Senate Judiciary chairman urges Bush, Cheney to explain leaks News
Senate Judiciary chairman urges Bush, Cheney to explain leaks

[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.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.