Dems' Prints All Over McClellan's 'Bitter Retort'

It uphholds dismissal of Plame's case against Cheney, others

(NEWSER) - A federal appeals court today threw out former CIA spy Valerie Plame's lawsuit against Dick Cheney and a group of former Bush White House officials for leaking her identity to the public. The court ruled that Cheney, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and former State Department official Richard Armitage were acting within their official duties when they conspired to reveal Plame's identity to the press, Reuters reports. More»

Role in Plamegate was enough to can him, ex-Bushie says

(NEWSER) - President Bush should have fired aide Karl Rove over the Plamegate affair, Scott McClellan said today. Publicizing his Washington tell-all book, McClellan also blasted Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Dick Cheney's ex-chief of staff, for denying they had leaked CIA agent Valerie Plame's name, the AP reports. "We had higher standards at the White House." More»

Press secretary says Bush gave him false information

(NEWSER) - Bush's ex-press secretary says he falsely exonerated Scooter Libby and Karl Rove in the outing of a CIA agent in 2003 because the president told him to, Salon reports. A leaked excerpt of Scott McClellan’s upcoming memoir says that his misinformation came from "the president himself" when McClellan claimed the two men were innocent of outing Valerie Plame. More»

(NEWSER) - Most Americans will remember Robert Novak as the acerbic right-winger on CNN, but he saw himself first and foremost as "a shoe-leather reporter," writes Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz. Novak prided himself on getting scoops and uncovering secrets via a wide network of Republican officials. But that insiderism proved his downfall when, in 2003, he relied on Karl Rove and revealed that Valerie Plame was a CIA operative. 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»