(Gold9472: Does everyone remember who was sent in place of Condoleeza Rice to the 9/11 Commission Hearings? You guessed it. Richard Armitage. He starts at 2:17.)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060318/ts_nm/bush_leak_dc

A former top State Department official suspected of being the first person to discuss the identity of a CIA official with reporters is expected to testify in the perjury trial of ex-vice presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a court motion says.

The filing by Libby's defense team late on Friday asks Judge Reggie Walton to force prosecutors to turn over material they have about likely witnesses including former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

Others who are expected to testify include White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, former CIA director George Tenet and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, the document says.

It suggests Libby's team may try to pin blame on the State Department for the leak of
Valerie Plame's identity to the public after her husband criticized the Bush administration's Iraq policy.

Former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee told Vanity Fair magazine this week that it is reasonable to assume that Armitage told Post reporter Bob Woodward about Plame's identity before other Bush administration officials mentioned her name to reporters.

Knowingly disclosing the identity of a covert CIA agent is against the law. But so far no officials have been charged with leaking Plame's identity to the news media in 2003.
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