McClellan writes, “President Bush had actually engaged in just such selective declassification himself ...
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In an understatement, McClellan acknowledges in the book that the fact Bush “had authorized the selective leaking of national security to reporters made this look hypocritical.” He adds that “the president has inherent legal authority to declassify anything he chooses. But the Democrats were quick to point out that the secret way he’d done it, as well as the underlying objective — to anonymously discredit a White House critic — smacked of politics.”
McClellan writes that
“the only person the president half-shared the declassification with personally was Vice President Cheney. ... No one else was told about the secret declassification,” not White House chief of staff Andy Card nor Rice. Libby, on Cheney’s instruction, then leaked the information to members of the media.More than merely smacking of politics, it could be argued that what Bush did in his little secret conspiracy with Cheney and Libby smacked of an impeachable offense. But so much for the president’s early admonition, via McClellan, that anyone involved in the leak “would no longer be in this administration.”
more at:
http://www.examiner.com/a-1419392~Jules_Witcover__Bush_s_potentially_impeachable_offense.htmlJules Witcover, a Baltimore Examiner columnist, is syndicated by Tribune Media Services. He has covered national affairs from Washington, D.C., for more than 50 years. His latest book, on the Nixon-Agnew relationship, is “Very Strange Bedfellows.” [email protected].