Did Cheney Violate the Law?

In the last month, Vice President Dick Cheney has emerged from his undisclosed location and launched an all-out media blitz in an effort to rehabilitate his image. But it appears that the strategy may have backfired and Cheney might be in some legal hot water.

In a January 9 interview with the Rocky Mountain News, the Vice President said that an article in the Weekly Standard that reprinted classified information was the "best source of information" on the relationship between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. Cheney touted the article because it was "based on an assessment that was done by the Department of Defense and forwarded to the Senate Intelligence Committee some weeks ago." But a Department of Defense statement has dismissed the conclusions of the Hayes article as "inaccurate." The DoD said whomever leaked the information to Hayes was "doing serious harm to national security " and that the leak was "deplorable and [possibly] illegal." Now, by validating the article and the letter's contents, Cheney has confirmed the accuracy of classified information – a possible violation of federal law.