Squabble over State gift gaffe goes public

WASHINGTON, March 24 (UPI) -- A gaffe on a gift U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave her Russian counterpart was made by Clinton's political team not State translators, aides said.

The gift Clinton presented to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was a large red button in a yellow case, with the words "Reset" and "Peregruzka" written on it, Politico reported Tuesday. When asked whether her staff got the right word, Lavrov replied, "You got it wrong."

The word roughly translates to "overcharged" or "overloaded" not "reset."

The error stunned some in the State Department because the button was assembled by Clinton's political team, headed by her long-time Senate press secretary Philippe Reines, not the department's group of Russian speakers and professional translators. Reines took over as the political staff member charged with handling the media.

Three people familiar with the gaffe told the Washington publication Reines sought to place public blame on the senior director for Russia at the National Security Council, Michael McFaul. On Monday, however, Reines denied that he blamed McFaul and sent Politico a joking statement in which he took responsibility for the error.

"Ultimotely [SIC], this was my soul [SIC] risponsibility [SIC], nobody else's in or out of the building. While the Russians laughed off the error and accepted the gift in the spirit of cooperation that it was meant, I've been sic [SIC] about the mistake since, especially that I let down the Secretary and the fine professionals at the State Department," the e-mail message said.