The Bush administration has been forced to admit that in the months before the Iraqi elections in January, President Bush approved a plan to provide covert support to certain Iraqi candidates and political parties. The admission came in response to Seymour Hersh’s forthcoming piece in The New Yorker magazine where he reports that the administration proceeded with the covert plan over congressional objections. A spokesperson from the National Security Council denied that, saying the administration rescinded the proposal because of congressional opposition. Hersh’s article cites unidentified former military and intelligence officials who said the administration had gone ahead with covert election activities in Iraq that “were conducted by retired CIA officers and other nongovernment personnel, and used funds that were not necessarily appropriated by Congress.” Any clandestine US effort to influence the Iraqi elections would have run counter to Bush’s assertions that the vote would be free and fair. Some of the covert support provided to Iraqi candidates and parties may have come through organizations such as the National Democratic Institute.