Q. And do you know when the Vice President talked to the President to get the permission for you to discuss this with the press and in effect in your mind declassify the document? [ed note: this refers to portions of the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate pertaining to uranium and efforts to make weapons of mass destruction]

A. No, sir.

Q. And were you present for that conversation?

A. No sir.

Q. What did the Vice President tell you about that conversation?

A. He told me he had talked to the President and we should go ahead and, you know, talk to the press about the

Q. And do you know if the Vice President told the President what the legal issue was in terms of sharing classified information?

A. I don't know what happened in that conversation. the Vice President knew that we needed to have the President's authority to talk about the document, or that section of the document.

Q. And was anyone else present with you when you ldiscussed with the Vice President the issue of whether or not you could be authorized to discuss classified material with the press or the public?

A. No, sir, but I referred him to the conversation with David Addington.

Q. So as far as you know, did the Vice President and David Addington discuss that issue?

A. I don't know.

Q. And do you know if the Vice President and the President talked about it in person or by telephone?

A. I don't know.

Q. And do you know how long before your July 8th meeting with Judith Miller that conversation took place?

A. I don't. My sense was that it was within a few days, but I don't really know.

Q. Could it have been the day before, July 7th, as far as you know?

A. Could have been, or it could have been some time at the end of the previous weekend. I mean, excuse me, I misspoke. End of the previous week, before the weekend. It could have been any day in that period.

Q. And who else in the administration was told, as far as you know, that you were authorized to discuss the relevant portions of the NIE with Judith Miller?

A. Nobody as far as I know.

Q. So as far you know, the only three people who knew about this would be the President, the Vice President and yourself?

A. Correct, sir.

Q. And going up to July 18th, is it fair to say that there were a number of different conversations within the I administration about declassifying the NIE?

A. Yes sir.

Q. And during those conversations did you ever tell any of the other people that in fact the President had already declassified the NIE in your mind?

A. No, sir.

Q. And in your presence did the vice President ever tell these other people that you understood that the NIE had already been declassified?

A. No, sir.

Q. And as far as you know, was the CIA or Director Tenet ever notified that the NIE had been declassified in your mind as of July 8th with regard to those portions concerning uranium?

A. No, sir.

Q. And were there conversations in which Mr. Hadley discussed declassification of the NIE?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Were there conversations where Dr. Rice discussed declassification of the NIE?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Were there conversations in which Andrew Card, the Chief of Staff, discussed declassification of the NIE?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. And during all those conversations it remained unknown to them that in fact you understood that the NIE had already been declassified?

A. By the President. Yes, sir.

Q. And is it fair to say that on July 10th the Vice President, according to your notes, indicated that he would recommend to the President declassification of the relevant parts of the NIE?

A. My recollection is that's what he was telling Steve Hadley should pass on to Director Tenet, that they wanted to get those portions declassified and then they were declassified.

Q. And so in your mind, the Vice President was telling Steve Hadley to tell George Tenet that we, the Office of Vice President, would recommend declassification even though at the time, according to your account, both he and you knew that the NIE had already been declassified?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. And is it fair to say that in the following conversations during that week there are a number of conversations where people discussed declassification where you and the Vice President knew that in your mind the President had already authorized you to discuss this with the press? Correct?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Was that unusual for you to have the National Security Advisor, Director of Central Intelligence and the White House Chief of Staff, among others, in the dark as to something that you had done regarding declassification?

A. It is not unusual for the Vice President to tell me something which I am not allowed to share with others. And it's so -- it doesn't happen very often -- well, it happens often that the Vice President will tell me something that I cannot share with other people and I will sit in the room with them while they talk about something. I think that many times when they know something and I know something, but neither of us know that the other person knows it or is supposed to know and we don't talk about it, that happens quite frequently actually.