How Involved Was Vice President Cheney in Fight Against Stories on Iraq Intelligence?
General Information
- Source:
- NBC Nightly News
- Creator:
- Brian Williams/Kelly O'Donnell
- Event Date:
- 01/25/2007
- Air/Publish Date:
- 01/25/2007
- Resource Type:
- Video News Report
- Copyright:
- NBCUniversal Media, LLC.
- Copyright Date:
- 2007
- Clip Length:
- 00:01:45
Description
The Valerie Plame/CIA scandal plagued the George W. Bush Administration. This piece questions how deeply involved Vice President Dick Cheney was in the effort to fight the release of stories on the Iraq War.
Keywords
Vice President, Dick Cheney, Iraq, War, Prewar, Intelligence, Scooter Libby, I. Lewis Libby, Libby, Case, Leak, Valerie Plame, Plame, Affair, CIA, Central Intelligence Agency, Executive Branch, Trial, Perjury, Obstruction of Justice, Saddam Hussein, Vice Presidential, Role
Citation
MLA
"How Involved Was Vice President Cheney in Fight Against Stories on Iraq Intelligence?" Kelly O'Donnell, correspondent. NBC Nightly News. NBCUniversal Media. 25 Jan. 2007. NBC Learn. Web. 5 September 2012.
APA
O'Donnell, K. (Reporter), & Williams, B. (Anchor). (2007, January 25). How Involved Was Vice President Cheney in Fight Against Stories on Iraq Intelligence? [Television series episode]. NBC Nightly News. Retrieved from https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/browse/?cuecard=2871
CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE
"How Involved Was Vice President Cheney in Fight Against Stories on Iraq Intelligence?" NBC Nightly News, New York, NY: NBC Universal, 01/25/2007. Accessed Wed Sep 5 2012 from NBC Learn: https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/browse/?cuecard=2871
Transcript
How Involved Was Vice President Cheney in Fight Against Stories on Iraq Intelligence?
BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:
Now to another interesting day in the courtroom in Washington, DC, where Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff Scooter Libby is on trial for perjury and obstruction of justice in that CIA leak case. Our report tonight from NBC's Kelly O'Donnell.
KELLY O'DONNELL reporting:
Today in court, a picture emerged of how deeply involved Vice President Cheney was in a fight against critical news stories about prewar intelligence. Prosecution witness Cathie Martin, who was on Cheney's staff when the war began, told the jury the Vice President "dictated to me what he wanted me to say." Eight talking points to refute charges the Administration allowed faulty intelligence on Iraq to get into the President's 2003 State of the Union address. Describing it as a "major crisis," Martin testified that the Vice President personally directed his chief of staff, Scooter Libby, who did not usually deal with the media, to call specific reporters, among them NBC's Andrea Mitchell, after a CIA tip that Mitchell was working on a story for NIGHTLY NEWS.
ANDREA MITCHELL reporting:
(From July 8, 2003) Today the White House said, "We know now that documents alleging transactions between Iraq and Niger had been forged."
O'DONNELL: Martin said Cheney "wanted to get the entire story out there," from his point of view. Jurors were shown the Cheney talking points, which included this claim that had been previously classified: Saddam Hussein had indeed undertaken a vigorous effort to acquire uranium from Africa.
But that turned out to be wrong. The next witness, former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer who was given a deal by prosecutors that he would not face charges. Kelly O'Donnell, NBC News, Washington.