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Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), the ranking Republican member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, now says he is sorry for apologizing to BP CEO Tony Hayward during an intensely-watched hearing this morning.

Before Hayward began his prepared remarks to the committee, Barton told him “I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday," referring to an agreement reached between BP and the White House to establish a $20 billion independently-managed escrow account to handle the claims filed against the company. He added, “I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong is subject to some sort of political pressure that…amounts to a shakedown. So I apologize.”

Democrats pounced on Barton as soon as the news of his comments broke. "House Republicans continue to side with Big Oil over the needs of the American people," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Vice President Joe Biden told White House reporters he found Barton's remarks "incredibly insensitive, incredibly out of touch." Press Secretary Robert Gibbs later said the President had been made aware of the comments, and replied that he could not "understand why anyone would say that.”

In all likelihood, it was such blow-back that prompted Barton to issue the following statement:

“I apologize for using the term ‘shakedown’ with regard to yesterday’s actions at the White House in my opening statement this morning, and I retract my apology to BP. As I told my colleagues yesterday and said again this morning, BP should bear the full financial responsibility for the accident on their lease in the Gulf of Mexico. BP should fully compensate those families and businesses that have been hurt by this accident. BP and the federal government need to stop the leak, clean up the damage, and take whatever steps necessary to prevent a similar accident in the future. “I regret the impact that my statement this morning implied that BP should not pay for the consequences of their decisions and actions in this incident.”