WASHINGTON, July 17 (UPI) -- A U.S. senator Thursday said a White House official insisted claims about Iraq trying to buy uranium be included in the president's State of the Union speech.
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the demand was made despite Central Intelligence Agency doubts about the report's credibility.
The New York Times said Durbin told fellow senators, "The president has within his ranks on staff, some person who was willing to spin and hype and exaggerate and cut corners on the most important speech the president delivers in any given year."
Durbin made the remarks as he offered a proposal to hold up $50 million in intelligence spending until the president delivers a report on the incident.
Durbin declined to identify the White House official, saying that information "should come from the president."
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan called Durbin's remark "nonsense" and noted Durbin has been a vocal critic of the Iraq war.
