HUD Secretary: I didn't do it, even though I said I did.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson says he made it up.

Jackson stepped on a hornet's nest when he bragged that he had blocked a contract for a small business owner who opposed President Bush.

After his April 28 speech to a business group in Dallas, HUD spokeswoman Dustee Tucker told a Dallas Business Journal reporter the secretary was referring to a contract for advertising in a minority publication.

Within days Jackson and his spokeswoman began backpedaling. Tucker told the Dallas Morning News on May 9, "It's not a true story. It's a made-up story."

In a written statement, Jackson declared, "During my tenure, no contract has ever been awarded, rejected, or rescinded due to the personal or political beliefs of the recipient." He said he regretted his "anecdotal remarks."

In the speech to a conference of minority real estate executives, the Business Journal reported Jackson talked about meeting with a man who had been chosen for a HUD contract: "He came to see me and thank me for selecting him. Then he said something ... he said, 'I have a problem with your president.'

"I said, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'I don't like President Bush.' I thought to myself, 'Brother, you have a disconnect--the president is elected, I was selected. You wouldn't be getting the contract unless I was sitting here. If you have a problem with the president, don't tell the secretary.'

"He didn't get the contract," Jackson continued. "Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don't get the contract. That's the way I believe."

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) called for Jackson's resignation. Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman (CA) and Barney Frank (MA) demanded that Jackson turn over all documents relating to any contract he had "reviewed, approved or [been] involved with."

On May 9 the HUD spokeswoman, Tucker, told the Business Journal: "He was merely trying to explain to the audience how people in D.C., will say critical things about the secretary, will unfairly characterize the president and then turn around and ask you for money. He did not actually meet with someone and turn down a contract. He's not part of the contracting process."

The Washington Post editorialized: "Either Mr. Jackson broke the law and then lied about it, or he lied that he had broken the law. Which of those actions makes him fit to be secretary of housing and urban development?"

HUD's inspector general is reviewing the incident, according to a spokesman.

Jackson is a former president of the Dallas Housing Authority and a longtime associate of President Bush. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said Jackson still has the president's support.