Former Press Secretary Didn't Know What Was Going On

February 11, 2007
Former Press Secretary Didn't Know What Was Going On

What has emerged, instead, is:

• a vice president fixated on finding ways to debunk a former diplomat's claims that Bush misled the U.S. people in going to war and his suggestion Cheney might have played a role in suppressing contrary intelligence.
• a presidential press secretary kept in the dark on Iraq policy.
• top White House officials meeting daily to discuss the diplomat, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, and sometimes even his CIA-officer wife Valerie Plame.

Fleischer Recalls Discussion About Plame

January 30, 2007
Fleischer Recalls Discussion About Plame

Four other government witnesses also have said they discussed Plame with Libby before July 10, and the discrepancy between those accounts and what Libby told the FBI and a grand jury are a major component of the perjury and obstruction of justice charges against Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff.

Libby now says his memory failed him when he spoke to Russert.

Ari Fleischer contradicts Libby in court

January 29, 2007
Ari Fleischer contradicts Libby in court

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former White House spokesman
Ari Fleischer on Monday contradicted the story former vice presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby has told about when he first learned the identity of a
CIA operative whose cover was blown in the press.

Fleischer testified in Libby's perjury trial that the former vice presidential aide first told him the CIA operative's identity over lunch on July 7, 2003, three days before Libby has told prosecutors he first learned her name.

Fleischer, who agreed to testify in exchange for a guarantee of
immunity, said Libby told him about Plame the day after Wilson
publicly charged the Bush administration with ignoring his findings
that Saddam Hussein had not sought uranium from Niger.

Lawyers probe Fleischer's immunity deal'

January 27, 2007
Lawyers probe Fleischer's immunity deal'

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald says that in early 2004, as his investigation was heating up into who revealed CIA operative
Valerie Plame's name to reporters, Fleischer stepped forward with an offer to prosecutors: Promise no prosecution and he would help their case.

Fleischer acknowledged being one of the leakers, but he wouldn't say a word without a promise of immunity.

Once the deal was struck in February 2004, Fleischer revealed that he had discussed Plame with reporters in July 2003, days before leaving his job at the White House. He also said he learned about Plame from Libby, who was the chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Fleischer's testimony is significant because he says he talked to Libby about Plame days before Libby told the FBI he was surprised to learn it from a reporter.