He wrote that he had placed "great hope" in Bush to change that culture: "He chose not to do so. . . . Instead, his own White House became embroiled in political maneuvering that was equally unsavory, if not worse" than that of the Clinton White House.
Specifically, McClellan accused Rove and Libby of actively deceiving him during the investigation into the 2003 exposure of then-CIA operative Valerie Plame. He wrote that his credibility suffered after, as White House spokesman, he issued public denials early in the investigation that either Rove or Libby was involved.
Libby eventually was convicted of obstruction of justice for lying about what he had told reporters about Plame; Rove was investigated for two years and acknowledged speaking with reporters about the operative but was never charged with a crime.
McClellan wrote that he spoke to reporters only after both men had assured him privately that they were not involved in leaking Plame's name.
"I can only conclude that they knowingly misled me," he wrote. "I would never have made that statement had I known the facts."
McClellan wrote that "what they did was wrong and harmful to national security" and said that it was "clear to me that Scooter Libby was guilty of the perjury and obstruction crimes for which he was convicted."
Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2007, but Bush commuted the sentence, a move that McClellan said left him "disappointed."
McClellan said he had also been personally assured by Bush that Rove was not involved in the leak.
"President Bush would not have deliberately misled me," McClellan wrote. "While I wish I could say the same about the vice president, I simply don't know for sure."
Libby's lawyer declined to comment.
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james.gerstenzang @latimes.com
rick.schmitt@latimes.com
Times staff writer Johanna Neuman contributed to this report.
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
EXCERPTS FROM MCCLELLAN'S MEMOIR
Lies, rigidity and a lax press
"No single decision caused the wheels to come off the Bush White House. But the way we went about executing the decision to go to war -- from making the case to the public to inadequately planning and preparing for its aftermath as we rushed into it -- sent us badly off track."
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