White House Hits Back at Confidence Men

The Obama administration is fighting back against allegations from Ron Suskind's coming book Confidence Men that the president's top advisers undermined his authority and ignored his orders, reports Politico. “This is not what I told the author, this is not what I believe, and anyone who knows me and my history of supporting this president as a candidate and in office knows this isn’t true,” said former communications director Anita Dunn, who was quoted in Suskind's book as saying the White House was "a genuinely hostile workplace to women."

A Treasury Department official called Suskind's report that Timothy Geithner ignored an executive order to write a proposal to dissolve Citigroup "simply untrue." “The hearsay attributed to me is a combination of fiction, distortion, and words taken out of context," said Larry Summers, pushing back against quotes attributed to him, including one alleging that "There’s no adult in charge." 'I have always believed that the president has led this country with determined, steady, and practical leadership in the economic area.” White House officials also pointed out a litany of smaller errors in the book, such as misspelled names and incorrect job titles. (More Ron Suskind stories.)