President Bush Authorized the Libby Leak

President Bush Authorized the Libby Leak –updated–

The president thinks he's above the law.

A former White House aide under indictment for obstructing
a leak probe, I. Lewis Libby, testified to a grand jury that he gave information
from a closely-guarded “National Intelligence Estimate” on Iraq
to a New York Times reporter in 2003 with the specific permission of President
Bush, according to a new court filing from the special prosecutor in the case.

The court papers from the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald,
do not suggest that Mr. Bush violated any law or rule. However, the new disclosure
could be awkward for the president because it places him, for the first time,
directly in a chain of events that led to a meeting where prosecutors contend
the identity of a CIA employee, Valerie Plame, was provided to a reporter.

Bush Authorized
Leak to Times, Libby Told Grand Jury

The news contained in the above article knocked the NY Sun's servers out of
commission for a while. They're back but it doesn't matter now. Cable and other news outlets are picking it up too, but how far will they go?

Oh, and Murray Waas
is all over it.

Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff
has testified that President Bush authorized him to disclose the contents
of a highly classified intelligence assessment to the media to defend the
Bush administration's decision to go to war with Iraq, according to papers
filed in federal court on Wednesday by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special
prosecutor in the CIA leak case.

Libby testified to a federal grand jury that he had
received “approval from the President through the Vice President”
to divulge portions of a National Intelligence Estimate.

I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby testified to a federal grand jury that
he had received “approval from the President through the Vice President”
to divulge portions of a National Intelligence Estimate regarding Saddam Hussein's
purported efforts to develop nuclear weapons, according to the court papers.
Libby was said to have testified that such presidential authorization to disclose
classified information was “unique in his recollection,” the court
papers further said.

Libby also testified that an administration lawyer
told him that Bush, by authorizing the disclosure of classified information,
had in effect declassified the information. Legal experts disagree on whether
the president has the authority to declassify information on his own.

Libby
Says Bush Authorized Leaks
(h/t TPM Muckraker)

That's some court filing by Fitzgerald, but Bush is staying mum.

Obviously, Libby contends that by authorizing the leak, Bush declassified the
documents. But did he formally declassify them, which makes all the difference?

One former senior government official said that both
the president and Cheney, in directing Libby to disclose classified information
to defend the administration's case to go to war with Iraq and in formally
declassifying portions of the NIE later, were misusing the classification
process for political reasons.

The official said that while the administration declassified
portions of the NIE that would appear exculpatory to the White House, it insisted
that a one-page summary of the NIE which would have suggested that the President
mischaracterized other intelligence information to go to war remain classified. (source)

Waas' article is very intriguing, because of the selective NIE
declassifications, which basically looks like they came in dribs and drabs, just
to suit the president. Obviously, he wanted his good pal Bobby over at the Post
to have whatever he wanted, as well as the New York Times. But this seems like a huge misuse of authority on
the president's part. Anyone know about declassifying documents out there? (UPDATE: Josh Marshall answers the question, at least partially.)

Something is just not right in the White House on this one. But
we've known that all along.

Bush was scared to death of what Joseph Wilson's editorial revealed. Rove was petrified it could cost Bush the election. So, with a lot of help from Dick, Bush authorized leaking just enough information to cover his presidential patoot, plus throw the fear of the presidential power gods into Valerie Plame. This was for all the marbles and someone was going to pay. It wasn't going to be the president.

The good thing about today's revelations is that the story can be boiled down simply: Bush authorized NIE leaks, through selective declassification, to the media. People wondering why he authorized them will lead them to the bottom line. But in the end, we need the media to cover it. It's the whole ballgame if they do.

UPDATE: Keep checking back with Christy, who'll be doing more updates after some research.