[Mb-civic] Bush Raises Threshold for Firing Aides In Leak Probe - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Bush Raises Threshold for Firing Aides In Leak Probe

By Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, July 19, 2005; Page A01

President Bush said yesterday that he will fire anyone in the 
administration found to have committed a crime in the leaking of a CIA 
operative's name, creating a higher threshold than he did one year ago 
for holding aides accountable in the unmasking of Valerie Plame.

After originally saying anyone involved in leaking the name of the 
covert CIA operative would be fired, Bush told reporters: "If somebody 
committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration."

<>This is a small, but potentially very significant, distinction, 
because details that have emerged from the leak investigation over the 
past week show that Karl Rove, Bush's top political aide, and I. Lewis 
"Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, discussed Plame 
with reporters before her name was revealed to the public. It is unclear 
whether either man committed a crime, according to lawyers familiar with 
the case.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/18/AR2005071800157.html 

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