The First Leaker in the NSA spy scandal has been identified.

[BuyingThyme]

On Friday, December 30, 2005, the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation aimed at discovering who may have shared information about the NSA’s domestic spy “program” with the New York Times.

The Times is reporting that, in an investigation which has already made uncommon progress, one of the leakers, a White House insider, has already been identified. The man’s name is George W. Bush.

In direct contact with senior editors at the Times, Mr. Bush personally negotiated how best to proceed with the illegal disclosures.

But Bush is not alone. The Times is reporting, without denials from the White House, that additional “senior administration officials” were known to have been in negotiations with the Times for over a year.

These stunning revelations conclusively show that Mr. Bush has not only been involved in criminal activity for over a year, but knowingly failed to report his criminal activity to the Department of Justice.

Today, White House deputy press secretary Trent Duffy confirmed Bush’s failure to report his wrongdoing to the Justice Department, indicating that the President was not aware of any investigation until Friday and did not, at any time, call for an investigation into his illegal activity.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. ROTFLMAO>>>

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[northzax]

2. the President did not do anything illegal

By very definition, the President can divulge classified information to anyone he wants to.

[Benhurst]

4. And he is completely above the law. BushAmerica is the modern

Animal Farm. All pigs are equal. Some pigs are more equal than others.

[northzax]

9. no, the law is actually simple

the President, any President, cannot violate national security by revealing classified information, since the President determines what is classified and what is not classified.

It was disingenuous of him to ask for an investigation when he revealed information, certainly, but he didn't commit a crime by doing so.

[Benhurst]

23. No disagreement here. The law merely states

the law of the barnyard. The head pig is more equal than others. And he doesn't even need to be elected.

[BuyingThyme]

5. The leaks were illegal before Bush got involved.

[northzax]

11. this is true

but once the President confirms the existence and content of classified information, it's in the public domain. That pretty much shields the papers from repurcussions from publishing 'classified' information.

[BuyingThyme]

12. But does it shield the President in regards to his failure

to report the illegal activity to the Justice Department?

[Inland]

10. Another inherent power of the presidency? No, what you mean is

that the president could have ordered the material declassified anytime he wanted to. Until then, he's got to keep it secret just like the next guy. Therefore if the NYT did wrong, so did Bush.

[northzax]

22. it's unclear

no President has ever been charged with disclosure of classified information. quite often, in fact, it appears that Presidents choose not to know certain classified information in order to prevent inadvertant disclosure of that information. I don't think anyone rational is arguing that the Times commited a crime, only that the people who told the Times may have.

[spooky3]

20. That's a very broad statement with which many lawyers disagree

for example, see: Top 12 media myths and falsehoods on the Bush administration's spying scandal

http://mediamatters.org/items/200512240002



Myth 3: Warrantless searches of Americans are legal under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

Conservatives such as nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh and American Cause president Bay Buchanan have defended the administration by falsely claiming that the administration's authorization of domestic surveillance by the NSA without warrants is legal under FISA. In fact, FISA, which was enacted in 1978, contains provisions that limit such surveillance to communications "exclusively between foreign powers," specifically stating that the president may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order only if there is "no substantial likelihood" that the communications of "a United States person" -- a U.S. citizen or anyone else legally in the United States -- will be intercepted. Such provisions do not allow for the Bush administration's authorization of domestic surveillance of communications between persons inside the United States and parties outside the country.

FISA also allows the president and the attorney general to conduct surveillance without a court order for the purpose of gathering "foreign intelligence information" for "a period" no more than 15 days "following a declaration of war by the Congress." This provision does not permit Bush's conduct either, as he acknowledged that he had reauthorized the program more than 30 times since 2001, and said that the program is "reviewed approximately every 45 days."

[northzax]

21. the topic here is not whether or not the searches were legal

no honest lawyer thinks they are, but whether or not disclosure of those searches was a federal offense.

[spooky3]

28. your post says he did nothing illegal--that's a broad statement

and if you'll check the link I included you will see a lot more info about other aspects of the situation, not just about the legality of the wiretaps.

[northzax]

30. it was obviously in reference to leaking classified information

not a carte blanche for Bush for eternity. And there is nothing on that link about the legality of the leaking of classified information.

[Chi]

34. Wouldn't he have to declassify it, before divulging it?

Does that mean he could of given out Plame's identity without breaking any laws?

Just curious.

[donkeyotay]

36. The preznit and Darth Vader are presumed to be trustworthy

So they are completely free to use Republican defense contractors to gather information on the Wilsons and anyone else they deem an enemy of their free enterprise.

Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement
(Standard Form 312)
Briefing Booklet

By tradition and practice, United States officials who hold positions prescribed by the Constitution of the United States are deemed to meet the standards of trustworthiness for eligibility for access to classified information. Therefore, the President, the Vice President, Members of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, and other federal judges appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate need not execute the SF 312 as a condition of access to classified information.

http://www.fas.org/sgp/isoo/sf312.html

[Chi]

38. My questions were about divulging intel, not gathering it.

I see no exceptions for section 601 that would exclude the President.

[Ian David]

3. Cool! Do you have a link? n/t

[BuyingThyme]

7. It first appeared here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x30839

[Quixote1818]

31. Buying Thyme, you crack me up, your humor is always so clever!

That link joke is priceless!

[beam me up scottie]

6. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!

Time to frog march, chimpy!

:rofl:

[Inland]

8. Ba-ha-ha-ha! nt

[handsignals4theblind]

13. Porter Goss- John Negroponte!-DCI-spies on NSA- DIA- CIA

---Operation Fist fruits--on journalists- run by the DCI- under the DNI-John Negroponte.- Porter Goss former DCI- sent to CIA-----rumour has it that the NSA was spying on it's own staff and the CIA-DIA

even the spooks have to be kept on their toes
IN CANADA we have parasites called the CSE--and they don't need warrants either----CAnada's Intelligence Services share more info with USA-s alphabet of watchers than they do with their own goverment>

forget- Brad and Angelina- stop Air Torture and the nosy NSA ---
They never want to spend money on the Public Good or Interest-just cuts-deregulation - BUT the STate must give you more Security but can't do Fuck all when you need it from far more devastating, and imminent natural disasters!!!illegal codesmilie_remote(':nuke:')

[Brundle_Fly]

14. There is only one way to seek and find the truth from Mr. Bush

TORTURE!

[sam sarrha]

15. so is satire or what.. no link no believe, too many people here think is

funny to play Onion Reporter

[BuyingThyme]

16. All of the above have already been reported and confirmed.

I simply removed the spin.

[sam sarrha]

25. thank you

[Zen Democrat]

17. The FISA law mandates 5 years for what Bush did.

This business about "if the president discloses classified information, then it's no longer classified" is like Nixon saying "if the president does it, that means it not illegal." It's the 'above the law' defense that makes a mockery of the Constitution.

If Bush calls Putin and gives him classified information specifically notated "not to be shared with foreign governments" ... does that mean his disclosures officially declassify the material? Hell, no.

He's not above the law, people.

[FogerRox]

18. here here. --good post--- I laffed

[Kansas Wyatt]

19. So Bush is going to want 'Whistle Blower Protection' for...

Blowing the whistle on his corrupt illegal activity?:shrug:

[EFerrari]

29. I will be a witness to that. The man undeniably blows. n/t

[Oilwellian]

24. Bush also tipped off Al Qaeda

In an attempt to defend his illegal spying, Bush claims the program is limited in nature:


SAN ANTONIO -- President Bush on Sunday strongly defended his domestic spying program, saying it's a limited initiative that tracks only incoming calls to the United States.

"It's seems logical to me that if we know there's a phone number associated with al-Qaida or an al-Qaida affiliate and they're making phone calls, it makes sense to find out why," Bush said. "They attacked us before, they'll attack us again."


Let's suspend our disbelief for a moment and accept his claim that the program tracked "only incoming calls." Thank you, Mr. President, for giving Osama the heads up that if he wants to avoid being tracked, he shouldn't call collect. Sleeper cells across the whole fucking nation just learned how to avoid the program you call "vital" to our national security.

The President, who decried the leak of generic information about the spying as "shameless" and causing "great harm to the nation," now singlehandedly undermined the effectiveness of his own program. Shameless indeed.

Update <2006-1-1 19:37:0 by georgia10>:: And, naturally, the White House now tries to extricate Bush's foot from his mouth:

The White House, clarifying the president's remarks after his appearance, said later that either end of the communication can in fact be outside the United States.

http://www.dailykos.com/

[Neil Lisst]

26. OMG, this is worse than his fumbling the pre 9/11 AQ warning.

No wonder they're leading with an accusatory tone at the WH.

[robbedvoter]

27. Now, how to demonize NYT and lionize W at the same time?

For the same thing? Goose-gander rules?

[autorank]

32. You are a complete trip...

:evilgrin: nasty, but really good too! :rofl:

[Usrename]

33. Way to go! That about sums it up!

:kick:

[dennisnyc]

35. k/r nt

[BuyingThyme]

37. The underlying point is

neither that they've been aware of the leak for over a year, nor that they were participants.

The underlying point is that when the truth started to come out, they suddenly, after over a year, decided to run it up the Justice Department flagpole.

The administration learned nothing from the Times article, but unfortunately for them, the American people did. In other words, they don't see this as a legal or national-security issue, but as a political issue.

They're openly using the Department of Justice as a political front.