Scott McClellan Dismantles Cheney’s Plame Firewall---Points DIRECTLY To BUSH

Scott McClellan Dismantles Cheney’s Plame Firewall
By: emptywheel Friday August 1, 2008 6:53 am

When evidence from the Scooter Libby trial showed that Dick Cheney had probably ordered Scooter Libby to leak Valerie Plame's identity, Cheney built a firewall that legally excused the leak--but still insulated George Bush from involvement in knowingly outing a CIA spy. Cheney claimed, on at least two occasions, that he himself had the authority to declassify classified information, presumably up to and including Valerie Plame's identity. Yet new information from Scott McClellan dismantles Cheney's firewall; McClellan reveals that in the same period when Cheney was claiming he had the authority to declassify such information, the White House Counsel's Office under Harriet Miers disagreed that the Vice President had such declassification authorities.

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The Implications of Cheney's Crumbling Firewall

The only one who could override his lawyers on this matter, it seems, would be the President himself.

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But, ultimately, this reflects back on Bush--and puts him solidly in the middle of discussions about the leak of Valerie Plame's identity. The Vice President started publicly claiming to have the authority to declassify things like the CIA trip report and Plame's identity only after Libby had clearly implicated both his supervisors--Cheney and Bush--in the Plame leak. By all appearances, Bush didn't finally decide the issue until 2007. If Bush--and his lawyers--didn't decide whether or not Cheney had the authority to declassify the extra things leaked to Miller until four years after the fact, it suggests Bush was the one who bought off on that leak, not Cheney. Cheney can't be Bush's firewall, because he didn't have the authority to be until four years after the leak. If, as abundant evidence suggests, Cheney ordered Libby to leak Plame's identity, either this leak was illegal. Or President Bush approved the deliberate exposure of a CIA spy.

links, info, interviews and much more at:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/08/01/scott-mcclellan-dismantles-cheneys-plame-firewall/

... and I could not find Jeff Gannon, James Guckert, or Talon News mentioned anywhere.

with the S & M male republicon prostitute apparently logged in for many overnighters, as established by the official Secret Service record, at George and Laura Bush's White House?

Must we again think about this sordid tale of republicon 'family values'? And again wonder who at the Bush White House was enjoying the, um, company of male republicon B & D prostitute Jeff Gannon?

The republicon-pwned corporate media did not think it seemly to mention the male B & D republicon prostitute's hundreds of visits to George Bush's White House. So why, I ponder, should we clutter our beautiful minds with this kind of filth?

Think of the children.

Chastely yours, SH

Yes.

The Gannon-Guckert scandal lies at the heart
of the 1st-term Bu$hCo WH.

It embodies their duplicity perfectly.

JEFF GANNON/GUCKERT signed in, but NEVER SIGNED OUT on
hundreds of those visits.
Oooooh...National Security is Soooo important, huh?

JEFF GANNON/GUCKERT was 100 ft from The president, often,
WITH NO SECURITY CLEARANCE.

In the "paranoid" 2002-3 period, no less.

That was no "oops".

Everybody knows Jeff Gannon/Guckert
was, uh, "visiting" with
one of the real Bu$hCo Bigwigs, or
he wouldn't have been there at all.

Which of the Bigwigs it was, is still a Mystery.






And yes, this will be an unkillable story over the long run.

A truly immortal American scandal.

must be brought up again after 200 visits and virtually no corporate media coverage of this, ah, unseemly expression of republicon 'family values.'

People don't google "republicon family values" they google "republican family values" and no matter how good it feels to call people names, if your real goal is to get this into search engines or otherwise increase the visibility of this incredible story,

where a male prostitute was given intimate access to the white house, visiting high administration officials without a security clearance in 2002 and 2003, and without properly signing in and out,

then I suggest you avoid making up your own words.

and a republicon a republicon.

Thanks for the suggestion all the same,

Maybe just giving her a little massage so she would sleep better since ole Shrub crashed out so early.

The man has done everything he possibly could to get impeached, and yet Congress STILL does nothing.

I'll bet if Bush was caught blowing Jeff Gannon Congress would do something...a sex act between two consenting adults is impeachable, but spying on us, starting a war based on lies, outing a CIA agent, corruption, cronyism, lying to Congress...all are just fine and dandy as far as THIS CONGRESS is concerned.

Well...it's not fine with MOST OF AMERICA. Is it any wonder Congress has such low approval ratings? FIRE THEM ALL! GET NEW ONES WHO WILL DO THEIR JOBS AND CLEAN UP THIS CORRUPTION.

The argument that the executive can do as he pleases is specious.

Bush cannot reveal the locations and strength of our nuclear arsenal, for instance. He'd go to jail if he did.

Why does he get a pass on treason?

CIA NOC agents identities' are classified by an act of Congress, namely the one that established the CIA, not by Executive decree, thus the President does not have the authority to 'declassify' a CIA NOC agent. He can only declassify information that was originally classified by the Executive branch.

He's still liable for criminal prosecution after he leaves office, too. There is no statute of limitations on treason.

Sex acts between DEMOCRATS are impeachable. Sex acts between Republicans ar of no interest to anyone. It's their personal business, you see, so if the President & Karl Rove & Jeff Gannon & Swingin' Dick Cheney and half a dozen neocons have themselves a little Crisco party, who cares? Now 'm not sayin' that's what happened, because I don't even know if ol' Crisco himself was there, he mighta been off somewhere singin' about flyin' eagles or hangin' drapes over nude statues or somethin', but anyway, if somethin' like that happened, it's just none of your beeswax.

:spray:

:rofl:

What a strange, strange world.

Because BLOW-JOBS are an impeachable offense.

TREASON is business as usual.

so we can all wag our fingers and say, "He lied!" . . .

:evilgrin:

But these are the perils of representative government....

You just wait and see how nasty a bunch of letters our Congressional investigators write this time!

seriously, why do I laugh? It's not funny....

Thus sayeth the lord. Amen. All rise.

this time, my coffee cup is not in hand. Forgive me Lord Gourd!

early in the first term. I read it in the paper and was shocked by the power grab. We were still in LA, so it was probably the LA Times. I don't think that bit of the argument is accurate.

As time goes by more is being dug out in this criminal matter.

or he may be found in a wooded area with pills stuffed down his throat and forced shots of whiskey. They'll find some faked suicide note. The small Podunk County Texas coroner (a la Cliff Baxter, not like Ft. Bend County is "small") will "confirm" it was suicide and they'll have him cremated within hours. They'll say he was so depressed since he left the WH and he was so bitter because ...

I really am worried for this guy.

We just saw what happened with the anthrax guy...

I want this back up at the top.

Of course Bush knew.

But Scott has personally posed a threat to Cheney. That's a tough place to be.

they'll all get pardons.

People still wanna believe he's just a front man?

who really knows who is behind who... probably what they wanted in the first place.

for some real consequences. So far the giggling murderer's misadministration has gotten away with everything. Guess I'll just wait, again:-(

It does seem that the ball of yarn is rolling across the floor, down the stairs, out the door and down the road at this point.

I think it means the insiders know the game is up and somebody's getting the blame for the entire war lie/coverup scheme.

The rats do seem to shove each other overboard as the ship lerches to the bottom.

Amazing what some pathetic losers will do for fame and fortune.