Bush-Cheney Nucleus Of Leak & Propagenda...
Libby Testimony Points Directly to Bush, Cheney
According to trial transcripts obtained by Truthout, former White House staffer I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby testified before a grand jury in 2004 that Vice President Dick Cheney instructed him to divulge portions of a then-classified report to New York Times reporter Judith Miller. Libby testified that Cheney said authorization to leak a section of the report had come directly from President George W. Bush, the court transcripts state.
The document, titled the National intelligence Estimate, was officially declassified on July 18, 2003. However Libby testified before the grand jury in March 2004 that he had received instructions from Cheney on July 8, 2003, to release portions of the report to Judith Miller.
"The vice president instructed me to go talk to Judith Miller to lay things out for her," Libby said, according to court transcripts. Libby added that President Bush did not know Judith Miller, but authorized Libby to share the NIE with her. Miller did not publish a story based on the information Libby leaked to her.
Libby testified that the leak of the NIE to Miller was aimed at undermining the credibility of former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who on July 6, 2003, wrote an op-ed for the New York Times accusing the Bush administration of "twisting" pre-war intelligence on Iraq. Wilson's stinging rebuke of the administration led Libby and other White House officials to leak Wilson's wife's covert CIA status to reporters one week later.
Libby said, according to the court transcript, that the leak of the NIE on July 8, 2003, was a closely guarded secret and that only he, Vice President Dick Cheney, and President Bush were aware that some of its contents would be leaked.
Libby testified that the White House discussed on a daily basis Wilson's accusations that the administration had manipulated pre-war intelligence regarding Iraq. Those conversations included President Bush, Libby testified, according to the court transcript. Libby testified that his own handwritten notes indicate that President Bush wanted him to to speak with reporters and to rebut Wilson's charges.
"If the president tells you to talk about a document, it's declassified," Libby testified about the why he believed he was authorized to discuss what was then still a classified document.
The information that surfaced during Tuesday's court proceedings places President Bush at the center of the probe, and once again raises the question of whether Bush knew in advance the lengths to which senior White House officials would go to discredit Wilson. President Bush retained a private attorney when he was interviewed by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in the leak probe three years ago, but details of the president's interview have yet to be released publicly.
Libby's testimony is backed up by a court document filed by Fitzgerald last year, in which the special prosecutor wrote that Libby had testified he was authorized by Bush and Cheney to discuss the NIE with Miller. <more>
According to trial transcripts obtained by Truthout, former White House staffer I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby testified before a grand jury in 2004 that Vice President Dick Cheney instructed him to divulge portions of a then-classified report to New York Times reporter Judith Miller. Libby testified that Cheney said authorization to leak a section of the report had come directly from President George W. Bush, the court transcripts state.
The document, titled the National intelligence Estimate, was officially declassified on July 18, 2003. However Libby testified before the grand jury in March 2004 that he had received instructions from Cheney on July 8, 2003, to release portions of the report to Judith Miller.
"The vice president instructed me to go talk to Judith Miller to lay things out for her," Libby said, according to court transcripts. Libby added that President Bush did not know Judith Miller, but authorized Libby to share the NIE with her. Miller did not publish a story based on the information Libby leaked to her.
Libby testified that the leak of the NIE to Miller was aimed at undermining the credibility of former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who on July 6, 2003, wrote an op-ed for the New York Times accusing the Bush administration of "twisting" pre-war intelligence on Iraq. Wilson's stinging rebuke of the administration led Libby and other White House officials to leak Wilson's wife's covert CIA status to reporters one week later.
Libby said, according to the court transcript, that the leak of the NIE on July 8, 2003, was a closely guarded secret and that only he, Vice President Dick Cheney, and President Bush were aware that some of its contents would be leaked.
Libby testified that the White House discussed on a daily basis Wilson's accusations that the administration had manipulated pre-war intelligence regarding Iraq. Those conversations included President Bush, Libby testified, according to the court transcript. Libby testified that his own handwritten notes indicate that President Bush wanted him to to speak with reporters and to rebut Wilson's charges.
"If the president tells you to talk about a document, it's declassified," Libby testified about the why he believed he was authorized to discuss what was then still a classified document.
