BB FANS

Cheney aide charged over CIA leak

A top aide to the US vice president has been charged with obstruction of justice and perjury in an inquiry into the unmasking of a covert CIA agent.

Lewis Libby, chief of staff to Dick Cheney, has also been charged with making false statements to the federal grand jury during its two-year probe.

Presidential adviser Karl Rove appears to have escaped immediate indictment.

The identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame - whose husband criticised the Iraq war - was leaked to a US reporter in 2003.

BBC

Rove will not be indicted



The man dubbed "Bush's brain" will not be indicted by the federal grand jury investigating the leaking of the identity of a covert CIA agent.

But White House Advisor Karl Rove will remain under investigation and in legal jeopardy.

Top White House officials including Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby, are also expected to face criminal charges over the leak.

Revealing the identity of a covert agent is a federal offence so when CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity was leaked to a US journalist in 2003 it sparked both anger and worries in the White House.

Plame's identity was leaked to the media after her diplomat husband, Joseph Wilson, accused the Bush administration of twisting pre-war intelligence to support military action against Iraq.

Wilson said it was done deliberately to erode his credibility.

Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who is leading the two-year-probe, informed Rove that he would not be among those indicted but he would remain under investigation and in legal jeopardy, according to legal sources.

Indictments could trigger an immediate shake-up at the White House, already on the defensive over the response to Hurricane Katrina, opposition to the Iraq war and the withdrawal of Bush's nominee for the US Supreme Court, Harriet Miers. Ch4

White House aid indicted over leak

US vice presidential adviser Lewis Libby has been indicted on charges of obstruction of justice, making a false statement and perjury in the CIA leak case.

Karl Rove, President George Bush's closest adviser, escaped indictment but remained under investigation, his legal status a looming political problem for the White House.

The indictments stem from a two-year investigation by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald into whether Rove, Libby or any other administration officials knowingly revealed the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame or lied about their involvement to investigators.

The five-count indictment accuses Libby of lying about how and when he learned about CIA official Valerie Plane's identity in 2003 and then told reporters about it. The information was classified.

Any trial would shine a spotlight on the secret deliberations of Bush and his team as they built the case for war against Iraq.

Bush ordered US troops to war in March 2003, saying Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction programme posed a grave and immediate threat to the United States. No such weapons were found.

The US military death toll in Iraq climbed past 2,000 this week.

Moments before the indictments were released, Bush stepped off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House after a brief trip to Norfolk, Virginia. As the documents were released, Cheney was giving a speech in Georgia.

Libby, 55, is considered Cheney's closest ally, a chief architect of the war with Iraq. A trial would give the public a rare glimpse into Cheney's influential role in the West Wing and his behind-the-scenes lobbying for war.

Though Libby has worked in relative obscurity, he is one of the administration's influential advisers because of his proximity to Cheney, one of the most powerful vice presidents in US history. ananova

CINDY SHEEHAN: Lewis 'Scooter' Libby is a welcome development but, the responsibility for lying to the American people and targeting critics needs to go all the way up the chain of command.

WASHINGTON, DC--Cindy Sheehan is holding a week-long vigil which ends today in Lafayette Park to be a daily, visual reminder to those who live and work in the White House of the strong opposition to the Iraq war and the anger of the nation at the more than 2,000 US lives that have been lost in Iraq. Her protest was among more than 1,000 protests throughout the country that were held this week to honor the US soldiers whose lives were lost in Iraq and call for the troops to be brought home now.

Sheehan will be in Lafayette Park holding her vigil today across from the White House until 6:30 PM when she departs to deliver flowers and a card to wounded Iraq soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital, 7200 Georgia Ave. NW at Elder at 7 PM.

Statement from Cindy Sheehan on the Indictment and Resignation
of Lewis 'Scooter' Libby October 28, 2006:

''While the indictment and resignation of Lewis 'Scooter' Libby is a
welcome development but, the responsibility for lying to the American
people and targeting critics and dissidents needs to go all the way
up the chain of command. Scooter Libby was clearly one of the
administration's attack dogs unleashed on opponents of this fraudulent
war, but he serves higher masters. This administration continues to
wage a war based on lies, a war that has taken the lives of 2,000
Americans, including my son, and the lives of tens of thousands of
innocent Iraqis. This indictment reinforces the growing calls in this
country and around the world to end the occupation, bring our troops
home and hold those responsible accountable for their crimes.
Let this serve as a springboard to put the war on trial and bring our
troops home now.''
afterdowningstreet.org

Bush knows source of CIA leak, says Plame affair columnist

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington

President George Bush was drawn directly into the CIA leak affair for the first time yesterday after the journalist whose column prompted the investigation said the president knew who outed the undercover operative Valerie Plame.

