What did McClellan know and when did he know it?

Last week, during a lengthy gaggle, Scott McClellan responded to a few questions about when, exactly, he learned that James Guckert was using a fake name.

Q: Were you aware that he had another name?

McClellan: Was I aware? I had heard that. I had heard that, yes, recently.

Q: But did you know during all this time that he really wasn’t Jeff Gannon?

McClellan: I heard at some point, yes — previously.

McClellan never defined “previously,” but in context, it sounds like he was acknowledging that he knew “Jeff Gannon” was an alias for Guckert.

A few days later, however, McClellan told Editor & Publisher a slightly different story.

Talon News reporter James D. Guckert got to ask questions at White House press briefings for nearly two years, but White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan didn’t know he was using an alias until the past few weeks, McClellan told E&P today.

There seems to be some inconsistency here. McClellan didn’t say in response to the question about whether he knew about Guckert’s real identity all along, “No, I just found out recently.” Instead, he said, “I heard at some point, yes — previously.” There’s a difference, isn’t there?

When McClellan found out about Guckert’s masquerade may be relevant to the broader controversy. There are lingering questions, for example, about why Guckert was granted daily passes and whether there was some kind of informal cooperation between the White House and the fake reporter. We don’t know which White House officials cleared Guckert, or why. We also don’t know if McClellan intentionally played along with Guckert’s scheme because it was helpful for the White House.

And now McClellan’s vacillating on when this information came to his attention. Hmm.