http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cia_leak;_ylt=Alpwd.1Wmfy4x4kbyUqrf36s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--Bush Says He Declassified Pre-War Intel
By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer 25 minutes ago
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"I wanted people to see the truth and thought it made sense for people to see the truth," Bush said during an appearance at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.
"You're not supposed to talk about classified information, and so I declassified the document," he said in a question-and-answer session after delivering a speech on Iraq. "I thought it was important for people to get a better sense for why I was saying what I was saying in my speeches. And I felt I could do so without jeopardizing ongoing intelligence matters, and so I did."
It was Bush's first comment since more detail about the release of a prewar intelligence document surfaced last week in a court filing by U.S. prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sent a letter to Bush on Monday asking him for details about how the document was declassified. "There are many questions that the president must answer so that the American people can understand that this declassification was done for national security purposes, not for immediate political gain."
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On Sunday, Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., said Bush and Cheney should speak publicly about the
CIA leak case so people can make their own judgments about what happened. But Bush said he can't talk about an ongoing legal proceeding.