Leakgate' or Just a Sideshow?

[electropop]

That's how ABC is spinning it - just a little sideshow:

"Libby Says Bush OK'd Leak of Iraq Intelligence; Unclear Whether President Broke Law

By JOHN COCHRAN

April 6, 2006 — Official Washington is scratching its collective head, trying to determine whether papers filed in federal court that were made public today drop a bombshell, pose a danger to the Bush presidency, or are just a sideshow in former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's legal troubles.

Libby testified to a federal grand jury that he received "approval from the president through the vice president" to reveal classified information to a New York Times reporter. The material was from a national intelligence estimate that gauged Saddam Hussein's intentions toward developing nuclear weapons.

Has President Bush, who has publicly condemned leaks of secret material, broken the law, or is it within his powers to declassify information and allow it to be given to reporters, despite his condemnation of leaking?

First, we have to remember what Libby has been charged with: that during the investigation into who leaked the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame, he perjured himself, made false statements and obstructed justice. Libby was not indicted for leaking classified information, and in the court papers it is clear he said the material he leaked was no longer classified..."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=1813491&page=1

They are apparently trying to present this as a news article, but it's pretty obviously an editorial (and a desperate one at that).

[oasis]

1. Bush has to explain why he didn't have a clue who leaked Plame's identity.

There will be repeated showing of his Sept. 30,2003 comment on the issue. That alone is a giant blow to his already crumbling credibility.