Defense official contradicts Murtha

Jack's back.

And he's up to his old tricks.

Jack Murtha – whose reputation for stretching the truth and making wildly exaggerated claims is legendary – has just put his foot in his mouth.

Again.

Two days ago, Murtha told the press that General David Petraeus, the commander of Multi-National Forces-Iraq, had not met with Members of Congress during his recent visit to Washington.

On Tuesday, appearing on his favorite cable news talk show, MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," Murtha said of General Petraeus's recent visit, "They bring Petraeus back – purely political move. Petraeus comes back here. He doesn't talk to any of us. He only talks to the news media and so forth trying to sell this program."

But that's not true.

Not only did General Petraeus meet and conduct two briefings for Members of Congress, he briefed Jack Murtha PERSONALLY.

And the two briefings he conducted for Members of the House and Senate were two of the most widely attended operations intelligence briefings in recent memory – with 250 Representatives and 86 Senators in attendance.

Read the full story for yourself.

When, oh when, is Jack Murtha going to tell the truth?