] In a back and forth yesterday, Sharon Bush, the former
] wife of the president's brother Neil and a central source
] for the book, issued a pre-emptive retraction after a
] British newspaper printed an article on the book, quoting
] Ms. Bush as saying that Mr. Bush used cocaine at Camp
] David while his father was in office.
]
] "I categorically deny that I ever told Kitty Kelley that
] George W. Bush used cocaine at Camp David or that I ever
] saw him use cocaine at Camp David," Ms. Bush said in an
] unsworn statement distributed by her lawyer, David Berg.
] "Although there have been tensions between me and various
] members of the Bush family, I cannot allow this falsehood
] to go unchallenged."
]
] Doubleday, the book's publisher and part of the Random
] House division of Bertelsmann, said it stood by Ms.
] Kelley's reporting. The publisher said in a statement
] that Ms. Kelly met with Ms. Bush for a four-hour lunch on
] April 1, 2003, where an unnamed third party heard the
] conversation, and that Ms. Kelley's editor, Peter
] Gethers, discussed the same material with Ms. Bush over
] the phone.
]
] Lou Colasuonno, a former publicist for Ms. Bush,
] confirmed that he was the third party at the lunch and
] contradicted her denial. "I have not seen the book, I
] have only seen news reports," Mr. Colasuonno said.
] "According to what I have seen, what has been reported, I
] would not dispute that."