This from the New York Sun:
“Defendant testified that he was specifically authorized in advance of the meeting to disclose the key judgments of the classified NIE to Miller on that occasion because it was thought that the NIE was ‘pretty definitive’ against what Ambassador Wilson had said and that the vice president thought that it was ‘very important’ for the key judgments of the NIE to come out,” Mr. Fitzgerald wrote.
Mr. Libby is said to have testified that “at first” he rebuffed Mr. Cheney’s suggestion to release the information because the estimate was classified. However, according to the vice presidential aide, Mr. Cheney subsequently said he got permission for the release directly from Mr. Bush.
“Defendant testified that the vice president later advised him that the president had authorized defendant to disclose the relevant portions of the NIE,” the prosecution filing said.
Wow. This is a pretty big. Not just because it’s about the Plame case, but because it shows that this “above the law” pattern we’ve had to deal with in this administration is coming from the very top. Of course, nobody can ever say for sure that anybody in the administration knew that Plame was covert, but the trend points to leaders that think they can do whatever they want, whenever they want and never have to answer for it.
Seriously, do you think there’s ANY accountability for Bush and Cheney when we have a Republican controlled Congress and Senate? Any whatsoever?
By the way, if you want to read the documents, here they are…courtesy of The Smoking Gun.
(h/t: Sully)