01Jan04-Bush: Not Involved 'In Any Way' in CIA Leak Probe
Jan 1, 9:50 PM (ET)
FALFURRIAS, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush on Thursday sought to distance himself from an investigation into whether someone in his administration illegally leaked the name of an undercover CIA officer.
"I'm not involved with the investigation in any way, shape or form," Bush told reporters here after wrapping up a hunting trip with his father and a family friend.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft on Tuesday stepped aside from the investigation into who disclosed the identity of Valerie Plame, a secret intelligence officer. Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, has publicly challenged Bush's reasons for going to war and has said he believes the administration leaked his wife's name as a means of retaliation.
Wilson, a retired diplomat, went to Niger early in 2002 at the CIA's request to assess a report that Iraq sought to buy uranium from Niger. He found the allegation doubtful and the International Atomic Energy Agency later dismissed it as based on forged documents.
But the charge found its way into Bush's State of the Union speech in January as part of the U.S. case against Saddam Hussein. Only after Wilson went public did the White house admit Bush should not have included it, blaming the CIA.
The Justice Department has named a special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, to lead the investigation into the leak of Plame's identity to newspaper columnist Robert Novak.
Asked whether Ashcroft had made the right decision in recusing himself from the case, Bush replied: "You're going to have to ask him. I mean, I don't know the details which caused him to recuse himself.
"I've told the members of the White House to totally cooperate," Bush said. "And the sooner they find out the truth, the better, as far as I'm concerned."
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