WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide told prosecutors that President Bush authorized a leak of sensitive intelligence information about Iraq, according to court papers filed by prosecutors in the CIA leak case.
The filing by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald also describes Cheney involvement in I. Lewis Libby's communications with the press.
There was no indication in the filing that either Bush or Cheney authorized Libby to disclose Valerie Plame's CIA identity. But it points to Cheney as one of the originators of the idea that Plame could be used to discredit her husband, Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson.
Before his indictment, Libby testified to the grand jury investigating the CIA leak that Cheney told him to pass on prewar intelligence on Iraq 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. In that meeting, Libby made reference to the fact that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA.
This is huge. Libby did not act alone when he disclosed Valerie Plame's identity to NY Times Judith Wilson. Libby was authorized by both Vice President Cheney and President Bush to leak classified information on the prewar intelligence in Iraq. The Yahoo News story doesn't specifically say that either the President Bush or Vice President Cheney specifically authorize Libby to leak Valerie Plame's name to the press. But it does provide this interesting quote that Cheney says to Libby. According to the Yahoo story:
According to Fitzgerald's court filing, Cheney, in conversation with Libby, raised the question of whether a CIA-sponsored trip by Wilson "was legitimate or whether it was in effect a junket set up by Mr. Wilson's wife."
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.
This conversation provides some interesting details. First, Cheney knew that Valerie Plame was Joe Wilson's wife--what else did Cheney know about Valerie Plame? Was he aware that she was an undercover CIA agent? As the vice president, Cheney certainly had the security clearance to access classified information, perhaps even information regarding Plame. Second, Cheney was certainly both angry at Joe Wilson's NY Times editorial criticizing the White House's misuse of the Iraqi intelligence, and at the notion that it was Wilson's wife who sent Joe Wilson to Iraq to investigate these intelligence claims. How far was Cheney willing to go to destroy Joe Wilson? Did Cheney specifically authorize Libby to leak Valerie Plame's CIA identity to the press? Did Cheney talk to the president about this matter, and did President Bush specifically authorize Valerie Plame's identity to be leaked to the press? I know I'm splitting a fine line here, but the details are pointing towards both an illegal White House smear campaign, and its cover-up.
I don't see Scooter Libby acting alone in this scandal. Libby is a bureaucrat. According to the Wikipedia biography, Libby has worked in government since 1981. He's worked in both the State Department and the Department of Defense--so he obviously knows about classified information. Scooter Libby is a yes-man guy, who performs whatever task his political boss requires of him. And Libby has worked under some powerful Republican bosses--Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, and Richard Perle as referenced in Wikipedia. So, I can't see Scooter Libby leaking Valerie Plame's identity on his own--Libby is going to want authorization for revealing the identity of a CIA operative.
This brings me to another aspect of this story. Is Scooter Libby willing to take the fall for the entire Valerie Plame scandal? How far is Libby willing to go to protect both Cheney and Bush? This latest revelation shows that Libby got the okay to talk to the press from both Bush and Cheney. What type of information did the president and vice president specifically authorize Libby to reveal to the press? And if Libby is found guilty, will he deal with Fitzgerald in providing testimony for a reduced sentence?
I can't say yet.
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