Posted on 06/03/2004 10:07:54 AM PDT by TexKat
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Thursday he was ready to cooperate in the grand jury investigation of who leaked the name of a covert CIA operative last year and that he had consulted with an attorney to determine if he needs legal advice.
"I've told our administration that we'll fully cooperate with their investigation" Bush said. "I want to know the truth. I'm willing to cooperate myself."
Bush's move suggests the president anticipates being questioned by prosecutors about whether he could shine any light on the case. But there is no indication that Bush is a target of the investigation.
"In terms of whether or not I need advice from counsel, this is a criminal matter, it's a serious matter," the president said. "I have met with an attorney to determine whether or not I need his advice, and if I deem I need his advice, I'll probably hire him."
Earlier, Bush's chief spokesman, Scott McClellan, confirmed that Bush had contacted Washington attorney Jim Sharp. "In the event the president needs his advice, I expect he probably would retain him," McClellan said. There is no indication Bush has been questioned yet.
A federal grand jury has questioned numerous White House and administration officials to learn who leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame, wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, to the news media. Wilson has charged that officials made the disclosure in an effort to discredit him.
Bush has been an outspoken critics of leaks, saying they can be very damaging, but he has expressed doubts that the government's investigation will pinpoint who was responsible. While Bush has said he welcomed the leak investigation, it has been an awkward development for a president who promised to bring integrity and leadership to the White House after years of Republican criticism and investigations of the Clinton administration.
Even though he has a White House counsel, Bush is dependent on outside lawyers for private matters. A memo distributed to the staff last year reminded officials that the counsel's office works solely for the president in his official capacity and is not a private attorney for anyone.
Democrats seized on the news to criticize the president.
"It speaks for itself that the president initially claimed he wanted to get to the bottom of this, but now he's suddenly retained a lawyer," said Jano Cabrera, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee (news - web sites). "Bush shouldn't drag the country through grand juries and legal maneuvering. President Bush should come forward with what he knows and come clean with the American people."
Plame was first identified by syndicated columnist and TV commentator Robert Novak in a column last July. Novak said his information came from administration sources.
Wilson has said he believes his wife's name was leaked because of his criticism of Bush administration claims that Iraq had tried to obtain uranium from Niger, which Wilson investigated for the CIA and found to be untrue.
Disclosure of an undercover officer's identity can be a federal crime. The grand jury has heard from witnesses and combed through thousands of pages of documents turned over by the White House, but returned no indictments.
The probe is being handled by Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, appointed after Attorney General John Ashcroft stepped aside from case because of his political ties to the White House.
Absent a breakthrough from the documents or a cooperating witness, prosecutors may be forced to try to identify the leaker through Novak or other reporters. However, journalists pressed by the prosecution could assert a First Amendment privilege to protect their sources.
Wilson has suggested in a book that the leaker was Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Cheney. But Wilson's book, "The Politics of Truth," gave no conclusive evidence for the claim.
The White House denied the claim and accused Wilson of seeking to bolster the campaign of Democrat John Kerry, for whom he has acted as a foreign policy adviser.
Wilson also said it's possible the leak came from Elliott Abrams, a figure in the Reagan administration Iran-Contra affair and now a member of Bush's National Security Council. And Karl Rove, Bush's chief political adviser, may have circulated information about Wilson and Plame "in administration and neoconservative circles" even if Rove was not himself the leaker, Wilson wrote.
Another possibility is that two lower-level officials in Cheney's office — John Hannah or David Wurmser — leaked Plame's identity at the behest of higher-ups "to keep their fingerprints off the crime," Wilson speculated.
I would start with the Foreign Relations Committee. The memo was pretty clear about what the RATS will be doing this election cycle.
Maybe this is their way to keep the ball rolling.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1016642/posts
Funny, I usually laugh at these stupid press created "scandals" such as Enron, prison abuse, Halliburton, "Bush Knew about 9-11", etc. but something about this just makes me very worried.
I'd think if it was all made up by the press, he wouldnt need to hire an attorney.
Enron, Haliburton, and the prison abuse are all being investigated by our government.
I guess they have been duped by the press too. (Dang that press is getting good)
But thats just my opinion.
I'm just adding to crazy conspiracy theories.
Maybe it's because the thought of Dubya retaining an Attorney if need be.
All in all, Dubya's honesty has done nothing but splatter the faces of the politically inclined accusers.
He will be fine.
The strait and narrow will dictate such.
Wilson is an idiot.
and some handwring over the N-word here...lol
Is it illegal for a perons who has the highest level top secret clearance to tell a secret to another person who has the same highest level top secret clearance, but not necessarily a need to know?
Bush might have mentioned it to Tenet, or Ashcfort, or Rice. Is that a crime? I don't know. Maybe that's why Bush hired a lawyer.
Not to be given too much weight, as rumors are rumors, but I heard the biggest MOUTH on this was her husband, bragging to everyone at WDC Cocktail parties about how his wife was a CIA agent!
Bush is the one and only target of EVERYTHING.
.
CLARITY Check =
Actually it look's like Presidential Candidate JOHN KERRY's going to be the one needing an Attorney for good reason. BUSH has retained a personal attorney for his coming testimony before a grand jury, something completely normal for grand juries.
It appears KERRY has illegally used copyrighted photographs of Vietnam Veterans who seved with him in Vietnam, without their permission, while saying that they all support him for President ...when only 2 of them do.
"KERRY's presidential campaign appears to have violated copyright laws by broadcasting several photos from the Caller-Times book 'South Texas Heroes'" the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported today.
See:
Angry Veterans Demand KERRY Stop Exploiting Them
http://www.Newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/6/3/114333.shtml
NEVER FORGET
Actually, he hasn't been. It took a few months for Justice to get moving on this after the Novak article. I don't remember exactly what triggered the move, but I believe that it was Tenet making a complaint to either the White House or Justice.
Truth Bump!!
I had an immediate impression that Hunt was simpering with satisfaction as he wrote this line. LOL
"Awkward", I suppose, if one wishes to classify baseless attacks lodged against the administration from the Wilsons and the left as "awkward". I have a stronger word for it.
Iraq had tried to obtain uranium from Niger, which Wilson investigated for the CIA and found to be untrue.
What is untrue is this sentence. To call his jaunt an "investigation" is ridiculous. To say he "found" out anything is just outright false.
My guess is the investigation is not what conventional wisdom states. It is more likely the skulduggery of the Wilsons and their associates who had a hand in this treachery are the focus. They'll try to retaliate against the president via lawsuits and the like, hence his consulting an attorney.
That's my prognositication.
Every time this comes up on the news I become furious at Robert Novak for not telling what he knows, confidentiality be damned. Tying the government in knots with a lengthy and expensive investigation that could be ended so simply is not worth it as far as I am concerned.
LOL
Yes, I'm sure the "officials" said "vindictively blew the cover" of the CIA "spy".
Good grief!
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