Libby Says 'Superiors'

Authorized Leaks

Cheney's former aide told a jury that classified information he gave to journalists was OKd.

By Richard B. Schmitt, Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — Former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has told a federal grand jury that his "superiors" authorized him to leak highly sensitive intelligence to journalists, including a New York Times reporter he allegedly tipped off to the name of an undercover CIA operative.

The revelation is contained in a Jan. 23 letter from Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald to lawyers for Libby, who was indicted in late October in connection with the leak of the operative's name. In the letter, Fitzgerald recounts testimony in which Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff admitted circulating portions of the National Intelligence Estimate to reporters in June and July 2003.

"It is our understanding that Mr. Libby testified that he was authorized to disclose information about the [National Intelligence Estimate] to the press by his superiors," Fitzgerald wrote.

The letter did not identify those superiors. The National Journal reported on its website Thursday that Cheney, who was Libby's direct boss at the time, had authorized the disclosures.