It’s probably one of the more effective advance publicity efforts in recent memory: former White House press secretary Scott McClellan now says Bush, Cheney, and other high-ranking White House officials knowingly had him lie about Scooter Libby’s involvement in the outing of Valerie Plame. (More here.)

That news comes in a brief excerpt from McClellan’s memoir, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and What’s Wrong with Washington, that’s been posted on the website for publisher Public Affairs. The book itself won’t see release until next April.

McClellan claims innocence, saying he was unwittingly lying to reporters on Bush’s behalf. We’ll have to wait a few months to see how much of his book is inside-scoop and how much is simply the former press secretary covering his own ass.