OH-02 GOP Jean Schmidt: Conservative Columnist George Will Says Chinese Drilling Claim Is False

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- She drilled deep about Chinese oil wells near Florida and produced a dry hole -- her fling into offshore oil speculation was a dud. Maybe the Ohio congresswoman has finally set course from the Florida Straits for the nearby Bermuda Triangle? U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt has not yet recanted or corrected her false claim made during a speech on the House floor that Chinese oil interests have already begun drilling into offshore oil pockets near the Florida coastline. But in a column distributed today, conservative pundit George Will penned a correction for making the same untrue statement. Here's Will:

"CORRECTION: In a previous column, I stated that China, in partnership with Cuba, is drilling for oil 60 miles from the Florida coast. While Cuba has partnered with Chinese companies to drill in the Florida Straits, no Chinese company has been involved in Cuba's oil exploration that close to the U.S."

Will's admission that he was wrong is at the end of this column in Real Clear Politics. Schmidt -- a Republican seeking reelection in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District in southern Ohio near Cincinnati -- has swallowed a sea story, a myth, an urban legend. She's seen offshore Chinese oil wells where others see nothing but the sea, the beautiful sea.