White House 'puzzled' by McClellan's blast

WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- The White House is "puzzled" by former spokesman Scott McClellan's memoir blasting U.S. President George Bush, the current spokeswoman said Wednesday.

"For those of us who fully supported him, before, during and after he was press secretary, we are puzzled," Dana Perino said in a statement. "It is sad. This is not the Scott we knew."

In his about-to-be-released memoir, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," the former White House press secretary said Bush "convinces himself to believe what suits his needs at the moment," The New York Times reported Wednesday. The aim of this "self-deception," he said, was to justify his political goals.

"Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House," said Perino, who succeeded McClellan when he resigned in 2006.

The book, as reported in the media, has been described to Bush, she said.

"I do not expect a comment from him on it," Perino said. "He has more pressing matters than to spend time commenting on books by former staffers."

The book is expected to hit the bookstores Tuesday.