Rumsfeld defends himself in Tillman testimony

'Not a scrap of evidence'
Rumsfeld was mostly sober and measured in his testimony. On occasion there were flashes of the cocky, combative Rumsfeld known to the public from Pentagon briefings.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, demanded to know whether there was a White House and Defense Department strategy to manage press portrayals of the war and other events.

“Well, if there was, it wasn’t very good,” Rumsfeld remarked.

“Well, you know, maybe it was very good,” Kucinich objected loudly. “Because you actually covered up the Tillman case for a while, you covered up the Jessica Lynch case, you covered up Abu Ghraib, so something was working for you.

“Was there a strategy to do it, Mr. Rumsfeld?”

Video General reprimanded July 31: Army Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger was censured for allegedly deceiving investigators. NBC's Steve Handelsman reports. NBC News Channel

“Congressman, the implication that ‘you covered up’ — that’s just false, you have nothing to base that on, you have not a scrap of evidence or a piece of paper or a witness that would attest to that,” Rumsfeld replied hotly. “I have not been involved in any cover-up whatsoever.”

'Failure of leadership'
The congressional inquiry comes a day after the Army laid most of the blame for the response to Tillman’s death on Philip Kensinger, a retired three-star general who led Army special operations forces after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The Army censured Kensinger for “a failure of leadership” and accused him of lying to investigators probing the aftermath of Tillman’s death. A review panel made up of four-star generals will decide whether Kensinger should have his rank reduced.

Army Secretary Pete Geren insisted, however, that there was no intentional Pentagon cover-up. The committee issued a subpoena Monday for Kensingers’ testimony but U.S. marshals weren’t able to deliver it.

Kensinger’s attorney, Charles W. Gittins, told The Associated Press Tuesday night that Kensinger was on business travel and had declined to “participate in a hearing that is all about show and no substance.”

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