White House stands by 'truther' Van Jones

The White House would not say whether the White House's green-jobs czar, who has been linked to Sept. 11 conspiracy theorists, continues to enjoy the confidence of the president, but an official said he is still a part of the administration.

Van Jones, the president's special adviser for green jobs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), has come under fire this week for using an obscenity to describe Republicans and for signing a petition to get Congress to investigate whether the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were an inside government job.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs would only say Friday that Jones, no stranger to controversial or offensive statements, is still a part of the administration. He declined to say if Jones still has the confidence of the president.

In a meeting with reporters in his West Wing office, Gibbs referred numerous questions about Jones to the CEQ and a statement Jones released Thursday saying he did not agree with the petition signed by so-called "truthers."

Gibbs did say the president disagrees with those statements as well.