If Andrea Mitchell is going to criticize the Bush Administration for its Iraq policy, the least she could do is get basic facts correct. And when she does screw up — as she did on Sunday — it would be nice to get a correction.

Appearing on “The Chris Matthews Show” on Sunday, Mitchell asserted that Gen. David Petraeus held a private meeting with the Republican caucus to discuss Iraq. In the context in which she said it, Mitchell portrayed the meeting as a political strategy session with Republicans. However, the meeting was anything of the sort. In fact, 11 Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, were invited but skipped the briefing. Only Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (D.-Mich.) participated in the video teleconference with Petraeus in Baghdad.

A day after making the flub, Matthews haphazardly raised the issue with Mitchell on “Hardball” yesterday. Only this time Mitchell said “Democrats as well as Republicans” attended the briefing. Unfortunately, it was too late to undo the damage already done. Liberal bloggers were already having a field day with Mitchell’s pronouncement.

Although Mitchell appears to have her story straight now, she still hasn’t issued a correction. Salon’s Joan Walsh was one blogger who criticized Petraeus on Sunday. She wrote last night, “It seems Petraeus didn’t meet alone with Republicans, and I apologize for my role in passing that along (but it would be nice to also hear an apology from Mitchell and Matthews).” Don’t count on it, Joan.

Hat tip to Mary Katharine Ham.