GW authorized Valerie Plume CIA leak!

[archangel]

News on CNN/Fox today that 'Scooter' Libby testified to the Grand Jury that GW authorized the leak through Dick Cheney...gonna be a hot time in the old town tonight!

 

[Nuc]

I find it kind of reassuring that he knows what's going on around him.

 

[CSM]

News on CNN/Fox today that 'Scooter' Libby testified to the Grand Jury that GW authorized the leak through Dick Cheney...gonna be a hot time in the old town tonight!

Umm..that is not what I heard or saw. The story on their website doesn't mention that either...in fact it specifically says that the leak about Valerie Plame WASN'T in there. They did say that Bush and Cheney authorized leaks about Iraq....

 

[dmp]

Umm..that is not what I heard or saw. The story on their website doesn't mention that either...in fact it specifically says that the leak about Valerie Plame WASN'T in there. They did say that Bush and Cheney authorized leaks about Iraq....

:alco:

 

[archangel]

Umm..that is not what I heard or saw. The story on their website doesn't mention that either...in fact it specifically says that the leak about Valerie Plame WASN'T in there. They did say that Bush and Cheney authorized leaks about Iraq....

CNN just said it again two minutes ago!"On air"

side note: CNN breaking news updates on site are not always posted immediately!

 

[Mr. P]

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I believe EVERYTHING I hear on CNN.

 

[Nuc]

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I believe EVERYTHING I hear on CNN.

And it was "Libby said Cheney said" not that Libby had this firsthand from Bush.

 

[CSM]

And it was "Libby said Cheney said" not that Libby had this firsthand from Bush.

yep...big difference in the story, eh?

 

[Nuc]

yep...big difference in the story, eh?

Very few people will make the distinction.

I can see it now:

Libby: Gee I dunno boss are you sure this is OK?

Cheney (looking at his watch, hoping to leave for an undisclosed location): Yeah sure Scooter......um....yeah, that's right, Bush himself told me it's OK....yeah, that's right....

 

[archangel]

It's gonna be a 'Hot time' in the old town tonight! He said she said...when it's all over who the hell really knows who said what to who?

 

[CSM]

Here's the story straight from the CNN website:

Libby court papers: Cheney said Bush OK'd intelligence leak

Thursday, April 6, 2006; Posted: 1:18 p.m. EDT (17:18 GMT)


Lawyers for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby are seeking material about the leaking of Valerie Plame's name.
More Useful Links
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide told prosecutors that his boss said President Bush authorized the leak of sensitive intelligence information about Iraq, according to court papers filed by prosecutors in the CIA leak case.

Before his indictment, I. Lewis Libby testified to the grand jury investigating the CIA leak that Cheney told him to pass on information and that it was Bush who authorized the disclosure, the court papers say. According to the documents, the authorization led to the July 8, 2003, conversation between Libby and New York Times reporter Judith Miller.

There was no indication in the filing that either Bush or Cheney authorized Libby to disclose Valerie Plame's CIA identity.
But the disclosure in documents filed Wednesday means that the president and the vice president put Libby in play as a secret provider of information to reporters about prewar intelligence on Iraq.

The authorization came as the Bush administration faced mounting criticism about its failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the main reason the president and his aides had given for going to war.

Libby's participation in a critical conversation with Miller on July 8, 2003 "occurred only after the vice president advised defendant that the president specifically had authorized defendant to disclose certain information in the National Intelligence Estimate," the papers by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald stated. The filing did not specify the "certain information."

"Defendant testified that the circumstances of his conversation with reporter Miller -- getting approval from the president through the vice president to discuss material that would be classified but for that approval -- were unique in his recollection," the papers added.

Libby is asking for voluminous amounts of classified information from the government in order to defend himself against five counts of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI in the Plame affair.

He is accused of making false statements about how he learned of Plame's CIA employment and what he told reporters about it.

Her CIA status was publicly disclosed eight days after her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the Bush administration of twisting prewar intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat from weapons of mass destruction.

In 2002, Wilson had been dispatched to Africa by the CIA to check out intelligence that Iraq had an agreement to acquire uranium yellowcake from Niger, and Wilson had concluded that there was no such arrangement.

Libby says he needs extensive classified files from the government to demonstrate that Plame's CIA connection was a peripheral matter that he never focused on, and that the role of Wilson's wife was a small piece in a building public controversy over the failure to find WMD in Iraq.

Fitzgerald said in the new court filing that Libby's requests for information go too far and the prosecutor cited Libby's own statements to investigators in an attempt to limit the amount of information the government must turn over to Cheney's former chief of staff for his criminal defense.

According to Miller's grand jury testimony, Libby told her about Plame's CIA status in the July 8, 2003 conversation that took place shortly after the White House aide -- according to the new court filing -- was authorized by Bush through Cheney to disclose sensitive intelligence about Iraq and WMD contained in a National Intelligence Estimate.

The court filing was first disclosed by The New York Sun.

The bolding is mine.

 

[CSM]

Very few people will make the distinction.

I can see it now:

Libby: Gee I dunno boss are you sure this is OK?

Cheney (looking at his watch, hoping to leave for an undisclosed location): Yeah sure Scooter......um....yeah, that's right, Bush himself told me it's OK....yeah, that's right....

The big question I have is if it is authorized for release, is it still a "leak"?

