Reply #9: Unfortunately, Conyers is wrong [View All]

[worldgonekrazy]

According to documents submitted in his defense, Scooter Libby alleges that President Bush provided the authorization to leak Valerie Plame's identity and destroy her career as an intelligence agent. So why is everyone reporting this story by explaining that the President declassified the National Intelligence Estimate? This is true, but the real story here is not the President leaking, or declassifying, the NIE. If what Libby alleges is true, the story is about the President telling the world that he would fire anyone who leaked the identity of Valerie Plame when he knew it was himself.

Conyers is wrong.

Libby said that Cheney told him that Bush authorized the leak of portions of the National Intelligence Estimate to Judith Miller.

This is not the same as Bush authorizing the leak of Valerie Plame's identity.

The two are intertwined as part of a broader conspiracy to:
a) discredit Joe Wilson
b) try to bolster the claim, weakened by Wilson's opposition, that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Niger.

But Conyers is not helping here by saying that Libby said that Bush authorized the leaking of Plame's identity, because as far as we know that is not true.