ATS: Bush Ok'ed Plame leak according to Libby

Lawyers for Scooter Libby filed a briefing today claiming that VP Cheney told his former cheif of staff that Bush Okayed the plan to leak information about former Ambassador Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame in order to discredit him.



This was the only online link I have found on this so far but it is on all things considered as i type so I am including their address for further info.

Is there no honer among thieves anymore? I tell ya...talk about rats and sinking ships. We are going to be seeing more of this as Bush sinks into the illrevelancy of lame duckdom...he who treasures loyality above everything is going to find out that when it comes to politics loyality goes only so far. If this is true, then both Cheney and Bush have committed impeachable offenses by illegally disclosing the name of a covert CIA operative, and then conducting a cover-up to hide the facts.

Related News Links:




[edit on 6-4-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

Mod Edit: Fixed paragraph structure

[edit on 4/6/06 by FredT]

If old "Scooter" CYA'd this one and has evidence to back up his claims, then this may be huge.

Had to vote NO on this one, as the ATSNN title and story are inaccurate. Bush okayed the release of information from the NIE about Iraq, NOT Valerie Plame's identity, according to the source :

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

[edit on 4/6/2006 by eaglewingz]

Indeed it may...
it would be funny if the president and vice president lost there security clearance... (actually just very pathetic)

I do suggest that the author revise the closing paragraph, with perhaps a better statement of "situation" i voted yes though...

Alberto Gonzales has once again proven that he is a true lapdog...
I wonder if they feed him snappy treats whenever he shakes hands?

"the president can decide who has security clearance"
so dont bother with all those security and background checks. bah who needs em, when we have the all knowing big guy in office...
and he obviously knew how to pick em...

afterall...the first thing the "new security cleared" person did, was leak a CIA connection that ruined any and all connections we had in Iran... (great thing to do, when dealing with an islamic nuclear power )

if you follow the trail, it leads right to Plame leak... via the secret Iraqi info that was allowed "dispersed" thru the media, that gave Libby the opportunity to leak the Plame thing... you have to read the whole story to know how this connects it (not directly, but almost).

it also proves as fact, that Cheney mentioned that a plame leak could get rid of the presidents critic... that is massive abuse of power, and the people who suffered are the Americans, who now have NO info from Iran...

[edit on 6-4-2006 by LazarusTheLong]

The documents do not say Bush ok'd the Plame leak.
Read them and see, for all that was "ok'ed" were the release of some parts of a classified report on Iraq WMD programs.

More media hype.
Again, read the documents.
When you do get around to reading them, understand the word "leak" in relation to this: EXECUTIVE ORDER 12958, specifically Section 1.4.
By definition, the President cannot "leak" something that he has ok'ed, especially if he has gone through the process of having something classified declassified. Moreover, when the President authorizes any change in classification, say classified to declassified, his order, once authorized by the process of declassification, trumps any other person, position, or institution at the time of authorizing and subsequent process approval.

Media is doing nothing but:






seekerof

[edit on 6-4-2006 by Seekerof]

Seekerof,
I agree with your contention that this whole issue is a misunderstanding of the facts of the case. I do, however, believe that there is the possibility that Libby could be using the argument that Bush authorized the leak as an indication that the data was implicitly declassified and, therefore, the leak was not illegal (even though evidence to support the fact that the declassification process had been undergone in this case has not yet surfaced). I made a post in this thread to that effect earlier today:

PATS Thread

Love the 'toon by the way...

[edit on 6-4-2006 by chaosrain]

Where you can get the legal filings:

•Libby: Bush Authorized Plamegate Leak -Smokinggun

•Allegation: Cheney Told 'Scooter' Libby That Bush Authorized Iraq Intelligence Leak
U.S. v. I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby April 5, 2006 -Findlaw

•Fitzgerald's PDF filing at NYSun






•Bush said to have cleared Iraq leak -ABC
•Court documents: Libby testified that Bush OK'd intelligence leak -CNN
•Bush 'ordered intelligence leak' -BBC
•Papers: Cheney Aide Says Bush OK'd Leak -Forbes

Here's a list of Bush denials about the leak:
Dems call for Bush to 'come clean,' cite 8 denials

Bush Lips Sink Ships

[edit on 7-4-2006 by Regenmacher]

Regenmacher, please supply where in the documents that it asserts that Bush authorized a "leak" that he has the authority to declassify--can you provided that from the .pdf supplied by the zealous TheSmokingGun?

