The Treasury secretary makes a backflip.
Republicans claim collusion and opportunism.
Clinton and Gore consulted by telephone before Gore began on Wednesday to roll out his pronouncement that the president should use some of the government's 571 million-barrel stockpile to nudge oil prices. Gore's proposal, in fact, ''could be appropriate in current circumstances,'' Summers said. An administration official further clarified that Summers' memo had specifically been directed against a Department of Energy proposal to sell 60 million barrels of oil, about one-tenth of the reserve, and not a more limited proposal like Gore's. Richardson told the House Government Reform Committee Thursday. Burson said, in White House meetings on Clinton's next step.