Democracy Now - Goodman/Waas interview re Cheney raises questions

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/10/1433252

Ok, we now know that Scooter says Cheney "authorized" him to leak about Plame. My questions from this piece are:

1. Is it true that The President and Vice President can "de-classify" something at whim?

2. Even if #1 turns out to be true, is Cheney still responsible for knowingly outing a covert agent ? (Remember the judge made a determination that Plame was in fact covert)You know, that statute that everyone talked about so much initially during Plamegate? Most of the Repug commentary was focused on 2 points: 1 that Plame was a non-covert desk jockey (now disproven - see above) and 2: you had to KNOW she was covert in order to make it a crime. So, the $64,000 dollar question will ultimately turn out to be ---

Did Dick Cheney KNOW that Valerie Plame was covert when he "authorized" Libby to out her?

This will require some turning aspens in the CIA to answer this question.

[BuyingThyme]

1. Before moving on, understand that the de-classified

argument is only after-the-fact cover. Nothing was actually de-classified.

The problem with this cover story is that Bush has clearly indicted that he knew nothing about the outing of Valerie Plame, thus presumably did not approve any Plame-related declassifications.

I think it's coming down to Cheney's word versus Bush's word. And they're both lying criminals.

BTW: If Al Gore had ever done something like this, he would have been removed from the vice presidency within a day.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. Don't I recall that someone (was it Rove?) at one point said to Cooper

"this will all be de-classified soon." Am I wrong about that? Because I thought at the time - isn't this just a prima facie case for knowingly disclosing classified information to a reporter? And now they're hysterical and want to find out who is leaking NIA information when they have sanctioned and condoned and participated in leaking with abandon if it suits their purposes. I guess it's only ok if they are the ones doing it.

[htuttle]

2. I had questions about point #1 when I saw that on DN! yesterday

A piece on NBC that ran the night before had an interview with a former CIA agent who specifically said the VP does not have the power to declassify something -- only the Director of the CIA can do that, according to that person.

So, I'm not sure. :shrug:

[TahitiNut]

4. Let's NEVER forget that the CIA itself, after investigating, asked for DOJ

... investigation of a CRIMINAL act. The CIA conducted an internal review and investigation to determine if a crime had been committed in the outing of Plame/BJ&A ... and found that IT WAS A CRIME. They referred it to the Department of Justice who ALSO found that it was a crime. This is inescapable! Bush and Cheney were COMPLETELY in the loop on this and said nothing to indicate that the release of this information was legal - and actually said the opposite! The legal declassification of such information REQUIRES agency involvement - which didn't happen.

IT'S TOO LATE FOR THEM TO CLAIM THEY AUTHORIZED IT ... LEGALLY.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

5. I never forget that - but all the right wing talking heads ALWAYS do

Strange , isn't it that they can't grasp or remember this very simple point?

[BuyingThyme]

6. Well put.

But they're so crazy, they might do it anyways.

[dbeach]

7. "Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information "

bush/cheny indicted 8/02/05 story was on some fringie sites last summer..getting interesting..


http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2006/0209nj1.htm

"Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information

Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney and other White House "superiors" in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, and to court records.

Libby specifically claimed that in one instance he had been authorized to divulge portions of a then-still highly classified National Intelligence Estimate regarding Saddam Hussein's purported efforts to develop nuclear weapons, according to correspondence recently filed in federal court by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald.

Beyond what was stated in the court paper, say people with firsthand knowledge of the matter, Libby also indicated what he will offer as a broad defense during his upcoming criminal trial: that Vice President Cheney and other senior Bush administration officials had earlier encouraged and authorized him to share classified information with journalists to build public support for going to war. Later, after the war began in 2003, Cheney authorized Libby to release additional classified information, including details of the NIE, to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case for war.

Previous coverage of the CIA leak investigation from Murray Waas






According to sources with firsthand knowledge, Cheney authorized Libby to release additional classified information, including details of the NIE, to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case for war. "