Leaker in chief

April, 7 2006

THE LATEST REVELATIONS in the investigation into the leak of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame raise a question that every Sunday school student is familiar with: Can God make a boulder so heavy that he himself cannot lift it?

For President Bush, the question is more like this: If information comes from the president, is it still a leak? And if that information is classified, by revealing it, has he declassified it? After all, the president has the legal power to declassify information. And a leak authorized by the president is — by most definitions, at least — not a leak, but an officially sanctioned release of public information.

The legal and political ramifications of the papers prosecutors filed late Wednesday in the case against former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby remain unclear. But if what Libby asserts is true, the president would be faced with an uncomfortable choice: He is either a leaker or a hypocrite.

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