Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney and other White House "superiors" in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, and to court records.

Fitzgerald said as much in the published correspondence to Libby's counsel. But, Waas's first hand sources have more. First, Fitz's letter:

"Mr. Libby testified in the grand jury that he had contact with reporters in which he disclosed the content of the National Intelligence Estimate ("NIE") ... in the course of his interaction with reporters in June and July 2003.... We also note that it is our understanding that Mr. Libby testified that he was authorized to disclose information about the NIE to the press by his superiors."

Waas' sources: One of those who authorized Libby to leak the classified information, including details of the NIE to journalists was Dick Cheney.

Beyond what was stated in the court paper, say people with firsthand knowledge of the matter, Libby also indicated what he will offer as a broad defense during his upcoming criminal trial: that Vice President Cheney and other senior Bush administration officials had earlier encouraged and authorized him to share classified information with journalists to build public support for going to war. Later, after the war began in 2003, Cheney authorized Libby to release additional classified information, including details of the NIE, to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case for war.

Others who may have been in on it:

Libby also testified that he worked closely with then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove in deciding what information to leak to the press to build public support for the war, and later, postwar, to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence.

Back to Cheney. Here's a question I have. As Murray notes, Fitz also put in his now published letter that Libby testified the purpose of his meeting with Miller on July 8 was to discuss the then-classified NIE report that supported the claim Iraq was acquiring uranium. Miller confirms this in her account of their July 8 meeting. Did Cheney specifically authorize Libby to release classified portions of the NIE to Judith Miller at the July 8 meeting?

The big question is whether Cheney knew and participated in the plan to discredit Joseph Wilson by leaking his wife's employment status with the CIA to reporters in an effort to suggest Wilson's trip was the result of nepotism and therefore a "boondoggle." We don't have the answer to that yet. As Murray says,

...the new information indicates that Libby is likely to pursue a defense during his trial that he was broadly "authorized" by Cheney and other "superiors" to defend the Bush administration in making the case to go to war. Libby does not, however, appear to be claiming that he was acting specifically on Cheney's behalf in disclosing information about Plame to the press.

What does this all mean? Waas says the disclosures by Libby are part of a defense strategy, orchestrated by attorney John Cline, the national security expert on the team, to enable Libby to demand huge amounts of classified information. If the Court orders the Government to turn it over, the Government might choose to dismiss the case rather than comply.

Also, a defense that asserts Libby was acting at the behest of higherups could play to the jury. Cline was also a lawyer for Oliver North in the Iran-Contra case, and utilized a similar strategy there.

a Libby defense strategy asserting that he released classified information or took other actions as broadly authorized by Cheney might have other advantages, if the North case is any guide. At North's trial, the counts on which the jury acquitted him tended to be those involving actions that appeared to be authorized by superiors. He was found guilty of three felonies on which the evidence indicated that he was acting on his own initiative or for his own financial benefit.

North was sentenced to probation, but his convictions were later overturned on appeal.

Explaining his own leniency in sentencing the former NSC aide, Gesell told North: "I do not believe you were a leader at all, but really a low-ranking subordinate to carry out initiatives of a few cynical superiors. You came to be a point man in a very complex power play developed by higher-ups."

There's lots more food for thought in Murray's article, go on over and read the whole thing. Some background is here.

Update: Jason Leopold writes that Cheney's efforts to smear Joseph Wilson began in March, 2003, not June, 2003. I'm glad someone else is picking up on this as I've been been harping on it a long time, based on statements by Wilson himself and the same CNN transcripts that Jason mentions today.

Update: Ariana says:

This proves just how far the White House was willing to go to back up its deceptive claims about why we needed to go to war in Iraq. The great protectors of our country were so concerned about covering their lies they were willing to pass out highly classified information to reporters. And remember -- and this is the key -- it's not partisan Democrats making this claim; it's not Bush-bashing conspiracy theorists, or bloggers reading the Aspen roots.