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WSJ ignored Bush's prior denunciations of
leaks
Media Matters
April 7, 2006
Summary: In reporting on the disclosure that President Bush authorized a
leak of classified information to the press in 2003, The Wall Street Journal
ignored the apparent contradiction between the president's actions and his
oft-stated aversion to leaks of classified information.
In reporting on the disclosure that President Bush authorized a leak of
classified information to the press in 2003, The Wall Street Journal ignored
the apparent contradiction between the president's actions and his oft-stated
aversion to leaks of classified information. An April 7 article (subscription
required) by Journal reporter Anne Marie Squeo made no mention of the fact that
Bush and his aides, since the start of his presidency, have repeatedly
denounced such leaks as "very damaging," "shameful," and a "very serious
matter." Further, in her coverage of the disclosure, CNN's Elaine Quijano
simply reported as fact a distinction asserted by a White House aide between
Bush's alleged authorization of the release of parts of a National Intelligence
Estimate (NIE) and the leaks that the president has previously criticized --
specifically those having to do with "active" and "ongoing" operations such as
the administration's secret warrantless domestic surveillance program. But
Quijano failed to note that the president's criticism of leaks has not been
limited to such instances.
On April 6, New York Sun reporter Josh Gerstein disclosed that former vice
presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby testified before the grand
jury in the CIA leak case that Bush himself had authorized the release of
classified intelligence information to a New York Times reporter in 2003. The
revelation was drawn from court filings submitted by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the
federal prosecutor in charge of the leak case who secured the October 2005
indictment of Libby on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and making
false statements to the FBI. The court papers detail Libby's testimony before a
federal grand jury, in which he asserted that Vice President Dick Cheney had
told him to pass on key portions of the NIE to reporters. According to Libby,
Cheney assured him that the president had authorized the disclosure.
Bush's alleged actions appear starkly inconsistent with numerous previous
statements made by him and senior aides deploring leaks of classified
information:
* "We can't have leaks of classified information. It's not in our nation's
interest." [Bush, referring to leaks about preparations for war with
Afghanistan, 11/9/01]
* "I think the real damage that can get done in something like this, when
somebody selectively leaks a misleading piece of information without providing
all relevant information, is it sends a terrible signal at a time when we
should be a united nation. And that's the damage done by selective leaks of
classified information that are not representative of a full story and a full
picture." [Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, referring to leaks
regarding the warnings of impending terrorist attacks received by the Bush
administration prior to 9-11, 5/17/02]
* "The president has been -- I spoke for him earlier today -- the president
believes leaking classified information is a very serious matter." [White House
press secretary Scott McClellan, referring to the CIA leak case, 9/29/03]
* "Let me just say something about leaks in Washington. There are too many
leaks of classified information in Washington. There's leaks at the executive
branch; there's leaks in the legislative branch. There's just too many leaks.
And if there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And
if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of." [Bush,
referring to the CIA leak case, 9/30/03]
* "If someone in the administration, anywhere in the administration, leaked
classified information, we want to know who it is. The president has always
made it clear that the leaking of classified information is a very serious
matter. And I think the Justice Department shares the White House's concern
about the leaking of classified information." [McClellan, referring to the CIA
leak case, 10/2/03]
* "This is a very serious matter, and our administration takes it seriously.
As members of the press corps here know, I have, at times, complained about
leaks of security information, whether the leaks be in the legislative branch
or in the executive branch. And I take those leaks very seriously." [Bush,
referring to the CIA leak case, 10/6/03]
* "This is a town of -- where a lot of people leak. And I've constantly
expressed my displeasure with leaks, particularly leaks of classified
information." [Bush, referring to the CIA leak case, 10/7/03]
* "I'd like to know if somebody in my White House did leak sensitive
information. As you know, I've been outspoken on leaks. And whether they
happened in the White House, or happened in the administration, or happened on
Capitol Hill, it is a -- they can be very damaging." [Bush, referring to the
CIA leak case, 10/28/03]
* "Let me start with the first question. There is a process that goes on
inside the Justice Department about leaks, and I presume that process is moving
forward. My personal opinion is it was a shameful act for someone to disclose
this very important program in a time of war. The fact that we're discussing
this program is helping the enemy." [Bush, referring to the disclosure of the
National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless domestic surveillance program,
12/19/05]
* "The leaking of classified information is a serious issue. The fact is
that Al Qaeda's playbook is not printed on page one, and when America's is, it
has serious ramifications. You don't need to be Sun Tzu to understand that."
[Former White House deputy press secretary Trent Duffy, referring to the NSA
surveillance program, 12/30/05]
* "Well, he's right about national security leaks. There have been a number
over the years, but there have been some recently that have been most
egregious; and one, obviously, does have to do with the NSA program that's been
the focus of a lot of attention in the last few weeks. And of course, someone
there went to The New York Times, and The New York Times published extensive
stories about it, which disclosed the fact of the program. There have been
others. I thought [CIA] Director [Porter] Goss was rather restrained in his
comments, but he was absolutely correct. Those leaks do do enormous damage to
our national security. It happens in several ways. It, obviously, reveals
techniques and sources and methods that are important to try to protect. It
gives information to our enemies about how we go about collecting intelligence
against them. It also raises questions in the minds of other intelligence
services about whether or not they can work with the United States intelligence
service, with our CIA, for example, if we can't keep a secret. If every secret
that we're told, or that we had ends up on the front page of the newspapers,
some of our friends overseas are going to be reluctant to do business with us.
So it's -- it is a serious problem." [Vice President Dick Cheney, 2/3/06]
Nonetheless, Squeo's April 7 article ignored entirely previous statements by
Bush and other White House officials condemning leaks out of his
administration. By contrast, The New York Times reported that Bush has "long
criticized leaks of secret information as a threat to national security"; the
Los Angeles Times noted that the president "repeatedly has deplored leaks"; USA
Today informed readers that Bush has "often protested the leak of classified
information"; and the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Libby's testimony
appeared "to show Bush doing something he has repeatedly decried."
On April 7, CNN correspondent Elaine Quijano uncritically reported a senior
White House aide's misleading response to questions about the apparent
inconsistency between Bush's statements and alleged actions. She said that this
aide had "draw[n] a distinction" between the disclosure described by Libby and
the leaks that the president has previously criticized -- specifically those
having to do with "active" and "ongoing" operations such as the
administration's secret warrantless domestic surveillance program, which was
disclosed to the public in a December 16, 2005, New York Times article. But
Quijano failed to note that the president's criticism of leaks has not been
limited to such instances. Indeed, as the list above shows, the Bush White
House has condemned leaks of classified information in general and in a variety
of circumstances.
From the April 7 edition of CNN's American Morning:
QUIJANO: Well, absolutely. And, in fact, the senior aide that I talked to
said, look, in response to the some of these critics who say that President
Bush has been highly critical in the past of leakers, and for now this
revelation to come out certainly does not look good for him politically, they
draw a distinction.
What they say is that a leak such as the leak that led to the disclosure of
that secret NSA surveillance program, far different, they say, because that's
an active, sort of ongoing operation going on. Far different, they say, than
what might have taken place here. And again, they're not confirming or denying
Libby's testimony, but they say there is a distinction to be made. They point
out, as well, that, in fact, parts of the NIE were disclosed, were
declassified, and they don't see it as a same kind of situation.
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