"I'm confident the president knows who the source is," the conservative columnist Robert Novak said in a speech earlier this week in Raleigh, North Carolina. "I'd be amazed if he doesn't."

The White House yesterday declined to respond to Novak's charges. "I don't know what he is basing it on," the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, said. The White House said it is cooperating with the leak inquiry, conducted by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, and that it will not comment on the investigation.

Novak's remarks were an uncomfortable reminder for the administration that there could be further fallout from the inquiry. The grand jury investigation has already led to the resignation of one senior aide, Lewis (Scooter) Libby, the chief of staff to vice-president Dick Cheney, after he was charged with perjury. It is now gathering information on the role of the man widely known as Bush's Brain, Karl Rove, deputy White House chief of staff.

Novak said Mr Bush should be urged to disclose the source of the leak rather than the journalists who have come under pressure from Mr Fitzgerald and, in the case of former New York Times reporter Judith Miller, served time in prison.

The appearance in North Carolina marked a departure for Novak who has repeatedly refused to comment on his role in the affair ever since his July 2003 column made Valerie Plame a household name. He also suggested this week that he and Bob Woodward, the investigative journalist recently drawn into the leak inquiry, probably spoke to the same official.

"So I say, 'Bug the president as to whether he should reveal who the source is'," Novak was quoted as saying in Raleigh. The remarks were seized upon by Democratic senator Charles Schumer, who had called on Mr Bush to name the source, and reveal what disciplinary action had been taken against the leaker.

Mr Bush had said he would sack anyone implicated but then said he would dismiss anyone who had "committed a crime". guardian

Dick Cheney is the puppeteer behind Bush, who got all the rebuilding contracts in Iraq?

Ah it was Halliburton, a Cheney company..shurely shome mishtake

Croneyism in the USA...never!

Sunday December 18, 2005 1:16 PM
Guardian

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Vice President Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq Sun under heavy security, touring the country after parliamentary elections that he suggested were a major step toward drawing down U.S. forces.
``The participation levels all across the country were remarkable,'' Cheney told reporters after an hour long briefing from the war's top military commanders. ``And that's exactly what need to happen as you build a political structure in a self-governing Iraq that can unify the various segments of the population and ultimately take over responsibility for their own security.''

The daylong tour was so shrouded in secrecy that even Iraq's prime minister said he was surprised when he showed up for what he thought was a meeting with the U.S. ambassador only to see Cheney waiting to greet him.

Cheney's tour of the country came on the same day that President Bush was giving a prime-time Oval Office address to the nation on Iraq.

Cheney's aides said the timing was a coincidence, but regardless, the two events combined in a public relations blitz aimed at capitalizing on the elections to rebuild support for the unpopular war.

The vice president visited with Iraq's leaders and military commanders in the Green Zone, saw an Iraqi troop training demonstration at Taji air base, lunched with soldiers who provided security for Thursday's election and gave a speech to troops.

Cheney flew around the Baghdad area in a pack of eight fast-moving Blackhawk helicopters with guns mounted on the sides. He flew along the airport road that has been the site of many insurgent attacks and passed over the courthouse where Saddam's Hussein's trial is being held.

He saw rows of housing for soldiers at Camp Victory fortified by concrete walls. Smoke for the trash fires burning throughout the occupied city drifted up toward his chopper.

A majority of Americans have said they disapprove of Bush's handling of the war and the White House has been pushing back hard against calls for troop withdrawals.

``You've heard some prominent voices advocating a sudden withdrawal of our forces from Iraq,'' Cheney told hundreds of service members gathered to hear a ``mystery guest.'' ``Some have suggested that the war is not winnable and a few seem almost eager to conclude the struggle is already over. But they are wrong. The only way to lose this fight is to quit and that is not an option.''

Cheney last visited Iraq in March 1991, when he was defense secretary for the current president's father. He became the highest ranking official in the current administration to visit the country since Bush's unannounced trip on Thanksgiving Day 2003.

His first stop was the U.S. ambassador's residence, where he had an hourlong briefing with ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Gen. George Casey and Gen. John Abizaid.

While he was inside, a suspicious vehicle was stopped about a mile away and Secret Servce agents warned there might be a loud blast if security forces decided to detonate it. But no blast was heard and Cheney went on to have meetings there with the surprised Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

CIA leak prosecutor fights document release
Says Libby has evidence he needs


I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has testified that his superiors authorized him to disclose prewar information.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A former White House aide's wide-ranging demand for classified intelligence documents to aid his defense in the CIA leak case would sabotage the case if granted, the prosecutor is charging.

