During a discussion about President Obama’s lack of transparency about the drone program, former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs explained on MSNBC this morning that he was ordered to never acknowledge the existence of the drone program.

“One of the first things they told me was, you are not even to acknowledge the drone program, you are not even to discuss that it exists,” Gibbs said frankly, explaining why he could never be forthcoming about the issue with White House reporters.

Gibbs added that in his opinion, the Obama administration’s denial of the program “undermines people’s confidence overall in the decisions that their government makes.”