Don't you think he just should have said: "I think the real range is somewhere between 70 to 90 percent"? Any change to the number is by definition a lie. Now

Don't you think he just should have said: "I think the real range is somewhere between 70 to 90 percent"? Any change to the number is by definition a lie. Now he is just trying to find a rationale / excuse for the lie, but a lie is a lie.