White House communications director Jen Psaki on Friday declined to say that a government spokesperson should never lie to the public, and instead said not lying is a “value” that she personally has always upheld.
“Is it ever justified for a U.S. government spokesperson to lie to the American people?” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked her.
“I think that’s a fundamental value that I have always followed as not to, and providing as much information as you possibly can, including being an advocate for wanting to provide more, which is exactly what I did in the case of briefing on the Iran back-channel,” she said.
Psaki was the spokeswoman at the State Department in 2013 when she was asked whether the government ever lies to protect secret negotiations.
“James, I think there are times where diplomacy needs privacy in order to progress. This is a good example of that,” Psaki replied to Fox News reporter James Rosen. That portion of her answer was quickly removed from the video, and only restored in May after it was noticed that it was missing.
The State Department on Wednesday admitted that the edit was done intentionally.
She was asked the question in 2013, months after a former spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said there were no talks going on between the U.S. and Iran about a nuclear deal. That was later shown to be incorrect, prompting many to say State was lying to the press.
In her CNN interview, Psaki seemed intent on avoiding criticism of Nuland. Aside from not saying spokespeople should never lie, Psaki also deflected when Blitzer asked her if Nuland lied years ago.
“I think you’d have to my predecessor about that,” she replied.
But she also defended the idea that some things the government does need to remain secret. She said former secretaries of state, including Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright, have argued that “mushrooms grow better in the dark.”
