Friday, February 10, 2006

lots more on the repug leak scandal

The Scooter/Cheney leak story is getting major coverage

Major news coverage about the blockbuster revelation that Scooter was instructed by his White House bosses -- including Vice President Cheney -- to leak classified information for purely political reasons. This is a serious issue. The Bush/Cheney administration cannot be trusted on national security. Maybe now the traditional media will think twice about just adopting that theme (I know that's a reach, but it had to be said.)

New York Times:

I. Lewis Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, told a grand jury that he was authorized by his "superiors" to disclose classified information to reporters about Iraq's weapons capability in June and July 2003, according to a document filed by a federal prosecutor.

Associated Press:

A former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney 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.

Washington Post:

Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff testified that his bosses instructed him to leak information to reporters from a high-level intelligence report that suggested Iraq was trying to obtain weapons of mass destruction, according to court records in the CIA leak case.

Cheney was one of the "superiors" I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby said had authorized him to make the disclosures, according to sources familiar with the investigation into Libby's discussions with reporters about CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Reuters:

Vice President Dick Cheney directed his aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby to use classified material to discredit a critic of the Bush administration's Iraq war effort, the National Journal reported on Thursday.

Court papers released last week show that Libby was authorized to disclose classified information to news reporters by "his superiors," in an effort to counteract diplomat Joe Wilson's charge that the Bush administration twisted intelligence on Iraq's nuclear weapons to justify the 2003 invasion.


(Americablog)
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This story should be HUGE!!! How can this administration continue to claim to be strong on security when it leaks classified information for purely political reasons?!?!
If this were any other time, this would be unbelievable...