'Leakgate' or Just a Sideshow?

April 6, 2006 — -- Official Washington is scratching its collective head, trying to determine whether papers filed in federal court that were made public today drop a bombshell, pose a danger to the Bush presidency, or are just a sideshow in former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's legal troubles.

Libby testified to a federal grand jury that he received "approval from the president through the vice president" to reveal classified information to a reporter for The New York Times. The material was from a national intelligence estimate that gauged Saddam Hussein's intentions toward developing nuclear weapons.

Has President Bush, who has publicly condemned leaks of secret material, broken the law, or is it within his powers to declassify information and allow it to be given to reporters, despite his condemnation of leaking?

First, we have to remember what Libby has been charged with: that during the investigation into who leaked the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame, he perjured himself, made false statements and obstructed justice. Libby was not indicted for leaking classified information, and in the court papers it is clear he said the material he leaked was no longer classified.

The former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney says an administration lawyer advised him that the president had the authority to declassify sensitive documents. Other lawyers are not so sure, but the preponderance of evidence (as lawyers would say) seems to be on the side of the president.

A little history is in order. During World War I, President Wilson claimed the authority to establish a classification system. In 1951, during the Korean War, President Truman claimed in an executive order that the Constitution gave him the authority to set up a new method for protecting sensitive information connected to national security.

In 1988, the Supreme Court ruled that the president had the right to determine who should and should not have access to classified information. Then, in March 2003, around the start of the war in Iraq, Bush expanded that power to include the vice president.

So, barring a court challenge, it appears that both Bush and Cheney have the power to say what is and is not classified.