Judge Told Leak Was Part of 'Policy Dispute'

[G_j]

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/22624

Judge Told Leak Was Part of 'Policy Dispute'

Submitted by davidswanson on Fri, 2007-05-18 03:32. Criminal Prosecution
By Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post

Attorneys for Vice President Cheney and top White House officials told a federal judge yesterday that they cannot be held liable for anything they disclosed to reporters about covert CIA officer Valerie Plame or her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.

The officials, who include senior White House adviser Karl Rove and Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, argued that the judge should dismiss a lawsuit filed by the couple that stemmed from the disclosure of Plame's identity to the media.

The suit claims that Cheney, Libby, Rove and former deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage violated the couple's privacy and constitutional rights by publicly revealing Plame's identity in an effort to retaliate against Wilson. Plame's identity was disclosed in a syndicated column in July 2003, days after Wilson publicly accused the Bush administration of twisting intelligence to exaggerate Iraq's nuclear threat and justify an invasion.

Libby was convicted in March of lying to a grand jury investigating the leak.

The lawyers said any conversations Cheney and the officials had about Plame with one another or with reporters were part of their normal duties because they were discussing foreign policy and engaging in an appropriate "policy dispute." Cheney's attorney went further, arguing that Cheney is legally akin to the president because of his unique government role and has absolute immunity from any lawsuit.

..more..

[zalinda]

1. "absolute immunity from any lawsuit."

Wait, wait does the name Paula Jones ring a bell?

zalinda

[Jim__]

2. But that was a democrat president. That's different.

:sarcasm: