On the October 3 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly began his show by asking whether author and Washington Post assistant managing editor Bob Woodward was “reporting spin-free” in his new book State of Denial: Bush At War, Part III (Simon & Schuster, September 2006), which discusses the Bush administration's handling of terrorism and the Iraq war. O'Reilly introduced his interview with Woodward shortly thereafter by citing comments by former White House chief of staff Andrew H. Card Jr. and “friends of [former CIA director] George Tenet,” in which they asserted that Woodward mischaracterized the “tone” of certain events depicted in the book. But O'Reilly did not allow Woodward to respond to the charges when Woodward requested to do so, stating: “I'm not real interested in that, so much. ... I just want to get on the record that some people are questioning, you know, your controversial book.”

Introducing Woodward, O'Reilly described his book as discussing the “failed policy” in Iraq “and tons of infighting among Bush cabinet members,” and noted that “last night on The Factor, former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said Mr. Woodward quoted him correctly, but reached faulty conclusions.” O'Reilly continued: “Also, The New York Times today reported that friends of George Tenet believe Mr. Woodward misreported the tone of a meeting about terrorism prior to 9-11 between Tenet, the former CIA chief, and [Secretary of State] Condoleezza Rice." O'Reilly was referring to a portion of Woodward's book in which Woodward reported Tenet arranged a meeting on July 10, 2001, with Rice, who was then national security adviser, to discuss the mounting evidence of an impending terrorist attack on the United States. According to Woodward's account, Tenet felt Rice “brush[ed] off” his warnings.

Yet, when Woodward asked to respond to the charges “one at a time,” O'Reilly stated: "[N]o. I'm not real interested in that, so much. ... I just want to get on the record that some people are questioning, you know, your controversial book." At no point during the interview did O'Reilly allow Woodward to respond to charges that his book mischaracterized the “tone” of Card and Tenet.

From the October 3 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: Bob Woodward talking about the war in Iraq, but is his reporting spin-free? Mr. Woodward will be here.

[...]

O'REILLY: The man in charge of hunting down bin Laden levels some very serious accusations. Michael Scheuer will be here, and Ann Coulter, on the Congressman [Mark] Foley scandal. Caution, you are about to enter the “No-Spin Zone.” The Factor begins right now.

[...]

O'REILLY: Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly. Thanks for watching us tonight. No “Talking Points Memo” this evening 'cause I want to get right to our talk with Bob Woodward, author of the new book, State of Denial. The book says President Bush and his war team did not heed warnings about Iraq, and they do not brook dissent. The result, according to the book, is a failed policy and tons of in-fighting among Bush cabinet members.

Now, last night on the Factor, former White House chief of staff Andrew Card said Mr. Woodward quoted him correctly, but reached faulty conclusions.

CARD [video clip]: I can understand why he might have a perception that he does, but it's the wrong perception, and his perception may reflect his own bias.

O'REILLY: OK. Also, The New York Times today reported that friends of George Tenet believe Mr. Woodward misreported the tone of a meeting about terrorism prior to 9-11 between Tenet, the former CIA chief and Condoleezza Rice. The Times says, quote, “Both current and former officials, including allies of Mr. Tenet, took issue with Mr. Woodward's account that he and his aides had left the meeting feeling that Ms. Rice had ignored them.”

Now, to be fair, every controversial book is disputed; every strong opinion attacked. Joining us now from Washington, author of State of Denial, Bob Woodward. OK, I got lots of time with you this evening, so where --

WOODWARD: Can I take them one at a time?

O'REILLY: You can -- no, you know, I'm not real interested in that, so much.

WOODWARD: OK.

O'REILLY: I just want to get on the record that some people are questioning, you know, your controversial book, and I think that you obviously expected that. What -- what is --

WOODWARD: Well, of course. But Andy Card, as he said last night on your show -- that all the quotes in my book are accurate that he knows about.

O'REILLY: Yeah, but the whole White House --

WOODWARD: OK, it's a great starting point.

O'REILLY: -- the whole White House team says you were honest in your reportage, but you came in with a preconceived thesis or hypothesis that the war is a failure, and you were looking to bolster that. Now, I don't know whether that's true or not, but I want to start at the beginning.

WOODWARD: That's not true.

O'REILLY: I want to start at the beginning. What is the headline of your book? If you were a headline writer -- what is the headline?