Libby's indictment alleges that on May 29, 2003,
"[Libby] asked an Under Secretary of State ('Under Secretary') for information concerning the unnamed ambassador's travel to Niger to investigate claims about Iraqi efforts to acquire uranium yellowcake. The Under Secretary thereafter directed the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research to prepare a report concerning the ambassador and his trip. The Under Secretary provided Libby with interim oral reports in late May and early June 2003, and advised Libby that Wilson was the former ambassador who took the trip."
Libby, Raw Story reports, contacted John Bolton, then Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs for information about the Ambassador's trip to Niger. After receiving it, he asked for a report, and that led to the June 9 State Department Memo. While Marc Grossman's name is on the classified memo identifying Valerie Wilson, Raw Story reports:
... sources say that the memo was written on Libby's behest as part of a work-up order orchestrated out of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), which operated out of the Cheney's office and was chaired by Special Advisor to President Bush, Karl Rove.
More from Raw Story:
According to MSNBC, Bolton testified before the grand jury investigating the Plame leak. Questions were raised about whether Bolton knowingly left that fact out of the questionnaire related to his UN confirmation hearing.
Wurmser likely cooperated because he faced criminal charges for his role in leaking Wilson's name on the orders of higher-ups, the lawyers said. Hannah, a key aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and one of the architects of the Iraq war, was cooperating with Fitzgerald after being told that he was identified by witnesses as a co-conspirator in the leak, they added.
It is not known for sure if John Bolton testified before the grand jury . The Washington Post reported Bolton was questioned by the State Department Inspector General's office in an investigation concerning intelligence lapses surrinding Iraq. The state department source for the article said Bolton was not questioned by Fitzgerald or the grand jury investigating the Plame leak.
But on Hardball, David Schuster says he did testify. Via Washington Note:
David Schuster of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews made a whopper revelation about grand jury testimony in the Valerie Plame-outing investigation: John Bolton has testified about the top secret document that Colin Powell had aboard Air Force One. TWN has confirmed with MSNBC that it it standing by its story.
The Hardball transcript says:
According to lawyers, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and undersecretaries, including John Bolton, gave testimony about this memo. And a lawyer for one State Department official says his client testified that, as President Bush was flying to Africa on Air Force One two years ago, Press Secretary Ari Fleischer could be seen reading the document on board.
Background:
