In a tell-all book, former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has made some bold, revealing, and, for those close to him, surprising and confusing accusations against the current administration. An overlooked report, however, may explain his actions.

In his book (What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception), McClellan claims that the administration was not “open and forthright on Iraq,” that the president “veered terribly off course,” and that he “confused the propaganda campaign with the high level of candor and honesty so fundamentally needed . . . during a time of war.”

He also says that “the ‘liberal media’ didn’t live up to its reputation” during the run-up to the war in Iraq, and that “if it had, the country would have been better served.” But while critiquing the president and the administration is welcomed, even necessary, many are surprised by the comments and feel they are uncharacteristic.

Karl Rove, mentioned extensively in the book, classified McClellan’s comments as those befitting “a left-wing blogger.” One Republican close to the White House dubbed the book “a desperate attempt to salvage [McClellan’s] reputation by junking the one positive attribute people saw in him—loyalty.” McClellan’s ex-boss, former Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said the book “perplexed” him.

The White House agrees, calling it the work of an angry former staffer. “Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House,” Press Secretary Dana Perino said. “For those of us who fully supported him, before, during and after he was press secretary, we are puzzled. It is sad—this is not the Scott we knew.”

But one largely ignored fact may explain the Jekyll and Hyde McClellan. The Wall Street Journal reports that only after working with publishers and editors did McClellan begin to formulate his critiques. “Many of the conclusions I’ve reached are quite different from those I would have embraced at the start of the process,” he writes in the book.

That secrets abound in an administration should not be surprising. All presidencies have their skeletons. Some secrets are even important to national security. What is surprising is that a group of outside writers were able to “shape the thinking” of a man known for his unquestioned loyalty.

And as numerous others release accounts criticizing the Bush administration, an important question arises: have these confidants prostituted their loyalty for the sake of popularity and book sales? For those who say yes, the irony is apparent: the liberal media may finally have lived up to its reputation. The debate now is whether we are better served because of it.

Night before last, word started trickling out (led by Politico) about former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan’s new Bush administration–bashing book due out next week. Since then, the new darling of the Left (Nancy Pelosi agrees with him; he’s on Keith Olbermann’s show tonight; Rep. Robert Wexler wants him to testify under oath before the House Judiciary Committee; Hillary and Obama are aligning themselves with him) has many of his former colleagues wondering what’s happened to him since he left the White House:

Karl Rove on Fox News Tuesday night: “First of all, this doesn’t sound like Scott. It really doesn’t. Not the Scott McClellan I’ve known for a long time. Second of all, it sounds like somebody else. It sounds like a left-wing blogger”

One of McClellan’s successors as press secretary and his former deputy, Dana Perino: “Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House. For those of us who fully supported him, before, during and after he was press secretary, we are puzzled. It is sad. This is not the Scott we knew.”

His predecessor, Ari Fleischer: “That’s one of the reasons this book comes as such a shock. It comes from the last person that anyone would have thought would have said these things or written these things. … All you can do is scratch your head when you see how far he’s turned.”

Former presidential counselor Dan Bartlett, who followed an interview with McClellan on “Today” this morning: “He never communicated to us that he had these personal misgivings. There’s not a lot of specific evidence about the most explosive charges.”

So just what is going on with McClellan? Is he just a disgruntled former employee out to make a quick buck? There’s no doubt that all the talk fueling the controversy this week will translate into book sales next week. The book is already No. 1 at Amazon.com, and Oprah hasn’t even endorsed it as the big summer read yet!