Bush Authorized Leak - CNN

CNN is breaking news that Scooter Libby has informed prosecutors that President Bush authorized the leak of Valarie Plame.

This could get real interesting. Raw Story has more:

A former White House aide under indictment for obstructing a leak probe, I. Lewis Libby, testified to a grand jury that he gave information from a closely-guarded "National Intelligence Estimate" on Iraq to a New York Times reporter in 2003 with the specific permission of President Bush, according to a new court filing from the special prosecutor in the case

Smoking Gun has the filing.

Raw Story is working off a NY Sun article that does go on to say:

The court papers from the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, do not suggest that Mr. Bush violated any law or rule. However, the new disclosure could be awkward for the president because it places him, for the first time, directly in a chain of events that led to a meeting where prosecutors contend the identity of a CIA employee, Valerie Plame, was provided to a reporter."

In a court filing late Wednesday responding to requests from Mr. Libby's attorneys for government records that might aid his defense, Mr. Fitzgerald shed new light on Mr. Libby's claims that he was authorized to provide sensitive information to the Times reporter, Judith Miller, at a meeting on July 8, 2003.

So even though there isn't a suggestion that the President violated the law, you would think he would have known better. You can slice and spin it anyway you want, but this isn't good for the administration, and if those on the Right want to say otherwise, they should take a moment and evaluate how they would react if the shoe was on the other foot.

Flash