Prevarication — avoiding, evading telling the truth — the term can frequently be applied to the utterances of top public servants and politicians, particularly Leftist ones.

Says Merriam Webster: “When you accuse someone of lying, you are saying that person was intentionally dishonest, no bones about it. Prevaricate is less accusatory and softens the bluntness of lie, usually implying that someone is evading the truth rather than purposely making false statements. Equivocate is similar to prevaricate, but it generally implies that someone is deliberately using words that have more than one meaning as a way to conceal the truth.”