Eichenwald on Maddow Show

Kurt Eichenwald just now on Maddow, after NYT editors and reporters claim nothing new in his op-ed piece on Bush and 9/11 today. He cites the "specificity" and "magnitude" of the warnings to the Bush administration that are new. What has bothered him is that "history has been distorted and faked." He hates that the CIA has been largely blamed, and "has tormented people" at the agency and "it's a lie...Having seen what's there, the CIA and other intelligence people were banging the drum saying, We have an attack coming."

Leading up to 9/11, CIA people said "we ought to put in for a transfer because when the attack comes we will be blamed for it. We won't be blamed for not telling them but blamed for not convincing them." Condi tried to explain away the famous August 6 memo by saying it did not say attack was imminent.  True, but earlier briefings did warn they were imminent.

Apparently Ari Fleischer today called him "a 9/11 truther." Eichenwald: "One of the things about Ari Fleischer and all these people is they are coming down a well-worn path." Just like they called Richard Clarke a liar. "This is what they know how to do, people like Ari Fleischer who can't deal with facts. I just talked to him and asked him to cite one fact that's not the truth [in what he wrote] and he couldn't."