N.Y. Rep.: Bush may have committed crime

WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- A member of Congress says President George W. Bush may have committed a crime if he authorized the leak of classified information to a reporter.

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby -- former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney -- reportedly told a federal grand jury he gave New York Times reporter Judith Miller information from a National Intelligence Estimate. In a filing made Wednesday by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, Libby said Cheney told him the president "specifically" authorized the leak.

Libby testified Cheney told him to talk to other reporters as well. Libby is accused of obstructing Fitzgerald's investigation into who leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame to reporters and lying to federal investigators.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., said Thursday if Libby's testimony is true, the case goes "much deeper" than the CIA leak.

"The heart and motive of this case is about the deliberate attempt at the highest levels of this administration to discredit those who were publicly revealing that the White House lied about its uranium claims leading up to the war," said Hinchey on his Web site.

Hinchey said Bush may have "knowingly lied about uranium to the Congress, which is a crime."