White House Faces Barrage of Leak Queries
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1818892&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

WASHINGTON Apr 7, 2006 (AP)- The White House faced a
barrage of questions Friday over the timing of
President Bush's decision to declassify intelligence
that was then leaked to the press by Vice President
***** Cheney's chief of staff.

In a tense briefing, White House spokesman Scott McClellan
was asked repeatedly to explain his statement from
three years ago that portions of a prewar intelligence
document on Iraq were declassified on July 18, 2003.

Ten days earlier, Cheney's top aide had leaked snippets
of intelligence from the document to New York Times
reporter Judith Miller in order to rebut allegations
by Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson, the aide
has told prosecutors according to documents revealed this week.

I. Lewis Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff,
said he had passed the information to Miller after
being told to do so by Cheney, who advised Libby
that Bush had authorized it, stated a court filing
by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald.

McClellan told reporters on July 18, 2003, that the
material being released on Iraq "was officially declassified today."
On Friday, McClellan interpreted his own words to mean
that's when the material was "officially released."

Asked when it was declassified, McClellan refused to answer,
saying that the matter was part of Fitzgerald's ongoing
CIA leak probe that has resulted in Libby's indictment.
____________________________________________