McCain Says He Doesn't Remember Meeting With Broadcaster

(CBS)

ROCKY RIVER, OHIO -- John McCain said he "didn't recall" meeting with broadcaster and campaign contributor Lowell "Bud" Paxson before he sent letters to the Federal Communications Commission asking them to reach a conclusion on his TV ownership case. "The most important thing is the letter I wrote that said, 'Do not make any decision either way, for either person, or either party,'" McCain said.

But Paxson contradicted McCain's claim that they never met. He says he did meet with the Senator, and Newsweek found a transcript of a deposition from 2002 where McCain is listed as saying "I was contacted by Mr. Paxson on this issue."

McCain's denial has now morphed into a poor recollection of events. "I don't recall," McCain said when asked to clarify he met with Paxson. "And I've said everything that I have to say on it, it was eight or nine years ago," he added.

McCain went on to explain his oversight duties as chair of the commerce committee were to move bureaucracies in Washington forward. "If there's some inordinate delay of some 800 days then it's entirely appropriate to ask a bureaucracy to function, that's the oversight responsibility," he said. "I'm proud to have led on campaign finance reform, on ethics reform, never taking a single earmark project in the 24 years I've been in Congress. I am proud of my record of reform that I have sought and fought for and achieved to a large degree."