(CNN) Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie gave inaccurate answers to senators during his confirmation process about pro-Confederate speeches he delivered in 2009.

In response to questions about remarks he made at Confederate memorial events, Wilkie downplayed his participation in a June 2009 event at the Confederate memorial in Arlington National Cemetery as simply introducing a keynote speaker. He also said he didn't have copies of remarks because he had not delivered a speech to such groups in "15-20 years."

But Wilkie's comments stand in contradiction to what his spokesman told CNN's KFile team last week , when he confirmed that Wilkie delivered a speech extolling the legacy of Robert E. Lee at that June 2009 ceremony at the Confederate memorial. The speech was the same one that he gave to another group in December 2009, which was also published in the Confederate Veteran magazine.

Wilkie's spokesman Curt Cashour told CNN's KFile on Thursday that the secretary answered questions from senators with his "best recollection" of the events. Cashour did not answer a follow-up question about Wilkie's recollection of the 2009 speech at Arlington National Cemetery.

Cashour told CNN's KFILE last week that the December 2009 speech to a Maryland branch of the Sons of Confederate Veterans "was the same speech Secretary Wilkie gave at a 2009 official Arlington Cemetery event to which President Obama sent a wreath recognizing the service of Confederate Veterans."

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