Vice President Dick Cheney’s former aide I. Lewis Scooter Libby has told a federal grand jury that “superiors” authorized him to leak classified intelligence to reporters about Iraq’s weapon’s capabilities to make a case for going to war. The revelation shines an uncomfortable spotlight on Cheney – as if he didn’t have enough to worry about after accidentally shooting a hunting companion last Saturday in Texas.
Since Libby is under indictment for perjury, it’s tempting to take his account with a grain of salt. But the information was contained in a letter written by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and disclosed by Libby’s lawyers. It’s incumbent now on Fitzgerald to pursue the allegation.
Libby apparently did not name names, but he was top aide to Cheney, so it’s sensible to think Cheney was involved. There aren’t many people whom Libby answered to beyond the vice president, except President Bush himself and perhaps his chief of staff Andrew Card. Deputy chief Karl Rove is already under investigation by Fitzgerald.
Court documents released last week say that Libby told a federal grand jury he disclosed in the summer of 2003 the contents of a classified National Intelligence Estimate as part of the Bush administration’s justification for invading Iraq. The NIE is classified, but parts of it have been declassified. The Libby disclosure raises the most basic question: did Cheney authorize his top aide to divulge classified information – a move that would be illegal?
We have to wonder if President Bush plans to make good on his threat to “take appropriate action” if anyone in his administration leaked classified information.
Libby resigned last October upon his indictment on charges including that he lied to the FBI in connection with his discussion with reporters regarding clandestine CIA operative Valerie Wilson. Libby’s disclosures came shortly after her husband, former diplomat Joseph C. Wilson, criticized the administration for misinformation about Iraq’s weapons capabilities.
Fitzgerald since 2004 has been investigating the disclosure of Wilson’s work at the CIA. The new revelation suggests Libby took direction from the highest levels of the administration. That won’t exonerate him for lying to a grand jury, but it could put a measure of responsibility where it belongs.
The vice president’s decision to delay word of last weekend’s hunting accident for nearly 24 hours and his unwillingness to speak publicly for four days has provoked fresh questions about his judgment and credibility at a time when serious questions of national security must yet be addressed.
