The White House must be equal parts furious and frightened over this report in the National Journal that says that Scooter Libby testified to the grand jury investigating the Plame incident that he was authorized by his superiors to leak classified information to reporters in order to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence reports. The court has released a document in which Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald says that Libby testified to that in front of the grand jury:
"Mr. Libby testified in the grand jury that he had contact with reporters in which he disclosed the content of the National Intelligence Estimate ("NIE")...in the course of his interaction with reporters in June and July 2003...We also note that it is our understanding that Mr. Libby testified that he was authorized to disclose information about the NIE to the press by his superiors."
Remember all that talk of treason charges a few weeks ago over the leaks concerning the NSA wiretapping program to the New York Times? We're gonna find out quickly that they really didn't mean that; leaks are only treason, you see, if they are bad for the administration, not when it serves their purposes. And I'll make one more prediction - all those folks close to the administration who were claiming that Scooter Libby is a wonderful man being railroaded by an out-of-control prosecutor a few months ago....well their tune is going to change completely. If Libby tries to use this as a defense in the case, he will suddenly transform into a pathological liar out to destroy the Vice President to save his hide.
Andrew Sullivan gets it right:
So some intelligence matters are so important that the administration will not divulge them even to critical members of Congress. But others are leaked to journalists to win a political war. This is a pointed reminder that when the administration says it is withholding information to protect national security, a hefty dose of skepticism is in order. The same goes for their assurance that their wire-tapping has never been abused. Remind me again: at this point, why should we trust them?
Of course, every administration of any party will lie to cover up its real motives and agenda. So the question really should be, why should we trust anyone with that power?
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This should be written in a pretty book and read to children every Chrismahannuquanzakah!
The 4th amendment protects us from powers that can be abused. There's no exeption in it for "but you can trust us".
Obviously, Scooter was given permission to disclose the information after clearing it with George Deutsche.
(Just because it never happened doesn't mean it isn't true.)
regards, Grasshopper
Gee, wouldn't it have been nice if Libby had disclosed the dissenting intelligence that was in the NCE but not put forward in the White Papers given to Congress to promote the desire for war in Iraq?