(no subject)
Apr. 24th, 2006 01:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sophiaserpentiaIf you blinked, you missed it: defendants in an espionage case alleged on Friday that the source of their leak was Condoleezza Rice, and therefore their possession and use of information about an "unspecified Middle Eastern nation" was not illegal.
This is why, when Bush was held to his promise to fire anyone in his administration found to be responsible for a leak, he amended his comments to a promise to fire anyone who committed a crime when leaking sensitive information. People as highly ranking as himself or Secretary Rice can unilaterally (and, it would seem, selectively) declassify information -- therefore it is not a crime.
This is why, when Bush was held to his promise to fire anyone in his administration found to be responsible for a leak, he amended his comments to a promise to fire anyone who committed a crime when leaking sensitive information. People as highly ranking as himself or Secretary Rice can unilaterally (and, it would seem, selectively) declassify information -- therefore it is not a crime.
