Bush defends contacting lawyer over leak probe

By Ron Hutcheson and Stephen Henderson
Knight Ridder Newspapers

Patrick Fitzgerald

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Bush, who has put Washington lawyer James Sharp on standby, said yesterday he wasn't sure if he would need legal help. His decision to contact a lawyer raised eyebrows in legal circles.

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 determine whether the Bush administration leaked the name of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame to columnist Robert Novak in July to retaliate for husband Joseph Wilson's high-profile charge that the Bush administration had built a false case for war with Iraq. Novak won't say where he received the information.

	Joseph Wilson

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, who represented retired Maj. Gen. Richard Secord during the Iran-contra scandal in the 1980s, has declined to discuss his arrangement with the president and didn't return a phone call.

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 least, that Bush might be anticipating a grand-jury appearance.

"My eyebrows went up when I heard about it," Rothstein said. "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."

White House officials declined to explain why Bush contacted Sharp. They also refused to say whether other top officials had sought legal advice, although a spokesman for Cheney left the impression that the vice president had consulted a lawyer.

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 turned to the White House counsel for help, thinking his consultations would be kept secret under traditional attorney-client privileges.

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. 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.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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