romer, piece of meat? umm, no offense, but…….
Anonymous

;)
Anonymous

I saw the evidence myself. I do my own research. I agree a couple books about the Bush admin were lifted from other sources and weren’t first person accounts of what happen.
NDanielson

Of course he said he would get us out of those wars, and then he started another war. How many lies does it take to make a liar?
SILGARY

The point being?
Chris

Of course they’re going to refute it. They wouldn’t be the first.

Re the wikipedia “lifting”…it’s not like that was such a uniquely worded sentence that someone else couldn’t possibly have come up with something similar. Nothing but over-reaching…
Anonymous

Sounds like you’re confused because we’re getting out of the wars.
Anonymous

Tell that to the widows of Seal Team Six.
Michelle

Stop your whining, libbie!
Anonymous

We are still receiving causalities. I didn’t say the wars are over. Maybe Bush should’ve told the widows why we went into war in the first place.
Anonymous

Yo Tommy, here is another article that needs you to come to the rescue to protect the incompetent one!

http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/hillary-clinton-obama-chapman/2011/09/19/id/411502?s=al&promo_code=9898-1
Anonymous

These type of attack books come out on both sides daily.
Anonymous

Tommy is jumping hurdles for the WH; watch and see how much of this article is repeated on msnbc.

Snicker.

I love all the articles about the pedophile’s book on Palin, no headline “refuting” those contents, even though it has been done. Ah well, it is the liberal way and this is a liberal board.
http://gregingleright.weebly.com/ Greg

It’s not whining… a moment of public reflection on the above situation.
SILGARY

It’s amusing how every book written about Sarah Palin is taken to be true no matter the reputation of the writer, yet
Suskind who was contracted by the White House and is a Pulitzer Prize winner is discredited.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Dronetek-Bulk-Vanderhuge/100000918732763 Dronetek Bulk Vanderhuge

Mediaite is in full damage control mode.
david r

I hear Obama once let Glen Rice do him.
Anonymous

Ever heard of Hauser’s law? Apparently not. Please, speak more on taxes. It really shows your lack of knowledge.
david r

I wonder how many documented false claims have been leveled against the Obama’s? . . .

Probably less than the documented false claims made by the Obamas.
david r

You nailed it. The Iraq adventure was a stupid mistake. I’ll bet Iran would not have the bomb and 911 would never have happened if Bush had stayed out of Iraq. And all the phony libs trying to carry Obama’s water on this can go to hell. It is just as wrong when Obama invades and kills.
Anonymous

“….So I think that — in fact, one passage seems to be lifted almost entirely from Wikipedia, in the book.”Either you have read it or you haven’t Carney- which is it? If you are responding to unknown allegations in a book you say you haven’t read then how can you comment with authority to FACTS. Expect perhaps this one: You are a cagey political operative, (just not a very effective one.)
david r

I’ll bet there won’t be in major market interviews for Suskind, except for Fox. CNN is gutless, and MSNBC will run attack pieces against Suskind.
Anonymous

Not by NY Times bestselling, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative writers, widely respected on both sides of the political aisle.
This should be interesting. I have no doubt a journalist of his caliber, has everything documented form his interviews.
Anonymous

Well since obama passionately feels the same way, why don’t you mosey on over to attackwatch.com and see if they have an answer for you. I am sure it changes daily.
Anonymous

I doubt Ron Suskind is willing to jeopardize his reputation in the literary world for the likes of Obama and his WH co-horts. Whatever he has written, have no doubt it will be backed with documented proof from his interviews.
Anonymous

Well, he admitted that was politics. So, I guess, everything he’s done since then isn’t politics.
Anonymous

The media loved Ron Suskind when he made numerous damaging allegations about President Bush and they couldn’t wait to lead their nightly newscasts with the details.
Ralph

It’s very foolish of the Obamites to accuse anyone of plagiarism, given that Barack lifted numerous sections of legal analysis and presented it as his own work in a study guide he developed for his students at Chicago. Barack was cleared because his lifting of text wasn’t a pattern. But it was a lot more substantial than what they cited today against Suskind.
Anonymous

The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill [Hardcover]
Ron Suskind

The Times - Blasts through the wall of silence surrounding the White House.

Financial Times - The most spectacular attack on Bush by a former senior official.

Justin Webb, BBC - The most sustained and damaging criticism of the Bush administration from a former insider since the President came to power.

New Yorker - A damaging read…Our breezy President, if he is re-elected, may well find himself ruined by his refusal to heed O’Neill’s warnings.

Sunday Times - O’Neill’s book is priceless.

Esquire - The most explosive book of the year.

Guardian - One of the most damning White House exposés of recent times.

Independent - A considerable challenge to the official version of history.

