political pressure that is, g , again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown. so i apologize. >> reporter: a senior republican apologizing to bp. democrats from capitol hill to the white house saw political opportunity and pounced. >> i find it incredibly insensitive. >> reporter: as pressure mounted, cnn is told that house gop leaders met with barton and demanded he take back his apology to bp or lose his senior position on the committee. hours later, this. >> i want the record to be absolutely clear that i think bp is responsible for this accident and if anything i've said this morning has been misconstrued in an opposite effect, i want to apologize for that misconstrued, misconstruction. >> reporter: later, barton issued a written statement saying flatly i retract my