For the past two decades, rumors have persisted that the outgoing staff of former President Bill Clinton sabotaged and vandalized the White House ahead of the transition to former President George W. Bush's administration.

In his new memoir, Clinton addressed those rumors about his staff's mistreatment of his successor and seemingly confirmed that the reports were true, though he tried to downplay the severity of the antics, according to Wide Open Country.

Chief among the complaints from Bush's staff that Clinton validated was the removal of the "W" keys from computers and typewriters throughout the White House's office spaces.

Clinton confirms reports of sabotage and vandalism

According to the Daily Mail, former President Clinton recently released a new memoir titled "Citizen: My Life After the White House," part of which addressed the media "feeding frenzy" about his staff's alleged sabotage and vandalism during the 2001 transition following the disputed 2000 election.

"The first to hit were stories that, as we moved out of the White House, I had taken two large bedside tables from the master bedroom; That the 'W' key had been removed from typewriters and computers in the West Wing; And that, on my flight to New York on the former Air Force One after President George W Bush’s inauguration, our passengers destroyed government plates and other utensils," Clinton wrote.

"The White House staff asked me to take the tables saying they didn’t want to keep or store them. And no one on Air Force One destroyed government merchandise," he continued, debunking at least two of the allegations.

"I didn’t know about the alleged removal of the 'W' keys, but the whole thing bothered me because I had made it clear that I wanted a smooth, cooperative transition and we had done exactly that," Clinton claimed. "Within a few days some people finally went on the record to say that either no damage had occurred or that the allegations of 'W' mischief were greatly exaggerated."

Clinton staff's damage outlined in GAO report

Though he sought to downplay the extent and severity of his staff's sabotage of the incoming Bush administration, former President Clinton essentially confirmed what had already been determined to have occurred by the General Accounting Office following a nearly year-long investigation in 2001-2002.

According to the Los Angeles Times at the time, the GAO was asked by then-Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) to look into reports of Clinton staff vandalizing the White House on their way out, and the investigators ultimately discovered that approximately $15,000 worth of damage had been done.

The GAO report outlined how "damage, theft, vandalism, and pranks did occur in the White House during the 2001 presidential transition," some of which "clearly were intentional," including removing the "W" key from keyboards and other forms of petty mischief, like gluing desk drawers closed, defacing bathrooms, and leaving obscene messages on answering machines, among other things.

Barr said in a statement at that time, "The Clinton administration treated the White House worse than college freshmen checking out of their dorm rooms. They disgraced not just themselves but the institution and the office of the presidency as well."

Democrats pushed back against the GAO report

Of course, Clinton supporters and Democrats immediately came to the defense of the ex-president and also joined in the effort to dismissively downplay the GAO report, namely by suggesting the damage caused was not extraordinary or by complaining that the investigation cost taxpayers more than the damage that was probed, per the LA Times.

"The work on this that Mr. Barr did and the White House did cost more than the people moving out of the office," Jake Siewert, a Clinton White House spokesperson, said at the time. "The White House was in pretty good shape, but obviously you have some damage from 500 people transiting in and out of it."

Likewise, then-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) absurdly said, "The GAO’s report confirms what many of us have long known to be true: Claims made by Bush administration officials of widespread vandalism at the White House during the transition just weren’t true. The Bush administration owes them a long-overdue apology.