[rwfromkansas]

Oh man. This is just lovely.

[weegee]

There was no indication in the filing that either Bush or Cheney authorized Libby to disclose Plame's CIA identity.

Someone needs to inform the Bush haters at The Smoking Gun...

Libby: Bush Authorized Plamegate Leak

[nutmeg]

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide told prosecutors 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 Valerie Plame leak that Cheney told him to pass on the information and that it was Bush who authorized the leak, 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 Plame's CIA identity.

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

[RockinRight]

Will this non-story never end?

[Always Right]

This was not even a 'leak', it was a legal release of information. The President is authorized to do that.

[ruschpa]

Did anyone see CNN? The anchor on the show just said that Bush gave out Plame's name as the CIA agent, which is wrong!

[mrsmith]

.

Pete Yost is used by Dem sources to release "secret" information in a way to make it sound like something else.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Too bad the papers don't say what it is that President Bush authorized to be leaked.

What if it was just a routine press release?

[angkor]

Depending as usual on the naivete of the American Public and the MSM, AP fails to mention that all classification and declassification authority derives solely and absolutely from the President Of The United States, not from some nitwit cabal of Beltway reporters, bureaucratic leakers, and K Street lawyers.

By definition, when the President authorizes any change in classification, his order trumps any other person, position, or institution. The President cannot "leak" or delegate "leaking" to his subordinates.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 12958: CLASSIFIED NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION

Sec. 1.4. Classification Authority. (a) The authority to classify information originally may be exercised only by:

(1) the President;

(2) agency heads and officials designated by the President in the Federal Register; or

(3) United States Government officials delegated this authority pursuant to paragraph (c), below.

[trubluolyguy]

Stick a fork in somebody cause something smells done.

[stuartcr]

As if we will ever know the truth...

[visualops]

Bush hates leaks.
This has got to be totally twisted.
You can bet the general MSM-watching public will never learn the truth, though.

[Blackirish]

This will leave a mark.

[rwfromkansas]

UPDATE:

DAVID ENSOR OF CNN SAYS THIS IS COMPLETELY INCORRECT.

He quoted from the document in question.

What it states is that Libby claims VP Cheney told him the president okayed some of the info from the intelligence estimate being released. That is what was authorized by the president according to Libby.

NOT the name release at all.

[Kenny Bunkport]

What information?

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Even Scooter Libby and Tom Delay are fed up with the RINO position on amnesty!

[demlosers]

Leak of what - Plame. LoL! Psssst. she's was as classified as a box of rocks.

[hershey]

Well, isn't this charming.

[jw777]

I bet DU is just foaming with commies right now. None of whom have actually read the documents posted on the SG.

[Redcloak]

Do "those people" understand the problem with this line of reasoning? If Bush "leaked" the information, then it's not a leak; it's "declassification". As the POTUS, he gets to do stuff like that. And, according to one executive order, Cheney also gets to declassify material as he sees fit. The last time I looked, it's not a crime for the POTUS or VPOTUS to declassify information. And not crime means no Merry Fitzmas.

[ravingnutter]

See my post #10 on another thread. A 25 page "Key Judgments" document based on the NIE was released in Oct 2002. That means portions of the NIE were declassified well before July 2003.