Busted

First Photo of Bush and Abramoff: White House had initially said there was no record of disgraced lobbyist at 2001 meeting…

[The picture] shows a bearded Abramoff in the background as Bush greets an Abramoff client, Raul Garza, who was then the chairman of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas; Bush senior advisor Karl Rove looks on. The photograph was provided to TIME by Mr. Garza. The meeting took place in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House on May 9, 2001. Told about the photograph in January, the White House said it had no record that Abramoff was present at the meeting. Shown the photograph today, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the White House had still found no record of Abramoff's presence but confirmed that it is Abramoff in the picture. McClellan told TIME: "The president has taken countless, tens of thousands of pictures at home and abroad over the last five years. As we've said previously a photo like this has no relevance to the Justice Department's investigation (of Abramoff)."

No record, huh? To those in the reality-based community, that doesn’t mean anything besides sloppy record-keeping. And normally, I know that saying “no record” and “no relevance,” all part of that empire which creates its own realities, is good enough, but the problem is that pretending you don’t know jack doesn’t dispute the picture that says you do.