[JURIST] US Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] Sunday urged President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to go public about their roles in disclosure of classified information in the CIA leak case [JURIST news archive]. Specter was interviewed on Fox News Sunday in the wake of a government court filing [JURIST document] last week that disclosed grand jury testimony from former Cheney Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby [defense profile] that claimed he had been authorized by Bush, via Cheney, to disclose classified information [JURIST report]. In the interview Specter said, "I think it is necessary for the president and vice president to tell the American people exactly what happened." AP meanwhile reports a lawyer "knowledgeable about the case" as saying that although Bush had authorized declassifying a range of intelligence documents for public disclosure, he did not personally direct that Libby leak the material.

Libby faces obstruction of justice and perjury charges [PDF indictment] in connection with an ongoing investigation into the leak of information concerning the CIA identity of Valerie Plame, the wife of former US Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a sharp critic of the administration's Iraq policy. AP has more.