Why 'leaker in chief' charge harms the president

"Most White Houses believe that a leak is an uncontrolled revelation where they're not in control of it," says Charles Jones, an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Otherwise, it's associated with implementation of policy."

A related area of debate is exactly when the information Bush declassified can be deemed to have been, in fact, declassified - when the president gave permission for the private briefings, for now an unrevealed date, or on July 18, 2003, when the White House formally announced the declassification of much of the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE). To Jeffrey Smith, former general counsel of the CIA, this is a relevant question.

"At least in my mind, there's a difference between declassification - which is a formal step in which information is put officially on the public record - and a leak," says Mr. Smith. "Here, what appears to have happened is the White House wanted to get this information out, but selectively gave certain portions of the NIE to a reporter without attribution. That's not declassification; that's a leak."

Another new point of debate is what the government filing does, if anything, to Libby's legal case. In a Washington Post interview, his lawyer, William Jeffress, argued that the filing does not undermine Libby's assertion that he could not recall the details of conversations he may have had with reporters in which Plame's identity came up.

Other lawyers see Fitzgerald's filing as potentially damaging. "His defense is, I was so preoccupied with other stuff, I wasn't really focused on this element of how I learned about Valerie Plame," says former Reagan administration lawyer Bruce Fein. But this filing argues that Libby was focused on Wilson. "Since [Plame] was an integral character in this whole plot, I think this hurts him rather than helps," Fein adds.

Last Friday, the day after the content of Fitzgerald's filing was first reported in the New York Sun, Democrats basked in yet another bad news cycle for Bush.

"If the president explicitly authorized the disclosure of classified information through Scooter Libby to bolster some case he was making, this is of great consequence and needs to be investigated," said Sen. Byron Dorgan (D) of North Dakota, who chairs the Democratic Policy Committee.

Some analysts cautioned Democrats to be careful not to overplay their hand - especially activists outside Congress who have been trying to generate a drumbeat toward impeachment.

Senate Republicans were less certain how to proceed. On Friday, as they prepared to leave town for a two-week recess, they said it was not yet a concern in their caucus, which had been focused on the fate of a controversial immigration reform bill. "I've heard nothing about it either on or off the floor," said Sen. Larry Craig (R) of Idaho. "It's still ripening," said a senior GOP aide.

By Sunday morning, some Republicans were calling on Bush and Cheney to clear the air. "I think it is necessary for the president and vice president to tell the American people exactly what happened," said Sen. Arlen Specter (R) of Pennsylvania, speaking on "FOX News Sunday."

Former Ambassador Joe Wilson, speaking on ABC's "This Week," called on Bush and Cheney to release transcripts of what they told Fitzgerald in their joint interview with him.

• Gail Russell Chaddock contributed to this report from Washington.

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