Reply #66: There are two assumptions here [View All]

1) That the relevant Grand Jury Judge would grant the Congressional Request - which from what you're saying they may or they may not. Which would depend on...

2) Some indication that probative information was revealed in these interviews.

The best we could hope for is the following...

The portion of the LIbby Case which points specifically to Cheney is the fact that Libby first learned about Plame's CIA employement from Cheney himself according to the trial transcripts. Libby was prosecuted based on his attempts to hide this fact by the FBI and Grand Jury. Did Cheney also attempt a similar dodge during his interview?

Another factor which is rarely discussed is the limitations of the IIPA which Libby, Rove, Armatage and Fleischer escaped through. Technically the person revealing the identity of an undercover agents has to be fully aware that this person is covert, and has to reveal it specifically for the purpose of aiding a foreign entity to be in violation of the law. It's not as people such as Victoria Tensing suggests that Plame "wasn't Covert" or "hadn't been overseas in the last two yeas" - she had been - it's that there wasn't any evidence presented at trial that Libby, Rove, Armatage and Fleischer specifically KNEW she was covert. It could be argued that the violated rules for handling classifed information (since the INR memo which mentioned her was classifed), but it's also clear that Bush granted Cheney the power to selectively declassify information near the start of the Iraq War under this Executive Order, and that some of that information, particularly from the NIE, was indeed unilaterally declassfied for political purposes just prior to Libby speaking with Judith Miller.

Libby's question to David Addington indicates that he may have suspected her status, but may have deliberately kept himself in the dark to avoid possible IIPA violations if she was. Unfortunately it doesn't prove that he knowingly violated IIPA. Most of the transcripts indicate he wasn't told of her covert status.

For example the CIA's head of Iraq issues told Libby about Plame, but didn't know her status and didn't pass that fact on to him. He suspected it after the fact and felt remoseful for divulging the information, but he didn't have confirmation. And he didn't bother to check! Ari Fleischer didn't know when he mentioned Plame to reporters such as David Gregory, but when he found out the truth he freaked and called the FBI himself.

The one unanswered question is how did Cheney know about Plame and how much did he know when he told Libby about her?

If he knew she was covert, and shared only part of that information with Libby without also giving him an indication of her status - THEN you've got something. That violates standard classified information protocols and the national security non-disclosure letter that anyone with a security clearance is required to sign (As I myself did in 1982 when I gained a Secret/SAR clearance while working for a Defense Contrator).

It would also satisfy a key portion of the IIPA.

The other portion is the requirement that the leak has to be done to help a foreign power, and the primary indication in this case is that the leak was done for domestic political purposes which sadly, aren't prohibited by the IIPA. (This is coincidently part of why the Plame suit has been stalled by a neo-con stooge Judge who has argued that essentially that "this was just politics" - and is pending appeal)

Any indication that Cheney knowingly violated the IIPA would be a great catch, but I still think it's pretty unlikely he revealed this to Fitz or the FBI. The "Cloud" is Fitz suspicious that this is exactly what happened, but IMO if he didn't get it in the interview - Congress won't find it there either.

Vyan

P.S. I already know what Case Law is, you could have just cited an example which trumped GJ secrecy. Thanks anyway.