Carter still plans to sue on gossip tale, paper says

former President Jimmy Carter says he still intends to sue the WAshinton Post over a gossip item that said Blair House Was "bugged" during his administration, despite a Post editorial backing down on the story, the New York Times reports.

The Post explained that the item -- which suggested the Carters had eavesdropped on Ronald and Nancy Reagan during their stay at the house -- was reported as a story that was circulating and that the existence of the rumor was a fact but that its validity was "utterly impossible to believe."

Carter aides say that the Post editorial waes not enough to head off a suit because it suggested the paper knew the report was false but chose to publish it anyway.