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Originally Posted by politicophile
This has huge implications for the rest of the Bush Administration. I don't really see how this conviction can be viewed as anything other than a clear acknowledgement that at least some officials in the Bush administration are keeping important secrets about criminal activity.
For me, the remaining questions are twofold:
1. How far does the corruption go? Is Rove implicated in it? The VP? The President?
2. Will Libby's conviction serve as a catalyst for further prosecutions, or will he be used as a scapegoat in order to cast blame away from other members of the administration?
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I dont think it necessarily can be a clear acknowledgement about other criminal activity. I do believe it exposed the dark and deceptive practices of this administration when it comes to defending the Iraq war and attacking those who question or criticize the justification for war.
Libby acknowledged in grand jury testimoney that
Bush authorized the "declassification" of portions of an NIE" and sharing it with the press in order to bolster an argument for the war...
Lewis "Scooter" Libby testified to a federal grand jury that he had received "approval from the President through the Vice President" to divulge portions of a National Intelligence Estimate regarding Saddam Hussein's purported efforts to develop nuclear weapons, according to the court papers. Libby was said to have testified that such presidential authorization to disclose classified information was "unique in his recollection," the court papers further said.
Libby also testified that an administration lawyer told him that Bush, by authorizing the disclosure of classified information, had in effect declassified the information. Legal experts disagree on whether the president has the authority to declassify information on his own.
http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0406nj1.htm
...while
Bush also refused to share the pre-Iraq NIE summary (Presidents Daily Brief - PDB) with the Senate Intelligence Oversight Committee, claiming that PDB's are for his eyes only.
Two highly classified intelligence reports delivered directly to President Bush before the Iraq war cast doubt on key public assertions made by the president, Vice President Cheney, and other administration officials as justifications for invading Iraq and toppling Saddam Hussein, according to records and knowledgeable sources.
*snip*
But the Bush administration steadfastly continued to refuse to declassify the President's Summary of the NIE, which in the words of one senior official, is the "one document which illustrates what the president knew and when he knew it." The administration also refused to furnish copies of the paper to congressional intelligence committees.
http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artm...w.cgi/58/18106
Like much of what this administration does....its all about Iraq.