Headlines across many major news sources today vary from “White House Says Some Leaks are Good” (ABC News), to “White House: Bush did not Flip-Flop on Leaks” (CNN).  All major releases are stating that the White House claims that Bush did not change his stance on the leak of Valerie Plame Wilson, in July of 2003.

Let’s look at the facts, first, before diving into speculation.  First off, on July 8th, 2003, a story - leaked by Scooter Libby - showed up in the press, exposing Wilson as a CIA Operative.  Ten days later, on July 18th, 2003, White House Spokeman Scott McClellan told reporters “this information was just, as of today, officially declassified.” (emphasis, mine).  Ten days had passed from the time the information showed up in the press, until the documents were officially declassified.

Secondly, documents released this week (by prosecution, no less) contained an assertion by “Scotter” Libby that Bush had approved the release of information pertaining to Valerie Wilson.  According to Libby, he was told by Vice President Cheney that the President had authorized the release of classified information.  Libby stated he was given the go ahead to release that information.  Again, the information was not “officially declassified” until ten days later.

Third, White House Spokesman McClellan, Friday, states that:

…the president staunchly opposes releasing classified information that could affect U.S. security.  And he pointed out that the president reserves the right to declassify material. (Source: CNN)

In regards to the Wilson case in 2003, McClellan said:

Because of the public debate that was going on and some of the wild accusations that were flying around at the time, we felt it was very much in the public interest that what information could be declassified be declassified, and that’s exactly what we did. (Source: as above)

Fourth, the court documents released this week (see above) show that Bush approved the release of said information 10 days before the White House actually said the information was declassified.  When asked repeatedly about those facts, McClellan stated that he would not back down from statements he made at the time, but also said he would look in to the time frame.  He then added, “I think what I was referring to is the fact that that was when it was made availible to the public.” (Source: as above)

Fifth, Libby prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald wrote:

Libby told a grand jury that Vice President Dick Cheney told him that Bush had authorized the release of portions of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq. (Source: as above)

However, the court documents do not suggest that Bush approved the release of Plame’s identity, and the NIE did not contain references to Plame.

Sixth, the President - initially, back when all of this went down - stated that as soon as those involved were found, they would be terminated immediately.

Seventh, once it was discovered that high ranking Republican officials were potentially involved, Bush’s stance changed to the fact that as soon as those involved were found guilty in a court of law, they would be immediately terminated.

On the next page of this entry, I will dive into speculation.  In other words, I will discuss possibilities that could have happened, and what I think probably happened, as well as a rather interesting possibility voiced by my fiance.  Although it is not possible - and may never be - to say what actually happened, it is most definitely possible to speculate with some knowledge.