Is Obama's Interior Secretary lying about drilling permits, or his Justice Department?

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

President Obama's Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told Congress recently that his department has received only seven deepwater drilling permit applications and 47 for shallow water drilling in the past nine months.

That caught Sen. David Vitter's attention because he recalled that the Department of Justice told a federal judge last week that there are actually 270 shallow water drilling permit applications pending and 57 deepwater applications.

Which is it? The 54 applications Salazar claims or the 327 claimed by the Justice Department? Does the Obama administration's left hand know what it's far-left hand is doing?

Vitter sent a scathing letter today to Salazar and to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Regulation director Michael Bromwhich, who repeated Salazar's numbers, concerning the discrepancy. In his letter, Vitter pointed out that: