The President And The Leak: The Spin Begins

We've officially entered the full-on spin mode of this scandal...

AP: Bush Says He Declassified Pre-War Intel

President Bush said Monday that he declassified sensitive prewar intelligence on Iraq back in 2003 to counter critics who claimed the administration had exaggerated the nuclear threat posed by Saddam Hussein.

"I wanted people to see the truth and thought it made sense for people to see the truth," Bush said during an appearance at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies...

So you wanted people to see the truth, sir?

Is that why, in the incident in question, you had leaked only the specific portions of that document which seemed to bolster the case you made for war? And why you kept secret for as little while longer the rest of the document which said just the opposite? And is that why, instead of a major public release or press conference, you worked in secret (with only a few key Executive branch figures in the know) to declassify those portions (assuming they were even declassified at that point, there's some dispute there on the dates)? And why you then had Scooter Libby and others leak (anonymously- as a 'former Hill staffer') that selected info reporters you knew would be cooperative? And why you then denied any connection to or knowledge of this extensive campaign?

Or how about the fact the leaked information had already been disproved?

Sir? Hello?

The President's BS response doesn't answer any of the real questions in the NIE matter...

...Nor does it address the larger conspiracy that Fitzgerald means to expose in his investigation.

So keep spinning, Mr. President. You may throw the press off the scent, but Fitzgerald means business.

[See also- With One Filing, Prosecutor Puts Bush in Spotlight (NY Times)]