posted on Jun, 24 2004 @ 11:58 PM
The President was interviewed yesterday by special prosecutors and other officials concerning last summers release of a covert CIA operatives name.
Some questions still linger concerning the nature of the leak, and whether or not administration members perpetrated the said leak.
WashingtonPost.com
President Bush was interviewed for more than an hour yesterday by a special prosecutor investigating whether administration officials illegally
disclosed the name of a covert CIA officer last summer.
Special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald and several assistants questioned the president for about 70 minutes in the Oval Office yesterday morning. A
White House spokesman declined to comment on the substance of the interview but said Bush, who was accompanied by a private lawyer, was not placed
under oath.
Fitzgerald's session with Bush comes amid a flurry of recent interviews and subpoenas from investigators who have operated in almost complete secrecy
for six months, giving little outward indication of where the probe is headed. White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales testified on June 18 before a
grand jury taking testimony in the case, and it was revealed in early June that prosecutors had interviewed Vice President Cheney.
Fitzgerald is investigating whether Bush administration officials leaked the name of CIA covert officer Valerie Plame to syndicated columnist Robert
D. Novak last July. Plame is married to former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, a public critic of the Bush administration's claims about Iraq's
efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. Wilson has suggested that administration officials disclosed his wife's identity as retaliation for
his criticism.
The disclosure of a covert CIA officer's name could be a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison if it was done intentionally by an official
who knew the government was trying to maintain her cover.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
The transfer of power in Iraq, renewed insurgency, debate over gay marriage, and coming election have made June quite a busy month for the Bush
administration.
It will be interesting to see what these special prosecutors find as the leak comes under very suspicious circumstances.
[edit on 25-6-2004 by Banshee]