White House Reaction to
CIA Leak Probe
By The Associated
Press
The Associated Press
Friday, April 7, 2006;
4:26 AM
-- What President
Bush and Vice President
Dick Cheney have said
about the CIA leak
investigation:
"I want to know the
truth. I want to see to
it that the truth
prevails." _ Bush to
reporters, Oct. 7, 2003,
on determining the
identity of the leaker.
He also said his staff
was cooperating in the
investigation.
___
"The president was
glad to do his part to
cooperate with the
investigation. The
president was pleased to
share whatever
information he had with
the officials in charge
and answer their
questions." _ White
House press secretary
Scott McClellan, June
25, 2004, when asked by
reporters if Bush had
answered every question
in his meeting the
previous day with
prosecutors.
___
"I would like this to
end as quickly as
possible. If someone
committed a crime, they
will no longer work in
my administration." _
Bush, July 18, 2005.
___
"(Libby) has worked
tirelessly on behalf of
the American people and
sacrificed much in the
service to this country.
He served the vice
president and me through
extraordinary times in
our nation's history." _
Bush, Oct. 28, 2005, the
day of Libby's
indictment and
resignation.
___
"I have accepted his
decision with deep
regret." _ Cheney, in
accepting Libby's
resignation, Oct. 28,
2005.
___
"You're trying to get
me to comment on the
investigation, which I'm
not going to do." _ Bush
to reporters on a
November 2005 trip to
Latin America.
___
"I will not say any
more about it. There
will be a time when I
can discuss it, but not
now." _ Cheney, Dec. 18,
2005, during an
interview on ABC news,
responding to a reporter
asking if he directed
anyone to disclose or
cover up disclosure of
CIA agent's identity.
___
"I have certainly
advocated
declassification. I have
participated in
declassification
decisions." _ Cheney,
Feb. 15, 2006, during an
interview on Fox News
Channel.
April 7, 2006,
9:47AM
Libby: Bush authorized
leak of Iraq
intelligence
Ex-Cheney aide says he
was told to disclose it
as U.S. was making its
case to invade
By MICHAEL HEDGES
Copyright 2006
Houston Chronicle
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - A former
top government aide told
a grand jury that
President Bush
authorized him through
Vice President Dick
Cheney in 2003 to leak
sensitive undisclosed
information to support
the public case for
going to war in Iraq,
according to court
papers.
The documents, filed
in federal court by
special prosecutor
Patrick Fitzgerald,
quoted Cheney's former
top assistant, I. Lewis
"Scooter" Libby, as
testifying that Bush
specifically approved
the leak from a
once-classified national
intelligence estimate.
Libby is charged with
lying to a grand jury
and federal
investigators about
another Iraq-related
leak to reporters — the
identity of ex-CIA
operative Valerie Plame.
Court papers
indicated that Libby at
first balked about
discussing the Iraq
intelligence report with
New York Times reporter
Judith Miller. Cheney
then told Libby "that
the president
specifically had
authorized him to
disclose certain
information," the
documents said, and
Libby talked to the
reporter.
The leak was made as
the White House
responded to criticism
that Bush had
exaggerated the case for
invading Iraq.
Bush later
acknowledged that the
invasion was partly
based on faulty
intelligence about
whether Iraq had weapons
of mass destruction. And
Miller, who has left the
Times, was jailed for
months in the Plame
investigation for not
revealing Libby as a
source.
The
president's role
Libby's testimony,
which began in 2004,
apparently would not
create any legal
jeopardy for the
president for
authorizing the release
of intelligence data,
experts said.
"The president can
unilaterally decide to
declassify information,"
said Bruce Fein, a
lawyer and
constitutional scholar
who has written
extensively about White
House legal privilege.
But Libby's version
of events could prove
embarrassing for a White
House that has
criticized others for
leaking information that
could damage U.S.
security.
In December, Bush
welcomed a Justice
Department probe into
who gave the Times
information revealing a
secret program
authorized by Bush to
eavesdrop without court
warrants on suspected
terrorist
communications.
On Thursday, Bush's
political rivals said
authorizing the leak was
reckless and politically
motivated.
"The president and
the vice president must
be held accountable,"
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin,
D-Ill., said.
"Accountable for
misleading the American
people, accountable for
the disclosure of
classified material for
political purposes. It
is as serious as it gets
in this democracy."
White House spokesman
Ken Lisaius said, "Our
policy is not to discuss
ongoing legal
proceedings."
U.S. Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales said
the president has the
"inherent authority to
decide who should have
classified information."
Libby's perjury charges
Libby is awaiting
trial in January on five
counts of perjury,
obstruction and lying to
the FBI. His testimony
to the grand jury took
place behind closed
doors.
Fitzgerald filed the
papers as part of his
argument against Libby's
claim to several
sensitive documents that
could aid his defense.
The prosecutor argues
that the case is limited
to actions such as
Libby's conversations
with Cheney. No one has
been charged with the
actual leaking of
Plame's identity.
Plame is married to
Joseph Wilson, a former
diplomat who went to
Africa on a
CIA-sanctioned mission
to determine whether
Saddam Hussein was
seeking to buy yellow
cake uranium from Niger.
In his 2003 State of the
Union address, Bush used
the uranium allegation
to support his call for
Saddam to disarm or face
invasion.
But in July 2003,
after the war began,
Wilson wrote a New York
Times opinion piece
casting doubt on Bush's
justification for war by
saying that Iraq had no
agreement to acquire the
substance. Soon after
that, someone leaked
Plame's name to
columnist Robert Novak.
Fitzgerald was
appointed by the Justice
Department to find out
if the leak was part of
an illegal effort to
discredit Plame and
Wilson in retaliation
for Wilson's article.
