The White House is continuing to deny that Vice President Joe Biden used the word “terrorist” to describe American Tea Party members. The story was broken by Politico, as professional a political news outfit as one can find anywhere, which had it from three separate sources who had been in the room with Biden that, in fact, the Vice President had said it.

Biden’s initial response suggested that, indeed, he had used the word.  His spokesman issued the following response: “The word was used by several members of Congress. The vice president does not believe it’s an appropriate term in political discourse.” In other words, “Okay, he said it after others introduced the word; it was a dumb-ass thing to repeat, and he should not have.”  If he really hadn’t used the word “terrorists,” a far different statement would have come from his office.  They would have issued a sharp denial.

Then, the White House went to the wall with it.  Biden did not say it became the official party line.  So much so that The Washington Post took a gratuitous shot at Politico today in its “Fact Checker” column.  In response, Politico defended itself, laying out step-by-step how it got its story.  Pretty convincing stuff. 

For the ten-thousandth time, it’s the cover up that gets you. People in The White House, of all places, should remember that.