Article #: Valerie Plame

Article N:

In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has violated United States law by unlawfully de-classifying classified information for the sole purpose of discrediting a whistleblower, facilitating the felonious exposure of the identity of a covert CIA operative working to protect the United States against the spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction, participating in a conspiracy to deceive the citizens and Federal investigators about the perpetrators of the felony, obstructing justice during the investigation of the felony, and obstructing justice in commuting the sentence of one of the conspirators, all in a manner damaging to our national security interests, to wit:

(1) The President violated the lawful procedure for de-classifying classified information for the sole purpose of discrediting a whistleblower:

(A) According to court papers in the case of The People v. I. Lewis Libby, "Defendant's [Libby] participation in a critical conversation with [then-New York Times reporter] Judith Miller on July 8 occurred only after the Vice President advised defendant that the President specifically had authorized defendant to disclose certain information in the NIE. Defendant testified that the circumstances of his conversation with reporter Miller - getting approval from the President through the Vice President to discuss material that would be classified but for that approval - were unique in his recollection."

(B) At the time, other White House officials were working through a formal interagency declassification process to make public portions of one or both of the same documents. Leading the effort to formally declassify some of the same information, according to legal and government sources, were presidential counselor Dan Bartlett, then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley, and then-CIA Director George Tenet.

Waas, Murray, Bush Directed Cheney To Counter War Critic, National Journal, July 3, 2006
http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0703nj1.htm

(C) President Bush's motivation for de-classifying selected portions of the NIE was to deceive the citizens, because the NIE in its entirety contradicted Mr. Libby's claim that a "key judgment" of the NIE was that Iraq was "vigorously trying to procure" uranium in Africa."

de la Vega, Elizabeth, "Final Jeopardy," TomDispatch.com, April 9, 2006
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/76008/de_la_vega_on_the_president_s_fina...

(2) The President facilitated the felonious exposure of the identity of a covert CIA operative working to protect the United States against the spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction

(A) Following the President's unlawful de-classification of portions of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq, I. Lewis Libby provided not only portions of the NIE, but also exposed the identity of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame, in violation of both the [Intelligence Identities Protection Act] and the [Classified Information Act]. Libby exposed Plame's identity to Judith Miller of the New York Times on June ? and to Matthew Cooper of Time Magazine on June ?.

(B) Libby told investigators he did not expose Plame's identity to Miller and Cooper, but a unanimous jury determined he was lying.

(3) The President participated in a conspiracy to deceive the citizens and Federal investigators about the perpetrators of the felony

(A) On September 16, 2003, the CIA referred the outing of Valerie Plame to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation by the FBI.

(B) On September 16, September 29, October 6, October 7, and October 10, 2003, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan repeatedly denied the involvement of Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, and other White House officials in the outing of Valerie Plame.
DOJ, CIA call for Plame investigation, investigation starts, dKosopedia
http://dkosopedia.com/wiki/DOJ%2C_CIA_call_for_Plame_investigation%2C_in...

(C) On November 20, 2007, former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan was quoted as writing, "I stood at the White House briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. There was one problem. It was not true. I unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff, and the president himself."

(D) On September 30, 2003, President Bush said in Chicago, "I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030930-9.html

(4) The President obstructed justice during the investigation of the felony

(A) On June 24, 2004, President Bush was interviewed by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald for roughly 70 minutes. According to a subsequent news report that was never challenged by the White House, "President Bush told the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case that he directed [Cheney] to personally lead an effort to counter allegations made by former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV that his administration had misrepresented intelligence information to make the case to go to war with Iraq, according to people familiar with the president's interview. Bush also told federal prosecutors … that he had directed Cheney, as part of that broader effort, to disclose highly classified intelligence information that would not only defend his administration but also discredit Wilson, the sources said. But Bush told investigators that he was unaware that Cheney had directed [Libby] to covertly leak the classified information to the media instead of releasing it to the public after undergoing the formal governmental declassification processes. Bush also said during his interview with prosecutors that he had never directed anyone to disclose the identity of then-covert CIA officer Valerie Plame, Wilson's wife. Bush said he had no information that Cheney had disclosed Plame's identity or directed anyone else to do so.

Waas, Murray, Bush Directed Cheney To Counter War Critic, National Journal, July 3, 2006
http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0703nj1.htm

(B) In September 2003, Vice President Cheney wrote to Scott McClellan, "Not going to protect one staffer [meaning Rove] and sacrifice the guy this Pres that was asked to stick his neck in the meat grinder because of the incompetence of others." The deleted reference to "this Pres" suggests President Bush directly instructed Libby to disclose classified information.

(C) In January 2007, Libby's attorney Theodore Wells cited Cheney's note as evidence that White House officials tried to "scapegoat" Libby to protect Karl Rove, Bush's political adviser and "right-hand man."

Ponder, Jon, Did Bush Lie to Federal Investigators in the CIA Leak Case? Pensito Review, November 21, 2007
http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/11/21/did-bush-lie-to-fitzgerald-too1/

(5) The President obstructed justice in commuting the sentence of one of the conspirators

(A) On July 2, 2007, President Bush commuted Libby's 30-month prison sentence.

(B) Libby is a key witness to the actions of President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove, and Andrew Card, both in the criminal exposure of Valerie Plame's identity in July 2003 and the subsequent criminal conspiracy to obstruct the investigation of that crime.

(C) "the real effect of Bush's actions is to prevent Libby from revealing the truth about Bush's - and vice president Cheney's - own actions in the leak. By commuting Libby's sentence, Bush protected himself and his vice president from potential criminal exposure for their actions in the CIA Leak. As such, Libby's commutation is nothing short of another obstruction of justice."

Wheeler, Marcy, Just another obstruction of justice, The Guardian, July 3, 2007
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/marcy_wheeler/2007/07/libby_sentence...