Biden, Rove, Former Bush Officials in War of Words Over WH Meetings

Former members of the Bush Administration are disputing Vice President Joe Biden's version of events concerning comments the vice president says he delivered to President Bush in the Oval Office. Biden says that he delivered some sharply worded retorts to Bush on the subject of the Iraq War. On Tuesday, Biden said, "I remember Bush saying to me one time in the Oval Office, 'Well, Joe, I'm a leader.' And I said, 'Mr. President, turn around and look behind you, no one is following.'"

But former Bush Administration officials are challenging the veracity of Biden's remarks, most notably Karl Rove. Rove used some sharp words of his own in disputing the vice president's anecdote.

"It didn't happen. I hate to say this, but he's a serial exaggerator. If I was being unkind, I would say liar, but it is a habit he ought to drop.

With all due respect to the vice president, these are the kind of things you can get away with if you are a United States Senator or a backbencher in the U.S. House of Representatives. You should not exaggerate and lie like this when you are the Vice President of the United States."

The vice president's spokesman said that Biden, "stands by his remarks."

Other Bush officials back up Rove's assessment, including former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, former Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, and Calinda Wolff, former Bush White House liaison to Congress. Fleischer reportedly reviewed detailed notes of Biden's White House visits, which include direct quotes from the former Senator. Wolff, took particular issue with another of Biden's stories, in which he recalled spending "hours" alone with President Bush in the Oval Office.

The president would never sit through two hours of Joe Biden. I don't ever remember Biden being in the Oval. He was such a blowhard on all that stuff - there wasn't a reason to bring him in."