Hume again declared Libby did not commit the “actual leak” in Plame case

Written by Brian Levy

Published

On January 18, Brit Hume again asserted as fact that “Scooter” Libby did not commit the “actual leak” of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA officer. The day before, Hume had stated that Libby was “not responsible” for leaking the information. However, prosecutors allege that Libby did discuss Plame's CIA employment with Judith Miller before it was made public; Miller herself confirmed this.


On the January 18 edition of Fox News' Special Report, host and Fox News Washington bureau managing editor Brit Hume asserted as fact that former vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby had not committed the “actual leak [of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA officer], which was done, we now know, by someone else.” As Media Matters for America documented, Hume asserted on the January 17 edition of Special Report that Libby was “not responsible” for leaking the information that Plame was a CIA officer. However, according to the indictment, Libby discussed Plame's CIA employment with then-New York Times reporter Judith Miller before Plame's employment was publicly revealed by Robert Novak in a July 14, 2003, column.

As Media Matters has noted, Plame is the wife of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, who, in a July 6, 2003, New York Times op-ed, cast doubt on President Bush's claims that Iraq had attempted to buy uranium from Niger. Novak's column revealing Plame's CIA employment was based on information from then-deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, which was allegedly confirmed by White House senior adviser Karl Rove.

While Libby did not divulge Plame's identity to Novak, prosecutors have alleged that Libby did discuss Plame's CIA employment with Miller on three occasions prior to the publication of Novak's column. As Media Matters has noted, the indictment special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald obtained against Libby on October 28, 2005, asserts that Libby mentioned Plame's CIA employment to Miller on June 23, 2003, July 8, 2003, and July 12, 2003. After sitting in jail for 85 days, Miller herself identified Libby as her source for the information on Plame.

From the January 18 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:

HUME: Jury selection in the perjury trial of former White House aide “Scooter” Libby will continue on Monday. Attorneys and the federal judge have found 30 qualified jurors for a pool that will require 36. So far, 19 people have been excused, most of them for bias against President Bush or his administration. Judge Reggie Walton says, given how slowly the process is going, jury selection could even continue into next Tuesday.

Libby is accused of lying to a grand jury about his knowledge and conversations in the leak of the name of a CIA employee, though he is not accused of the actual leak, which was done, we now know, by someone else.