Quote:
Originally Posted by webmasterchecks
do you think bush is going to pardon libby?
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No doubt.
From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Plame:
During her employment at the CIA, Ms. Wilson was undercover.
Her employment status with the CIA was classified information prohibited from disclosure under Executive Order 12958.
At the time of the publication of Robert Novak's column on July 14, 2003, Ms. Wilson's CIA employment status was covert.
This was classified information.
According to Libby's testimony, "the Vice President later advised him that the President had authorized defendant to disclose the relevant portions of the NIE [to Judith Miller]."[33] According to his testimony, the information Libby was authorized to disclose to Miller "was intended to rebut the allegations of an administration critic, former ambassador Joseph Wilson." A couple of days after Libby's meeting with Miller, Condoleezza Rice told reporters that "We don't want to try to get into kind of selective declassification" of the NIE, adding "We're looking at what can be made available."[34]
A "sanitized version" of the NIE in question was officially declassified on July 18, 2003, ten days after Libby's contact with Miller, and was presented at a White House background briefing on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq.[35] The NIE contains no references to Valerie Plame or her CIA status, but the special counsel has suggested that White House actions were part of "a plan to discredit, punish or seek revenge against Mr. Wilson."[36] Bush had previously indicated that he would fire whoever outed Plame.
From other news sources:
Bush — September 30, 2003: "And if there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of. ... I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action."
11 February 2004: George W. Bush insists, "If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. . . . If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of. I welcome the investigation. I am absolutely confident the Justice Department will do a good job. I want to know the truth. . . . Leaks of classified information are bad things.
10 June 2004: A questioner at the press conference following the G8 summit asks President Bush "do you stand by your pledge to fire anyone found to have done so", referring to a prior question regarding whether the President stands by his suggestion that it might be difficult to identify anybody who leaked the agent's name. President Bush answers "yes", however nowhere in the public record has the President actually made the specific pledge alluded to by the questioner.
18 July 2005: President Bush says that the leaker will be fired if a crime was committed. "I would like this to end as quickly as possible so we know the facts. And if someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration."