Josh Earnest grilled over selectively edited transcript re: Iran lies

You'll probably recall that, back on May 9th, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was asked a pointed question about the Iran deal. Fox News correspondent Kevin Corke wanted to know if Earnest could “state categorically that no senior official in this administration has ever lied publicly about any aspect of the Iran nuclear deal.” Earnest's reply was an atypically blunt "No, Kevin." Strangely, though, Earnest's response is nowhere to be found in the official transcript of the exchange. As ABC News reported Friday, the line has simply vanished. The White House initially claimed the answer wasn't included because it was "inaudible."

The problem with that explanation is twofold. A: It's not - in any way - inaudible. It's as clear as a bell. B: When things are inaudible, the transcript places the word "Inaudible" in place of the unintelligible speech. That's not the case here. It's just gone. Since it's missing, and since this is becoming a pattern with the Obama administration, Fox News correspondent James Rosen decided to press Earnest about it.

“ABC News, Bloomberg News, Jason Chaffetz, many others, this reporter included, state categorically that the video shows, unmistakably, that you answered, ‘No, Kevin. And, in fact, Mr. Corke gave you a second chance during that briefing to answer that question because the answer was so striking he thought you misunderstood him.”

Earnest tried to weasel out of the obvious truth that the line was deleted because it's so damaging, but he failed miserably. He crumbled, badly, under questioning. Take a look at his answer:

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"Are you willing to review that video one more time, Josh, with an eye toward amending it as it should be amended?" "No."

In other words: "We determine what goes in the official historical record, Mr. Rosen. Not reality. Plebeian reporters should stop asking about it."