Reply #17: Russert said nothing of the Plame case. Link to MTP transcript here... [View All]

[The Night Owl]

Today's MTP transcript can be found here...

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4663767

The following is an excerpt from a transcript of NBC's Meet The Press...

...

MS. HUGHES: Well, Tim, I'm not sure that I characterize it that way, because what I've heard the president say is he wants all the facts to come out, he wants the commission to be able to report fully to the American people. After all, he and his national security team are responsible for preventing another attack. But I've been in the White House and I've seen the competing pressures there. There are a lot of factors at work when you're the president of the United States. He has to worry about protecting the lives of the confidential informants that we're relying on, sources and methods and human intelligence workers who are out there around the world. You know the consternation that was created when the name of Valerie Plume was leaked as being a CIA operative. Rightly so. That was wrong, that someone leaked her name and jeopardized her career. But the president has to worry about protecting those intelligence methods and sources.

The president also has to worry about important constitutional principles. I remember being there in the East Room of the White House and holding up my hand and taking that oath to defend the Constitution, which calls for a separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government. I'm very glad and I know the president is glad and so is Dr. Rice that they were able to find a way to balance that important principle of the Constitution with letting her testify in public under oath, because I think it's important for the American people to hear the facts. And actually, the debate about this has obscured the fact that the White House has given an unprecedented level of cooperation to this investigation.

MR. RUSSERT: But now in hindsight the president believes the commission's a good idea.

...

Note that NBC quotes Hughes as saying "Plume" instead of "Plame".