Cheney Told Aide about Valerie Plame's CIA Role

The New York Times reports that Vice Presidential Chief of Staff "Scooter" Libby (left) first learned of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity from Vice President Dick Cheney. That conflicts with what he told the grand jury investigating the White House leak of her identity. Mr Libby reportedly told the grand jury he learned the identity from reporters. That could open Mr Libby to a charge of giving false testimony.

Lawyers say Vice President Cheney told Mr Libby about Ms Plame about a month before her name was leaked and showed up in a Robert Novak column.

Mr Libby's notes showed that the Vice President had gotten the information about Ms Plame from CIA Director George Tenent. George Tenent was awarded the Medal of Freedom (right) for his role in gathering intelligence that led the US into the Iraq War. Much of that intel has since proven faulty.

The Vice President -- at the time before the leak -- was upset with Ms Plame's husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson. Vice President Cheney, several months before, put in motion a series of events that ended with Mr Wilson traveling to Niger to investigate Iraq's attempts to buy uranium for it's nuclear program. Mr Wilson reported that Iraq never did attempt to buy the uranium and that the "sixteen word" claim in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address was false.

Shortly after Mr Wilson went public with this, someone in the White House leaked information to reporters that his wife was a CIA agent.

Indictments -- if any are handed down in the investigation -- would come before the grand jury adjourns on Friday. (New York Times)