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald suggested that lawyers for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were trying to torpedo the government's case by pressing for the documents, including nearly a year's worth of the Presidential Daily Brief, a summary of threats to the U.S. that the Bush administration has fiercely guarded in the past.

In court papers filed late Thursday, Fitzgerald also asserted that granting such a request would damage national security and presidential executive privilege. He called it "nothing short of breathtaking."

"The defendant's effort to make history ... is a transparent effort at 'greymail,"' he said, referring to past attempts by government officials charged with wrongdoing to derail their prosecutions by trying to expose national security secrets.

Libby, 55, was indicted last year on charges that he lied about how he learned CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity and when he subsequently told reporters. Libby's trial is set for January 2007.

Libby's lawyers have that they need the secret briefings prepared for President Bush to show that Libby had more pressing matters of national security on his mind than the disclosure of Plame's identity. The documents will show Libby "was immersed throughout the relevant period in urgent and sensitive matters," the defense said in court papers.

In a 32-page response to Libby's requests, Fitzgerald said he already has turned over more than 11,000 pages of classified and unclassified evidence to the defense -- more than required under law.

But the defense also is seeking access to every Presidential Daily Brief from May 2003 to March 2004, amounting to 277 intelligence reports.

The prosecutor quoted Vice President Dick Cheney, Libby's former boss, as describing the PDBs as the "family jewels" of government. Fitzgerald warned U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton that turning over such highly classified documents would provoke a lengthy legal battle with the president.

At the beginning of the Bush administration access to the PDBs was reduced within the government to reduce the risk of leaks. The White House publicly released selected briefings only under great pressure and careful negotiation with the commission investigating the government's performance surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The administration has argued that releasing daily intelligence memos could hamper future presidents' ability to get candid advice.

Libby also is seeking access to more information about news reporters connected to the case and records about Plame kept by the CIA. Those records include any assessments of damage to national security by the public disclosure of the operative's identity.

Fitzgerald said he does not have to prove that the disclosure damaged national security to secure a conviction of Libby for perjury, false statements and obstruction of justice.

He also said he is not required to search every government agency's files for evidence that might help Libby's defense.

Fitzgerald said he has given defense attorneys everything he has gathered on Libby's conversations with reporters. But the prosecutor said he is not required to give the defense the statements and testimony of reporters who will be called as government witnesses at trial.

The prosecutor also said he gave the defense documents about reporters who obtained information about Plame from sources other than Libby. But Fitzgerald said he has withheld the specifics about the reporters' sources to protect grand jury secrecy in his ongoing investigation.

Plame's identity was published in July 2003 by columnist Robert Novak after her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the administration of twisting intelligence about Iraq's efforts to buy uranium "yellowcake" in Niger. The year before, the CIA had sent Wilson to Niger to determine the accuracy of the uranium reports.
CNN

Bush 'ordered leak', ex-aide says

Lewis Libby is to go on trial for allegedly lying to investigators
President Bush authorised the leak of secret intelligence to the New York Times to help defend the war in Iraq, a former top White House aide has said.

The claim comes from Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former chief-of-staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Mr Libby is facing trial for allegedly obstructing an investigation into a different leak.

He is accused of lying to prosecutors investigating who revealed the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame to the press.

Ms Plame's husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson, wrote a high-profile article in the New York Times in July 2003 casting doubt on a key White House claim about Saddam Hussein's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Mr Libby reportedly says in court papers filed on Wednesday that soon afterwards, Mr Cheney told him to pass information from the classified National Intelligence Estimate to Judith Miller, a New York Times reporter.

Disclosing classified information in that way was "unique in his recollection", his testimony reportedly says.

First Bush link

Mr Bush approved Mr Cheney's instruction, the vice-president told Mr Libby, according to the court papers.

Top Senate Democrat Harry Reid called the claim "shocking", and said Mr Bush "must fully disclose his participation in the selective leaking of classified information".

The White House has not commented on the report. The lawyer prosecuting Mr Libby does not claim Mr Bush broke the law.

Experts disagree on whether the president has the authority on his own to declassify secret information.

Mr Libby's testimony marks the first time he has put Mr Bush into the frame of events surrounding leaks from the White House to the press over the Iraq war.

Reports suggest he disclosed Mrs Plame's name to the New York Times in the same conversation where he passed on National Intelligence Estimate information.

No-one has been charged with a crime over the leaking of Mrs Plame's name to reporters.

Mr Libby is charged with lying to investigators and obstructing the investigation.

He resigned as chief-of-staff to Mr Cheney after he was charged and is due to go on trial in January 2007. BBC