Libby: 'Superiors' Approved Leak

Cheney's Fmr. Chief Of Staff Says He Was Authorized To Give Classified Information

(CBS)  Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who's been indicted in the CIA leak investigation, testified that his "superiors" authorized him to leak classified information to reporters.

It's a clear arrow pointing to the vice president, CBS News political analyst Gloria Borger reports Thursday.

According to recently filed court documents, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald wrote Libby's attorneys a letter in which he noted that, at the grand jury, "Mr. Libby testified he was authorized to disclose information about the National Intelligence Estimate to the press by his superiors" and he did that, in June and July 2003.

Parts of that document, which detailed Iraq's nuclear weapons capabilities, were later declassified.

"Whatever else this means, it means an even more complicated prosecution of Lewis Libby because it either requires the government to disclose sensitive information to the defense team," CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen says.

Thursday's National Journal reports that Libby will point out that the vice president and other top administration officials encouraged him to share classified information as part of a strategy to build a defense for the war.

While the vice president has been interviewed by the special prosecutor, no one knows his testimony. The vice president's office declined any comment today.

"If these allegations by his former assistant are true, it certainly won't help the vice president politically, Cohen adds. "And it clearly will make it harder for the White House to separate itself now from Libby. But it's still an open question about whether it hurts Dick Cheney legally. Only the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, knows the answer to that question."

Libby's testimony that he was given permission to talk about classified information is a defense that could backfire, Borger says, particularly against an administration that prides itself on keeping secrets.