In Finale, McCurry Says He Never Misled Press

In his 539th and last briefing in the White House press gallery, White House spokesman Mike McCurry said Thursday that, while the president purposefully misled the country, he never did.

McCurry was responsible for keeping a hostile press corps at bay throughout the seven months in which President Clinton was denying that he had had a sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky.

“Frankly, the president misled me too, so I came here and misled you on occasion. And that was grievously wrong of him, but he’s acknowledged that,” McCurry said. “But, you know, did I ever knowingly come here and send you folks in the wrong direction? I did not. I’m confident of that.”

While denying that he lied directly, McCurry admitted that he failed to seek out information sought by reporters because he wanted to protect the president’s attorney-client privilege and protect himself from being subpoenaed by independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr.

The Lewinsky scandal forced McCurry, whose forte is foreign policy, to focus on the kind of controversial topic that he had artfully avoided during much of his tenure as spokesman. But he admitted that he expects to benefit from it.

Although he was press secretary for three years before Starr made Lewinsky’s name a household word, it was handling this crisis that turned McCurry into a celebrity.

“I will certainly enjoy whatever notoriety I have, and I will certainly use it to the good fortune of my family in the future,” he added with a sly smile.