 |
| ABOUT US | PRACTICE GROUPS | LOCATIONS | CONTACTS |
|
June 3, 2004 Bush defends decision to consult lawyer in leak probe Ron Hutcheson and Stephen Henderson WASHINGTON - President Bush's decision to line up a defense lawyer indicates he's worried about becoming entangled in a grand jury investigation into the leak of a CIA officer's name to a newspaper columnist, legal experts said Thursday. Bush, who has put Washington lawyer James E. Sharp on standby, said Thursday that he wasn't sure if he would need legal help. His decision to contact a lawyer raised eyebrows in legal circles and led Democrats to suggest that he has something to hide. It was the first indication that the grand jury inquiry into the CIA officer's exposure could reach the highest levels at the White House. The panel, working under the direction of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago, is trying to find out whether the Bush administration leaked the name of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame last July to columnist Robert Novak to retaliate for her husband's high-profile opposition to the war in Iraq. Novak won't say where he got the information. Top aides to Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney already have testified before the grand jury. The president has said he has no idea who was behind the leak and has pledged full cooperation with investigators. Deliberately revealing the identity of a CIA operative can be a federal crime in certain circumstances "This is a criminal matter. It's a serious matter. I have met with an attorney to determine whether or not I need his advice," Bush said before leaving on a trip to Italy and France. "If I deem I need his advice, I'll probably hire him." Sharp has declined to discuss his arrangement with the president and didn't return a phone call to his office. In the 1980s, Sharp represented retired Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord during the Iran-Contra scandal. Criminal-law experts speculated that Bush turned to Sharp after receiving indications that he'll be asked to talk to the grand jury. Georgetown University law professor Paul Rothstein cautioned against "overstating" the possibility of Bush's personal involvement in the leak. But he said the president's decision suggested, at the very least, that Bush might be anticipating a grand jury appearance. "My eyebrows went up when I heard about it," said Rothstein, an expert in criminal law. "I think we have to read this move as some kind of feeling that there's some chance, no matter how remote, that there may be some personal liability on the president's part, or that someone might try to suggest there is." Democrats said Bush's move called into question his pledges of full cooperation. "It speaks for itself that the president initially claimed he wanted to get to the bottom of this, but now he's suddenly retained a lawyer," Democratic Party spokesman Jano Cabrera said. "President Bush should come forward with what he knows and come clean with the American people." Bush's need to rely on a private attorney, rather than White House counsel, may have its roots in the legal troubles of former President Clinton. Faced with possible prosecution in the Whitewater probe, Clinton initially turned to the White House counsel for help, thinking his consultations would be kept secret under traditional attorney-client privileges. Previous administrations shared that belief. Only Richard Nixon, Rothstein said, had hired a private attorney to advise him in the face of a government investigation into Watergate, which ultimately led to his resignation in 1974. But two federal appeals courts ruled in 1997 and 1998 that presidential communications with White House counsel weren't privileged when they were about personal, rather than governmental, matters. Clinton was forced to hire his own attorneys, and the rulings changed the presidency forever. "It means the president needs his own lawyer if he's going to talk about personal liability, whether it's civil or criminal," Rothstein said. White House officials declined to explain why Bush contacted a private lawyer. They also refused to say whether other top administration officials had sought legal advice, although a spokesman for Cheney left the impression that the vice president had consulted a lawyer. Douglas McNabb, a Houston lawyer who specializes in federal cases, said he strongly advised all his clients to avoid federal grand juries by refusing to testify. "You can't walk in with your lawyer. You're under oath and they can ask you any question that they want to ask," he said. "Walking into a federal grand jury, spread-eagle before the world with a court reporter there, can be extremely dangerous." Plame's work with the CIA was leaked after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the Bush administration of building a false case for war with Iraq. This article can also be found in The Miami Herald, The Sun Herald, and Chattanooga Times Free Press. | |