Suskind must be in a state of shock. He was the darling of the Left when he wrote two anti-Bush books, but now the Left is calling him a liar, a sloppy writer and a plagiarist all because he wrote a couple negative sentences about Obama.
Anonymous

Rice would never kiss and tell. That’s not how he rolls, lol
Anonymous

She said gristle but Suskind misquoted her!
Anonymous

The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America’s Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 [Hardcover]Ron Suskind

“Phenomenal book. We all should read it and start asking questions.” — Major General John Batiste

“A must-read bestseller.” — Frank Rich, The New York Times

“This is an important book, filled with the surest sign of great reporting: the unexpected. It enriches our understanding of even familiar episodes from the Bush administration’s war on terror and tells us some jaw-dropping stories we haven’t heard before.” — Barton Gellman, The Washington Post

“A doomsday tale masked as a John le Carré thriller…. Suskind lays out evidence of success, failure, humility and hubris.” — Bill Glauber, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Riveting…. Sheds new light on the Bush White House’s strategic thinking and its doctrine of pre-emptive action, but also underscores the roles that personality and ideology played in shaping the administration’s decision to go to war in Iraq.” — Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“A richly detailed and layered account…. It makes for deeply unsettling reading and is a major contribution to our national conversation…. [Suskind] is a gifted and enterprising reporter and those attributes inform nearly every part of this important book…. Compelling.” — Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times

“If Bob Woodward is the chronicler of the Bush administration, Ron Suskind is its analyst…. A page-turning, blow-by-blow, inside-the-administration account…. Historians will be grateful for it as they write the many final drafts in the decades to come.” — Michael Hill, The Baltimore Sun

“Suskind’s great achievement here is to reveal how the Bush administration short-circuited and ultimately corrupted the way America’s government is supposed to work.” — Gary Kamiya, Salon.com

I’m curious. How many “false claims” did you find in any of Suskind’s previous books, hypocrite!
Anonymous

According to Tapper, here’s what the Wikipedia bit is about:

The “passage” Carney is referring to, first noted by Mike Allen of Politico,
is the following Wikipedia sentence about Fannie Mae: “in 1968 it
converted to a publicly held corporation, to remove its activity and
debt from the federal budget.” Suskind writes: “In 1968 it officially
became a publicly held corporation, to remove its debt and related
activities from the federal balance sheet.”

That’s pretty weak sauce, and the fact is correct. When that’s what Carney hopes to hide behind, you know they’re in trouble.
Anonymous

Obama is currently trying to extend the mission in Iraq, he’s ramped up the presence in Afghanistan and we now have boots on the ground in Libya. I think it’s you who is confused, Yoda.
Anonymous

I know this guy and he will go dumpster diving to get his name out there.
Anonymous

I wonder if anyone has turned Suskind in yet.
Anonymous

I was talking about three other passages, but nice try. Not one but three!!
Anonymous

We had to ramp up the war in Afghanistan because Bush took his attention away from them to invade Iraq. The troop level has gone down in Iraq, since Obama become president. Little do you know we have boots on the ground in 40 or so countries.
http://gregingleright.weebly.com/ Greg

Interesting claim David… Seems false to me. Guess I have to start adding them up.
http://gregingleright.weebly.com/ Greg

Good to see you Oxy. Cheers!
Anonymous

What are they?
Anonymous

Why are you making excuses that prove your assertion to be false?
david r

“Raising the debt ceiling is a sign of failed leadership.”
http://gregingleright.weebly.com/ Greg

I will include that one in your suggested Obama column.
Anonymous

This administration just doesn’t hate women, or Jews, or anyone else.

They simply hate Americans.
SILGARY

How can anybody trust what Geitner says. Isn’t he the guy who killed Patrick Swayze in Ghost?
http://twitter.com/Staciisa_bitch Staci Chase

It sounds like tabloid journalism.
Dflojak

hank god we have you here to bring a fair and balanced argument to the table. Do you have proof for any of your stattements or is it all just b.s. like it sounds. That’s my guess.
dflojak

Then don’t raise taxes, you hypocrite. Make up your mind Yoda, you seem a little bipolar.
Anonymous

“White House Refutes Confidence MenBook, Suggests Portion Lifted From Wikipedia”

Since the quotes in the book are on tape it sounds like the administrations talking points is what was lifted from Wikipedia. That, and “Governing for Dummies.”
http://twitter.com/BarneyFranken Barney Franken

ATTAAACK WAAATCH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XYKRokgX00

If you havent seen this parody video, your missing out…it is hilarious!
http://twitter.com/BarneyFranken Barney Franken

A good way to try to discredit something is to make it SOUND like tabloid journalism right?
Anonymous

Thanks – still smiling!
http://twitter.com/BarneyFranken Barney Franken

Ann Curry is already running interference for the White House:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/

check out her interview with Suskind. At no point did she accept any single part of the book as fact.

She grills Suskind like a cross examination…I thought Suskind comes off cool as a cucumber and doesnt flinch.

Apparently the quotes he attributes to administration officials are all on audio tape, so I look forward to the white house trying to spin that.
Anonymous

Which in this case is true. The idiots quote to him, then deny they said, he plays back the the tapes word for word, and they cry foul. What a bunch of losers Obama surrounds himself with.