Judge Orders Bush: Save Emails

New docs show former veep thought ill of Plame husband's Nigeria trip

(NEWSER) - Dick Cheney's memory may have been a little iffy about the Valerie Plame leak, but Politico reports that the former veep left no room for doubt about his opinion of her husband's trip to Niger to investigate an Iraqi purchase of plutonium. "It was amateur hour out at the CIA," Cheney told a federal prosecutor in a 2004 interview released Friday. More»

VP comes up blank on specifics in newly released interview

(NEWSER) - After years of effort by the Bush and Obama administrations to keep documents related to the CIA leak case secret, redacted portions of the special prosecutor’s 2004 interview with Dick Cheney released today show plenty of nothing. The then-VP apparently suffered acute memory loss: Cheney told Patrick Fitzgerald he couldn't recall when he learned Valerie Plame was a CIA agent, or telling chief of staff Scooter Libby about it, or telling Libby to leak the info to reporters. More»

(NEWSER) - During the Valerie Plame scandal, the left acted as if there was no greater sin than disclosing the name of a CIA operative. But there is no such outrage at current initiatives that could potentially disclose the names of several agency officers, writes Bret Stephens in the Wall Street Journal. Eric Holder’s probe into detainee abuse is bound to make the accused operatives’ names a part of the public record through leaks to the press. More»

Judge questions DoJ's claim about Cheney

(NEWSER) - A Justice Department lawyer argued in court yesterday—with a straight face—that releasing statements Dick Cheney made during the Valerie Plame investigation could cause future administration officials to hold back out of fear their statements would “get on The Daily Show.” The judge overseeing the hearing seemed skeptical, and had nothing on Dan Froomkin, who writes in the Washington Post, “This is not just wrong, it’s perversely wrong.” More»

Conviction a 'miscarriage of justice,' writes Fred Barnes

(NEWSER) - “Simple justice” should compel President Bush to pardon Lewis “Scooter” Libby, writes Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard. “Libby has either been punished far too severely for a very small offense,” writes Barnes “or he is an innocent man.” Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction—but not the actual leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity to columnist Robert Novak. More»