Libby Squeals

[Zkribbler]

CNN.com is reporting:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney [Libby] told a federal grand jury that his superiors authorized him to give secret information to reporters as part of the Bush administration's defense of intelligence used to justify invading Iraq, according to court papers.

The cat's among the pixies now.

[DanS]

Quote the whole article. The article entire leaves quite a bit different impression than the lead.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

WHY DO YOU HATE FREEDOM?!

[The Emperor Fabulous]

Originally posted by DanS
Quote the whole article. The article entire leaves quite a bit different impression than the lead.

...did you read the same article I did?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by The Emperor Fabulous


...did you read the same article I did?

I suspect he means this:

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said in documents filed last month that he plans to introduce evidence that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, disclosed to reporters the contents of a classified National Intelligence Estimate in the summer of 2003.

The NIE is a report prepared by the head of the nation's intelligence operations for high-level government officials, up to and including the president. Portions of NIEs are sometimes declassified and made public. It is unclear whether that happened in this instance.

Frankly, I doubt anyone went through the trouble of declassifying the material before it was leaked. I also suspect that, far from denying anything, this will be pulled into the ongoing attempt to characterize everything done by the White House as inherently legal, just because it's the White House that's doing it. And finally, I'll go way, way out on a limb and predict that no one will care one way or another.

[Agathon]

Libby squeals...

...one would hope like a pig sentenced to 50 years in the Federal PMITA prison.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly


Frankly, I doubt anyone went through the trouble of declassifying the material before it was leaked. I also suspect that, far from denying anything, this will be pulled into the ongoing attempt to characterize everything done by the White House as inherently legal, just because it's the White House that's doing it. And finally, I'll go way, way out on a limb and predict that no one will care one way or another.

You mean this declassifed NIE from no later than July 21,2003.

God these AP guys are morons whocan't even do a 5 minute google search.


Congressional Record

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe


You mean this declassifed NIE from no later than July 21,2003.

God these AP guys are morons whocan't even do a 5 minute google search.


Congressional Record

Maybe they took 5 minutes to find that, but then took an extra 5 minutes actually read it.

That's not a declassified NIE. Those are only the declassified portions of the NIE. Other portions are still classified. What remains to be seen is which portions of the document Scooter leaked, and whether he was told it was okay by higher-ups -- which is pretty much the caveat the article offers.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

The point is they don't have an article. They don't know jack whether classified material was leaked but have done a quite marvelous jo b of implying just that.

Twits.

More to the point that the AP morons claimed was they didn't know if portions of the NIE were declassified. The answer after a quick google is a resounding duhhhh yes it was.

It wasn't from my reading of the AP article ever infered that declassification ocurred and they would have to determine if the leaks constituted portions yet classified, but whether the NIE (or even prtions therof)was made public domain. Poor and shoddy reporting with no investigation.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
The point is they don't have an article. They don't know jack whether classified material was leaked but have done a quite marvelous jo b of implying just that.

Twits.

"Special Prosecutor Says Libby Leaked Classified Documents" isn't an article? Since when?

Or is your point that newpapers shouldn't report on what public officials say until they have independently verified the truth of the utterance? 'Cause I'm all for that; I'll never have to see or hear Bush again.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Dans'd

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
They don't know jack whether classified material was leaked but have done a quite marvelous jo b of implying just that.

They never said that classified material was leaked, just that it was said by Fitzgerald that it was.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Regardless my point remains this, AP reporters are morons who said simply this

Portions of NIEs are sometimes declassified and made public. It is unclear whether that happened in this instance.

There is no denying they were talking to an unknown about whether portions of the NIE were declassified. The answer had they done the simplest of checking would have been known immediately. That being of course NIE's were declassified.

Morons plain and simple.

[Drake Tungsten]

How can you people still care about this?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

I don't I just like pointing out how stupid AP reporters are.