Libby Team Says He Was Not Ordered to Leak Plame Name

Posted Thursday, April 13, 2006 12:00 am

By: E&P Staff A court filing by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald released last week suggested that former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby had been instructed by his boss, Vice President Cheney, to leak parts of a classified or formerly classified document to reporters in 2003.

But a new filing from Libby's attorneys yesterday revealed that in grand jury testimony two years ago, Libby did not assert that Cheney or President Bush ordered him to disclose the name of CIA officer Valerie Plame.

As summarized by The Washington Post on Thursday, in their filing the Libby lawyers "asserted that White House documents outlining what Libby was to say in conversations with reporters did not mention Plame's name. They said this supports Libby's contention that he did not participate in a campaign to damage Wilson by disclosing Plame's CIA employment or in a coverup of the episode."

Exactly what these "White House documents" are may now become a key part of the case.

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Libby Team Says He Was Not Ordered to Leak Plame Name

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