Key changing his story

Written By: - Date published: 5:50 pm, October 3rd, 2012 - 21 comments
Categories: john key, scoundrels - Tags: , ,

Didn’t someone once call John Key “as slippery as a snake in wet grass”? It’s interesting to watch him slither about, changing his story on the latest Dotcom revelations.

Here’s what Key is saying now:

Mr Key said the review backed up his statements that he had not been briefed in detail by the GCSB on its role in the Dotcom matter, nor any issues of potential illegality, until Monday September 17. [My emphasis]

and:

“I have been clear from the outset that I received no briefing on the operation from GCSB prior to 17 September, and this review confirms that“. [My emphasis]

And so on and so on. But hang on a moment please. The review does not “confirm” that Key had no briefing, quite the opposite (though the press release tries to pretend that it isn’t so). And Key did not deny being “briefed in detail”, he denied being briefed at all. Here’s what he said last Tuesday:

Despite being the minister in charge of the GCSB, he says none of it is his fault. “Simply because I wasn’t aware of the fact that the operation was taking place. It didn’t require ministerial sign-off. The first I heard about it was Monday.” [My emphasis]

That’s a straight forward categorical denial (and a straight forward categorical lie at about 99% probability). Trying to pretend now that he said “not been briefed in detail” is his usual slithery style.

21 comments on “Key changing his story ”

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  1. BLiP 1
    3 October 2012 at 5:59 pm

    .

    Heh! Some minion in his office rolling out the semantic hopskotch . . . typical. And how ironic to see, yet again, life imitate art with John Key in Hollywood promoting fantasy fiction while his office does the same thing here.

  2. ScottGN 2
    3 October 2012 at 6:06 pm

    Convenient too that he released the review just hours before he jets away from any irritating questions from pesky reporters.

  3. BloodyOrphan 3
    3 October 2012 at 6:08 pm

    How FAST do you usually drive John?
    About 4000km/hr M8! šŸ™‚ , This bloody beamer rocks M8!

    Hey JOHN your full a shit M8!
    I SWEAR M8!, Do ya wanna go for a Drive M8!?

    Not while your driving John, Ya can’t even read the Speedometer!
    You are a MORON at the end of the day AYE JOHN!

  4. Lanthanide 4
    3 October 2012 at 6:16 pm

    Didn’t he give some vague answer to Winston along this line of questioning, and then came back later into the house and made a personal statement to correct his earlier answer?

    • ScottGN 4.1
      3 October 2012 at 6:21 pm

      Yep. When he stands in the House to correct this answer it will be the third time this PM has had to make a personal statement to Parliament to avoid misleading the House. Says it all really.

    • ianmac 4.2
      3 October 2012 at 7:32 pm

      Do you think that Winston’s persistence at that time indicates that he knew more – had had a tip=off. I wonder.

  5. QoT 5
    3 October 2012 at 6:45 pm

    Sadly, I think he’ll probably get out of this by saying a one-slide presentation isn’t “a briefing” and the second doesn’t count because no one used the word “operation”.

    • felix 5.1
      3 October 2012 at 7:25 pm

      Yeah, and he never specified whether or not he was using the Gregorian calendar.

      Or even if he was referring to earth dates and times.

      Jeez if the questions were a bit more specific…

      • karol 5.1.1
        3 October 2012 at 7:56 pm

        Indeed, felix. And those pollies need to attend closely to Key’s answers and answer carefully targeted follow up questions. key will say that HIS DIARY lied to him or that the DIARY only mentioned the first FORMAL meeting, and kept him in the dark about anything else that happened:

        http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Business/QOA/1/b/f/50HansQ_20120925_00000003-3-Government-Communications-Security-Bureau.htm

        Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) : My diary indicates that I have been formally briefed by the Government Communications Security Bureau the following number of times, by year, since 2008: twice in 2008, 15 times in 2009, 11 times in 2010, 10 times in 2011, and 15 times in 2012.

        • felix 5.1.1.1
          3 October 2012 at 8:31 pm

          So you can say anything you like as long as it’s prefaced with “My diary indicates that”.

          • GregJ 5.1.1.1.1
            3 October 2012 at 9:06 pm

            To paraphrase from the preface of “The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister by the Right Hon. James Hacker MP”

            “Any statement in a politician’s memoirs [diary?] can represent one of six different levels of reality:

            a. What happened.
            b. What he believed happened.
            c. What he would have liked to have happened.
            d. What he wants to believe happened.
            e. What he wants other people to believe happened.
            f. What he wants other people to believe he believed happened.”

            or perhaps:

            “The Prime Minister doesn’t want the truth, he wants something he can tell Parliament.”

    • Jokerman 5.2
      3 October 2012 at 7:32 pm

      ‘It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,’ the Queen remarked.

      -Through the Looking Glass

      • jaymam 5.2.1
        3 October 2012 at 7:56 pm

        “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast” said the White Queen.

  6. the sprout 6
    3 October 2012 at 7:18 pm

    I guess he didn’t read the powerpoint presentation

  7. Jokerman 7
    3 October 2012 at 7:29 pm

    Political language..is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

    -Orwell

  8. Pascal's bookie 8
    3 October 2012 at 8:25 pm

    Andrea Vance notes another little wrinkle in the matrix.

    This not at all formal meeting, where John Key didn’t notice what he was being told or shown, if anything was said or shown at all, on a getting-to-know-you jaunt through the GCSB, some few years and a few dozen formal briefings after he became the guy overseeing it; took place on the 29th of February.

    …on February 16 police told GCSB that the spying may have been illegal – but GCSB’s legal department concluded there was no problem.

    So nearly two weeks after this, the GCSB just decided to include a talking point about Dotcom in a not at all official or in any way formal chat with the PM, when he was just passing through as it were, to see what they did all day, and they needed a wee graphic, just by way of example like.

    Righty fucking ho then.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7763234/Labour-questions-Keys-credibility-on-Kim-Dotcom

  9. Cayte Shepherd 9
    3 October 2012 at 11:55 pm

    He is the force of MORDOR.

    Middle Earth has been invaded.

  10. Matthew Whitehead 10
    4 October 2012 at 5:57 pm

    What I want to know is… where is the pressure for a snap election from the press? I don’t know how anyone can justify continuing to have this unethical and clearly dishonest minister in office, or shielding him from criticism by not implying this is an offense that merits the Prime Minister’s resignation and a new election. There’s a difference between just being mistaken about what’s best for the country (which up to now was all Key had demonstrably done wrong) and obviously covering up illegal domestic spying on people who, regardless of other possible crimes committed, were an inconvenience to his administration.

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