Of course, Cheney lies. We all know that. But how does he get away with it again and again? In all the attention that has been given the indictment of Lewis Libby by Patrick Fitzgerald, one detail has been overlooked so far. What is stated in the indictment directly contradicts public statements made by the Vice President. For instance, the indictment reads:
On or about June 12, 2003, LIBBY was advised by the Vice President of the United States that Wilson’s wife worked at the Central Intelligence Agency in the Counterproliferation Division. LIBBY understood that the Vice President had learned this information from the CIA.
However, on September 14, 2003 Cheney told Tim Russert the following on Meet the Press:
No. I don’t know Joe Wilson. I’ve never met Joe Wilson. A question had arisen. I’d heard a report that the Iraqis had been trying to acquire uranium in Africa, Niger in particular. I get a daily brief on my own each day before I meet with the president to go through the intel. And I ask lots of question. One of the questions I asked at that particular time about this, I said, “What do we know about this?” They take the question. He came back within a day or two and said, “This is all we know. There’s a lot we don’t know,” end of statement. And Joe Wilson–I don’t who sent Joe Wilson. He never submitted a report that I ever saw when he came back.
(The source is here–a very good source to ferret out more of Cheney’s lies)
Cheney sure as hell knew who Joe Wilson was back in June, and was interested enough in him to find out who his wife was and where she worked.
Yet in the presidential press conference on this last Tuesday, October 25, Scott McClennan said it was a “ridiculous suggestion” that the VP doesn’t always tell the truth. (Link to BooTrib diary here. See Catnip’s comment towards the bottom.)
Is Cheney going to get away with his lies again?
