Justin Elliott June 25, 2010, 10:38 AM

The Gore pushback begins?

After the revelation yesterday that a Portland, Oregon, massage therapist accused Al Gore of sexual assault for a 2006 incident, Gore’s spokeswoman issued “no comment”s across the board — including to TPM. But given the woman’s extremely detailed account of what she alleges happened — and the fact that police did not dispute that Gore was in the hotel in question on the night in question, it seemed unlikely that Gore would not respond.

Now, buried in Howard Kurtz’s Washington Post media column today, we have a response — of sorts. Check out this paragraph:

According to a source friendly with the Gores, Al Gore confirmed that he received a therapeutic massage in his hotel room that night, and likely from the therapist making the accusation. But, the source said, Gore remembers getting a massage without incident and the therapist leaving on good terms.

So there you have it. Gore has “confirmed” — it’s not entirely clear to whom, though presumably the anonymous source — that he got a massage “without incident” and he and the therapist left “on good terms.”

We asked Gore’s official spokeswoman if this is indeed the vice president’s version of things and she declined to comment.

Al Gore, Al Gore Sexual Assault Allegations, Democrats, Portland