Bush outed CIA Spy whop worked on Iranian Nukes

n 2003 Ms Plame was an unknown undercover CIA operative until her husband, the former ambassador Joseph Wilson, was sent to Niger to erify intelligence that Iraq had acquired nuclear materials through Niger.

The claims, based on British intelligence, would find their way into Mr Bush's 2004 State of the Union address as part of his justification for going to war against Iraq, despite Mr Wilson's report that the allegations were probably inaccurate.

Soon after, Mr Wilson told The New York Times that the White House and the CIA knew the claims were false, and not long after that several journalists were told that Mr Wilson's wife was a CIA agent.

The sting in the tail was the allegation that Ms Plame had suggested her husband be given the research job in Niger.

The revelations that she was a spy were devastating to Ms Plame's prospects in the CIA. She was a covert operative, who since 22 had been sent on intelligence-gathering jobs in embassies and in the private sector.

The details of her assignments are still classified, and large parts of her memoir have been cut out as a result of litigation by the CIA to curb details of her spying career.

Senators Say They Will Call On Patrick Fitzgerald To Testify

Specter said he wanted Fitzgerald to appear so he could press him to justify the CIA leak investigation. “Why were they pursuing the matter long after there was no underlying crime on the outing of the CIA agent?” Specter said, echoing the common right-wing talking point. “Why were they pursuing it after we knew who the leaker was?”

Leahy, on the other hand, is apparently more interested in learning more about Fitzgerald’s interviews with President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

As for calling Scooter Libby to testify, Leahy said it was a dead end. “It would do no good to call Scooter Libby. His silence has been bought and paid for,” he said, referring to Bush’s commutation, “and he would just take the fifth.”

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. says Congress needs to look into Bush's "crimes agains the Constitution."

VIDEO: Bush I Calls Leakers “Most Insidious of Traitors”

Conyers expected to move swiftly to conduct hearings on the commutation

The appellate judges' unanimous opinion upheld an identical ruling slightly more than two weeks ago by U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, the trial judge in Libby's case. After a month-long trial that forced presidential aides and prominent journalists onto the witness stand, Libby was found guilty of two counts of perjury and one count each of lying to FBI agents and obstructing a federal investigation into whether administration officials illegally disclosed the name of CIA officer Valerie Plame.

Bush has granted far fewer pardons and commutations than any of his predecessors, dating to John F. Kennedy. He commuted three previous prison terms during his 6 1/2 years in office.

[...]

All but a few Republicans were conspicuously silent. House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) said: "President Bush did the right thing today in commuting the prison term for Scooter Libby. The prison sentence was overly harsh, and the punishment did not fit the crime."

Former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.), an unannounced presidential candidate who has helped lead Libby's defense fund and called for Bush to pardon Libby, said: "This will allow a good American who has done a lot for his country to resume his life."

George Bush Gives Libby a Get of Jail Free Card for Nation's Birthday