National Journal: Cheney Withheld Papers from Congress

Murray Waas reports at National Journal that VP Cheney and his chief of staff, the perhaps-soon-to-be-indicted Scooter Libby, went against the advice of some White House political staff and lawyers and "decided to withhold crucial documents from the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2004 when the panel was investigating the use of pre-war intelligence that erroneously concluded Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, according to Bush administration and congressional sources."

Some of the documents withheld, Waas writes, were "Libby-authored passages in drafts of a speech that then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered to the United Nations in February 2003 to argue the Bush administration's case for war with Iraq," as well as "intelligence data that Cheney's office - and Libby in particular - pushed to be included in Powell's speech, the sources said."

Cheney's office declined comment.

Is this a Rovian scheme to bring down enough people in the Veep's office to keep him out of trouble? Or Cheney's staff falling on their swords to protect their bosses?

The shoes are falling fast and furious now.