We didn’t mean not to tell you, it just turned out that way.
The White House had no role in the decision to delay disclosure of a fire that broke out in a crash-tested Chevrolet Volt, the Obama administration told Congress on Friday.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland said the White House had been informed in September of the June fire, but didn’t ask the agency to keep the information secret. NHTSA briefed Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Strickland told three House Republicans in letters released Friday.
The Transportation Department “shortly thereafter informed the Executive Office of the President regarding the June fire and NHTSA’s test plans to determine if the fire indicated that there is a risk of post-crash fires in Chevrolet Volts. No one from the Executive Office of the President requested or in any way suggested that NHTSA delay public release of information related to the Volt fire,” said the four-page letter dated Thursday.
NHTSA didn’t publicly disclose the fire took place until November, when Bloomberg News first reported it had occurred. It opened a formal defect investigation later that month when a second Volt battery pack caught fire seven days following another government test.
If Obama said it didn’t happen, it didn’t happen. He has never told a lie. Case closed.