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Briefer Dana Perino

The focus of the morning gaggle was Scott McClellen's book. White House press secretary Dana Perino said that she has heard about the calls for McClellan to testify before Congress, but that she has not had a chance to address it specifically with White House counsel. When asked if Perino had plans to read McClellan's book she replied "I certainly have no plans to buy it." She said that the White House counsel had reviewed the book and that the White House had been aware of the effect it would have for some time. She said that McClellan has the right to write what he wants, but it is White House wish "that is would be based on some semblance of fact."

There was a discussion about Perino's own perspective on the job as press secretary. She said that one can be as involved as a press secretary as one desires to be. She defined it as a matter of will , not a matter of access. She said that she was very satisfied with her access as press secretary.

She reiterated the White House's primary objection to the book, which is, as Perino phrased it, McClellan's allegation that the White House purposefully misled the American people in the run up to the Iraq war. "Our central objection is to the message of the book , not just the messenger," Perino said. She said that she doesn't remember McClellan complaining about access when she worked under him as deputy press secretary. She said that this book is written with hindsight and that at the time of McClellen's tenure there was nothing to object to as the White House was going off the intelligence it had at the time, which Perino pointed out was accepted by other nations as well.

The President had his normal briefings and later on will record his radio address. The topic of this weeks address is the priorities that Congress should focus on when it returns from Memorial Day recess. The President spoke to Pakistani President Pervez Musharaff on the phone as a follow up to their meeting in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Perino announced that Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer will lead a delegation to Rome for the conference on world food security in the first week of June.

When asked whether the president agreed with Vice President Cheney's characterization of the war in Iraq as "succeeding brilliantly," Perino said that while Iraq's progress remains reversible, the strategy of the surge was the right one and that Gen. David Petraeus, who she said was "brilliant in his own right" was implementing the strategy that is gaining progress. She said that Maliki is uniting his government through the offensives in Basra, Mosul, and Sadr City. And she said that the donor's conference to get other Arab nations to invest in Iraq, is something that will take time to gain the trust of donors.