That he did not publically and immediately demand the release of the tape is damning...and there is no other way to look at it.
RELEASE THE TAPE!
Exactly. If I was accused of something I didn't do and knew that a tape would prove my innocence, I'd demand that it be released.
I certainly wouldn't just resign and say, "Oh, well."
Off topic: (From a thread under Bloggers posted on FR right now)-- The moonbats over at dailykos have been MELTING DOWN over recent allegations that the host of the site, Markos, anonymously posted a thread about Donna Brazzile that allegedly had racial overtones. One of their frontpage posters, Kid Oakland ("KO"), has already left the site in disgust.