Lamont lashes out over President's hypocrisy

Joe Lieberman has still not made a comment publicly about the revelation that the Bush administration decalssified prewar intelligence information (which was previously highly classified) and leaked to the press solely for political purposes. At his appearance in Windsor on Sunday, although a member of the audience raised the topic in a from of a question, Lieberman failed to comment on the matter.

Many analysis last week were puzzled with Joe's silence on this matter.

Analysts and operatives in both parties said Friday they were puzzled that Lieberman, whose perceived coziness with the Republican president is fueling a primary challenge by Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont, found nothing to say about Bush for 28 hours.

"Say anything. Even something mildly critical would have no doubt helped in his primary," said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist.

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Where was Lieberman?

"He was conscious and not flying around the world?" asked Jennifer Duffy, who tracks Senate races for The Cook Political Report. "Well, then it was a missed opportunity for him."

Ned Lamont had a few words to say about the President's hypocritical action and the inaction of Congress to hold the Bush administration accountable for their actions. Lamont issued this statement over the weekend.

Congress needs to investigate these very grave and credible claims that the Bush administration, led by President Bush himself, leaked classified information for political gain. If true, this is a serious abuse of the power of his office and of the trust of the people.

These claims must be quickly and seriously investigated, and if proved true, those responsible should be held accountable.

The hesitation of our representatives to call for a thorough investigation of these charges is a clear example of why I am in this race. Connecticut deserves a Senator who will stand up to the Bush administration and demand that Congress fulfill its Constitutional duty by investigating this serious breach of national security.

Still no word from Joe.

UPDATE: A senior administration official confirms that Bush authorized the leaking of a prewar intellegence report (which was until this point, classified) to discredit a war critic.

A senior administration official confirmed for the first time on Sunday that President Bush had ordered the declassification of parts of a prewar intelligence report on Iraq in an effort to rebut critics who said the administration had exaggerated the nuclear threat posed by Saddam Hussein.

[...]

The statement by the official came after the White House had declined to confirm, for three days, Mr. Libby's grand jury testimony that he had been told by Mr. Cheney that Mr. Bush had authorized the disclosure. The official declined to be named, because of an administration policy of not commenting on issues now in court. Confirmation that Mr. Bush ordered the declassification was published late Saturday by The Associated Press, which quoted "an attorney knowledgeable about the case." Once it appeared, the administration official was willing to confirm its details.