It's odd to publicly state that they didn't know about it, because now if they don't do the same after the next big flaw comes out, the implication will be that they indeed knew and were quietly exploiting it. I thought that was why they generally don't comment on these things. The less-charitable assumption is that they'll make this claim every time regardless of whether it's true.

The claim that "the U.S. government would never put a major company like Intel in a position of risk" is obviously bullshit. TAO's job necessarily involves exposing companies both in the US and overseas to that kind of risk on a daily basis.