Via Astute Bloggers, is this a scandal or not?

British officials claim Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton were kept informed at all stages of discussions concerning Megrahi’s return.

The officials say the Americans spoke out because they were taken aback by the row over Megrahi’s release, not because they did not know it was about to happen.

‘The US was kept fully in touch about everything that was going on with regard to Britain’s discussions with Libya in recent years and about Megrahi,’ said the Whitehall aide.

‘We would never do anything about Lockerbie without discussing it with the US. It is disingenuous of them to act as though Megrahi’s return was out of the blue.

I’ve always assumed that they knew what was going on. How could they not? The objection to Megrahi’s release, as articulated by Frum, is that they didn’t pound the table more, not that they weren’t kept informed. Even so, this is the same M.O. The One followed during the Iran uprising, isn’t it? He keeps his mouth shut until a critical mass of public outrage is reached, then he creeps behind the podium and offers tepid denunciations. Way to lead, champ.