Was it true?
No.
It was a lie.

In the making: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/05/201351411202924723.html

Saw that this morning on /r/worldnews while sipping my morning energy.

Russia doesn't mess around lel

They are lucky he wasn't shot in the head and dumped in a ditch.

Slow down there, fantasy land, you're going to mess up your tinfoil hat.

Fantasy land? Are you implying these did not occur?

chappaquiddick

That's Ted, and he's dead.

willie horton!

Saying something that is untrue is not by itself a lie.
That being said, whether there was intent to deceive is up for debate. I lean towards thinking there is a decent chance Bush had poor intelligence reports... or if you must delve into conspiracy theories about it all being part of a grand plan... that he was fed the false information by others with the intent to deceive. I don't think Bush himself is a liar.