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Washington, D.C. - Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) today released the following statement regarding Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's announced indictments against I. Lewis "Scooter' Libby. Hinchey led a coalition of 40 House members that sent a letter to Fitzgerald on September 15, asking that he expand his investigation to include the motive behind the leak.
"First, I want to thank Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald for carrying out this investigation in a very thorough manner and for his commitment to discovering the truth. His work is honorable and I very much look forward to learning more from him as his investigation moves forward and a trial takes place.
"Today's indictment says a lot about the lack of character and integrity of the people most closely associated with the president and vice president. We now know that Vice President Cheney and Scooter Libby were involved in discussions about Valerie Plame's identity and that Mr. Libby shared that information with reporters. That begs the logical questions of why the Vice President and Scooter Libby sought information about Valerie Plame's identity, why Mr. Libby lied about his involvement and knowledge of Ms. Plame's identity, and what their intention was in having Mr. Libby share that information with the news media. It seems clear to me that the Office of the Vice President and possibly other officials at the White House sought to discredit Ms. Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, because he was going public with information that disproved the Administration's claims that Iraq was seeking uranium from Niger. The Administration used those uranium claims as a primary justification to invade Iraq. The Bush Administration knew that its uranium claims were false and set out to silence Mr. Wilson since he was someone with credibility who was seeking to reveal the truth behind their uranium lies.
"On September 15, I sent a letter to Mr. Fitzgerald, which more than three dozen of my colleagues cosigned, in which we requested that he expand his investigation to include the reasons why Valerie Plame's identity was compromised. Now more than ever, we need Mr. Fitzgerald to investigate the motive for the leak, even if it is determined that the leak itself wasn't a crime. We also need to know why it rose to such high levels within the Bush Administration. It is our belief that in the course of such an investigation, Mr. Fitzgerald would uncover information that shows the Bush Administration knew that its uranium claims were false, but continued to tout them to prevent Congress from withdrawing its war resolution and to ensure public support for the pending war in Iraq.
"On a separate front, the Congress is failing to fulfill its constitutional obligation to maintain oversight over the Executive Branch. It is imperative that the Congress launches major investigations into the leaking of Valerie Plame's identity and into how that leak relates to the Administration's fabricated case for war. Justice will not be served until all of these matters are fully addressed in the courts and in the Congress."
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