Perhaps maybe your other sources--themoderatevoice, CNN and ABC--can likewise produce where in the documents such is implied or documented?

The fictitious "torpedo hit to the broadside" is more likened to an anology of a mosquito on an elephant's behind: nothing but hype. Furthermore, in reading that SmokingGun Fitzgerald documentation .pdf, it amounts to a major damnation of Wilson, Wilson's credibility, and of what the anti-Bush aficionados have been asserting with their floundering accusations.





seekerof

[edit on 6-4-2006 by Seekerof]

Just think, Bill Clinton only needed to have sex with an intern and George Bush has lied to the american people, abused his power, violated the consitution and still is in office!! Will some woman please give him sex in the white house so we can impeach his royal retardedness!!!!!

Consider this... Zacarias Moussaoui is up for the death penalty because his deliberate actions were considered to have possibly caused the death of someone. His illegal actions only required one person to die for him to be up for the death penalty. Do the people of this site have a problem with extending this same reasoning to the leadership of this country if their illegal actions resulted in the death of anyone? Did leaks or lies result in the deaths of anyone? Soldiers perhaps?

uhhh....False headline anyone?

Just to be more specific on the issue I have:

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

www.msnbc.msn.com...

That is really splitting hairs, if Bush arthorized the leaking of CIA info in order to discrdeit Wilson, and Plame's name (say that 5 times real fast) was part of it, then he defacto authorized leaking her name.

Originally posted by Seekerof
Regenmacher, please supply where in the documents that it asserts that Bush authorized a "leak" that he has the authority to declassify--can you provided that from the .pdf supplied by the zealous TheSmokingGun?

To me the issue is more about who he gave it too - if he declassified the information giving it to one reporter stinks of bias. Furthermore, the documents given if declassified should be up for anyone to get a hold of - where are they?

Originally posted by Odium
Furthermore, the documents given if declassified should be up for anyone to get a hold of - where are they?

Try the National Archives first?
Or try here.





seekerof

Originally posted by grover
That is really splitting hairs, if Bush arthorized the leaking of CIA info in order to discrdeit Wilson, and Plame's name (say that 5 times real fast) was part of it, then he defacto authorized leaking her name.

Grover, you use of word play (semantics) is encouraging but mistaken.
If something is declassified, authorized, and released for public consumption, by defacto it cannot be "leaked."




seekerof

So, what Seekerof is saying is that it doesnt matter if we were deceived or not.
What really matters is the law and loopholes.

Seekerof, linking to there doesn't help one bit. If the Government declassified the information before they gave it to a reporter, they can easily come forward and show us this. The fact they haven't or haven't came forward to say Scooter is lying speaks for itself.

Well now...I will admit that I don't know what was classified or not BUT if, Valerie Plame was indeed still covert and has been reported, then that information should be classified, or I would assume so. After all part of what all this is about is whether the White House diliberately leaked the name of a covert CIA agent (which is against hte law no matter who leaked it) in order discredit her husband.

It may not be ethical what the President did and may be seen as an abuse of power, but still, he does have the power under Presidental orders to release Classfied information. For this to cause problems, it has to proved as a "abuse of power".

Look, all G-Dub is going to say is what he always says.

"I can do that, I'm the president....blah, blah, blah--TERRAH!"

Alberto Gonzales already came out and started making the case. He's the president, he can do that, and that's all they are going to say because that's all they ever say. You seen one scandal play out you've seen 'em all. Even if he got caught with his pants around his ankles--he'll show up the next day with executive order 0069. "I can do that, I'm the president--blah, blah, blah--TERRAH!

You just gotta love this man...no really, you gotta love him. He's got an executive order for that too.