The information that surfaced during Tuesday's court proceedings places President Bush at the center of the probe, and once again raises the question of whether Bush knew in advance the lengths to which senior White House officials would go to discredit Wilson. President Bush retained a private attorney when he was interviewed by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in the leak probe three years ago, but details of the president's interview have yet to be released publicly.
Libby's testimony is backed up by a court document filed by Fitzgerald last year, in which the special prosecutor wrote that Libby had testified he was authorized by Bush and Cheney to discuss the NIE with Miller. <more>
posted by Patrick J. Fitzgerald at 2/07/2007
19 Comments:
Saw Tim Russet Hobbling in to testify....
knew the POTUS and VP were involved...
I just hope something can be done
Hi E:
We, The People, will make sure something is done!
Impeachment! :)
Tim Russert has a limp?
I wish impeachment was a viable-option, b ut it isn't. This trial has more of a chance to sink this criminal administration than impeachment proceedings would. Same goes for treason--very hard to prove, just look at the trial of Aaron Burr! It was 200 years-ago this March! He was acquitted. I would imagine that Libby will be pardoned, though this administration is pretty wacky and self-destructive...
That would be great in-theory, but it probably won't work. Better to hit them with criminal penalties, they'll actually stick.
Matt & PG:
Yes, criminal charges and indictments.
Impeachment will follow...
It's true. I'm cured! I haven't eaten a Snickers bar in almost six months...
The Gerbil and Cheney have no where to run and hide for their crimes in the country. More will come out about this corrupted Administration and I don't see a single soul going to pay a visit to the My Pet Goat library.
More damaging audio of Libby:
F: How often lunch with Ari?
L: Seldom, was first or second time, he's busy 'cause of gaggle at 1PM
F: Have you seen Ari since he left WH?
Check your notes, Scooter! According to Ari, July 7th lunch was the first time Scooter invited him out for lunch. Ari usually eats lunch at his desk.
Hmmm..
F: Have you talked about this investigation?
L: Not that I know of. (awkward pause) Was that a strange answer?
F: Yes.
L: Don't think I talked to him in any detail (oh, that was a lot better, thanks
Flip flopping Scooter...
Hmmm...
F: Does VP ever ask you not to write things down
L: (slowly) Sometimes, once or twice over a great period time
F: like what
L: Something operational like a war plan
Whoa, that's frightening...And Scooter's job dealt with National Security issues?
Scooter must have a death wish.
Or he is so desperate for some man-love, he's just itching to get into prison.
Ted,
I can help! I am typing and driving to you as fast as I can, while wearing a diaper of course!
We have that our favorite prosecutor is wearing is secret weapon panties for Timmy today. We will be rooting ouy on Fitzie.
At least he is not wearing adult size Huggies or Pampers like little Irv or that chick astro-bot diverting America's attention from the insanity being done to our country!
"At least he is not wearing adult size Huggies or Pampers like little Irv or that chick astro-bot diverting America's attention from the insanity being done to our country!"
LOL! That would be very frightening if our special prosecutor wore Pampers. Irve wears the smaller size for toddlers. And Astro-chick story demostrates the insanity in this country.
Russert's limp is from a tumble down his stairs at home; he tripped over his dog as they were going out for a walk . . .
I wonder how many legs the dog was left limping on after that fiasco . .
I haven't a leg to stand on anymore...like Scooter-Pattootie. But at least I don't wear Depends. ;)
What Russert left out is that he threw himself down the stairs and hobbled himself to get sympathy from the jury!
I think a pardon would be the last straw for some republicans in the House. Talk of impeachment would begin coming from them for such an egregious act of imperial treason in the midst of an alarming and growing pile of evidence.
Treasongate might eradicate the Republican Party if it refuses to remove Bush and all it's deep roots, ala aspens, and spend some quality time in reality.
Then there's the question: Can an unindicted co-conspirator pardon anyone?
.
It's tough being a conduit for The Party-the goto guy for laying out all that news with a White House sensibility. Which today makes Russert's compelled and compelling testimony feel like some sort of carnal self-flagellation rite culminating in a small but massive bolus of truth.
He developed a pre-emptive limp, perhaps.
.
enjoyed hearing Fitz's voice today on the Libby tapes and ..
so exciting to get the truth out about the big bear....VP
and see how he will let Libby take the fall when he instructed him to lie...it might have worked if the dems had not won...
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