President Bush counselor Dan Bartlett accused Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward of bias in "State of Denial", the third book in Woodward's series about the Bush administration's execution of the war in Iraq, in an appearance on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."
"I was really stuck by the fact that the central thesis of this book, the claim that the president was in a state of denial, that he was misleading the America people about what was happening in Iraq," Bartlett told ABC News. "Quite frankly, is not backed up with the own facts in his book."
Woodward, who gained fame for his reporting during the Watergate scandal, previously penned "Bush at War" and "Plan of Attack", both of which were produced with the cooperation of the Bush White House. Neither President Bush nor Vice President Cheney, however, sat down for an interview with Woodward for "State of Denial".
"On this project, it was unfortunate that we felt he had already formed some conclusions even before the interviewing began," Bartlett claimed. "I didn't say that he wasn't an honest reporter," the counselor continued, adding that after interviews with other key members of the Bush administration, "There was just a sense that, despite spending hours with him, their points weren't getting across."
One of the book's most explosive charges involves the pursuit of Osama bin Laden prior to the 9/11 attacks. In "State of Denial", Woodward describes an urgent, unscheduled meeting that took place on July 10, 2001, between then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, then-CIA Director George Tenet, and Cofer Black, a counterterrorism chief within the State Department.
In that passage, Woodward describes Tenet and Black. "They both felt they were not getting through to Rice. She was polite, but they felt the brush-off. A coherent plan for covert action against bin Laden was in the pipeline, but it would take some time."
Bartlett refuted the claim, saying he had spoken with Secretary Rice about Woodward's assertion. The told ABC News "That's Secretary Rice's view, that that type of urgent request to go after Bin Laden, as the book alleges, in her mind, didn't happen."
Bartlett also called Woodward's description of the encounter a "grossly inaccurate characterization of the meeting they had," contending that that period of time, due to its relevance before the 9/11 Commission, has been "some of the most investigated eight months of any presidency."
On the larger charge involving the president's handling of the war in Iraq, Bartlett again protested, charging that Bush "doesn't connect his own dots."
Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn., appeared exclusively on "This Week", refuting the claim.
"They have been mischaracterizing this war for two years," Murtha said. "What Bob Woodward said doesn't surprise me a bit."
Murtha, a Vietnam veteran who has called for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, reiterated his call for Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation, but Bartlett continued to voice support for the president's backing of the often-embattled defense secretary.
Bartlett told chief Washington anchor George Stephanopoulos "the President has full confidence in Secretary Rumsfeld. He's doing an enormously difficult job."
"We're fighting for the soul of America," Murtha urged. "We have to redeploy out of Iraq; let them settle it themselves."
A new book by Bob Woodward claims that then-CIA director George Tenet gave an urgent warning to Condoleezza Rice two months prior to the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center.

In a report in Sunday's ''Washington Post'', the veteran of the Watergate scandal details some of the points as he understood them.

Tenet and CIA counterterrorism chief J. Cofer Black had, according to Woodward, held a meeting with the national security advisor.  Whilst there was no clearly identifiable threat Woodward claims Tenet and Black both suspected "something was coming" and tried to get this point across.

Woodward cites earlier interference from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, questioning NSA intercepts and downplaying al-Qaeda's threats. Painting a picture of an administration focusing on other things, Woodward claims Tenet left with the impression that the unscheduled meeting with Rice had not swayed her from focus on other issues.

Woodward's book, ''State of Denial'', went on sale on September 29 and has already drawn criticism from the White House.  In an interview on ABC's ''This week'', the President's councillor accused Woodward of bias.