 

[theHawk]

Nope. A crime didn't even take place anyway. They should be investigating how the media found out about the wiretapping. That, was a crime.

 

[CSM]

Nope. A crime didn't even take place anyway. They should be investigating how the media found out about the wiretapping. That, was a crime.

I tend to agree. The fact that "sensitive" intelligence (and not "classified") was authorized for release leads me to believe there was no crime committed in that arena. The whole Valerie Plame thing is (in my opinion) just another ploy to bash the current administration as I see no criminal conviction coming out of that.

 

[Avatar4321]

Of course, this is incredibly irrelevant since it wasn't a crime to release her name to begin with since 1)everyone knew anyway 2)she doesnt fit in to the category of people being protected by the law.

 

[nosarcasm]

it shows Bush is a hypocritcal liar.

But most politicians consinder it the tools of the job anyway.

 

[Bonnie]

Nope. A crime didn't even take place anyway. They should be investigating how the media found out about the wiretapping. That, was a crime.

Yes Im much more interested in who at the state dept doesn't like Bush policy and is leaking info to the press specifically to the NY Times.

 

[Annie]

Note CNN gets it, so spinning with 'hypocrisy'...

http://austinbay.net/blog/?p=1025

4/6/2006
Declassifying classified data– and White House leaks
Filed under:

* General

— site admin @ 4:52 pm

The sudden press flap over Scooter Libby’s alleged “revelation” that President Bush declassified intelligence information related to Iraq is silly but all too predictable. The entire flap relies on mixing terms and “misunderstanding by innuendo” — a technique of demagoguery, not journalism. The flap is yet more evidence that the national press is more interested in playing “gotcha” with the Bush Administration than reporting the news.

Presidents and vice-presidents can declassify information based on their own good (or bad) judgment. That is a privilege and responsibility of the office. Their authority is near-absolute. Disseminating unclassified information isn’t a crime — no matter the technique used. The information can be disseminated at a press conference, in a press release, in a speech, or — yes– via leak.

Reporters thrive on “leaks” because a leak usually means “scoop.” A leak can also mean “spin” but that’s an understood aspect of Washington’s political carnival. However, leaking properly declassified material isn’t a crime. Leaking classified material is illegal– and so is publishing classified material in a press release.

So what’s the story here? That someone who worked in the White House selectively passed properly declassified material to the press? That’s not a scandal; that’s Beltway business as usual. I’d love to hear that reported– it’s not news per se, but it would be refreshingly open and honest media analysis.

However, the breathless excitement with which MSNBC (during the 3 PM CDT hour) broke this story certainly suggested scandal. An hour later the mood had calmed a bit; even so a rather smug Chris Matthews asked his attorney guest why Scooter Libby would “finger the President?” Dick Sauber (Time Magazine reporter Matt Cooper’s lawyer) responded that Libby was probably trying to cover for himself. Sauber stressed that he did not know why but was making an educated guess. That’s reasonable speculation on Sauber’s part. (Sauber also said that this newly released information appears to undermine Libby’s claim that he was “too busy” to remember exactly what he said and to whom he said it during the “Plame affair.”) But the bottom line is the president can declassify information. “Finger” is a push word, stoked with criminal innuendo —but Bush was not engaged in a criminal act. Questioning Bush’s judgment is perfectly appropriate, but accusation of crime or lies is unwarranted. (As it is, the information in question came from the National Intelligence Estimate. The NIE information didn’t have anything to do with the Plame case.)

Remember, Libby was not indicted for illegally identifying Plame as a covert agent; he was indicted for perjury, a procedural crime. This pseudo-revelation may or may not relate to his alleged perjury. (According to a report I just heard on Fox it doesn’t; ie, the NIE declassification story does not relate to the perjury charges.)

That noted, based on Sauber’s comments and what we’ve learned about Libby, I suspect — and suspect is the operative word– that Libby will start sending legal and media signals that he intends to fight the indictment by pursuing a “full spectrum” strategy. No matter the potential damage to innocents and institutions, he will fight the charges in the court room (using all legal methods and machinations), in the back room (using personal influence), and in the newsroom (following a calculated media and political strategy).

Libby’s an experienced Beltway operative. If he can squeeze the NY Times, President Bush, the CIA, the prosecution, or anyone else he’ll do so. His goal is a dismissal of charges or a mistrial. His model will be Bill Clinton’s strategy to fight impeachment (though obviously on a much smaller scale and for less-significant political and historical stakes).

UPDATE: CNN is exploring another angle: that the White House is “hypocritical” because it has come down hard on leaks. But a word is missing in this accusation: “unauthorized.” The White House has indeed come down hard on anyone leaking classified information. The White House has also been tough on executive branch employees who pass information via unauthorized leaks. The president wants to control the dissemination of information and has made that clear. The information released today said that what Libby leaked as declassified and authorized — but try getting that clear on atv squawk show where the game is gotcha. The hypocrisy allegation, unlike the criminal innuendo, is certainly within bounds

 

[Bonnie]

Note CNN gets it, so spinning with 'hypocrisy'...

http://austinbay.net/blog/?p=1025

Im hearing pundits say "well it's not a firestorm "legally" but politically watch out"...

 

[Annie]

Im hearing pundits say "well it's not a firestorm "legally" but politically watch out"...

That certainly is what the MSM and DNC are hoping for. I doubt it, much more of a problem for RNC with illegal immigrants. Frist doomed himself forever.