From Fitzgerald’s press conference:
On June 12th, Walter Pincus published his article CIA Did Not Share Doubt on Iraq Data. From dkosopedia:
- After the June 12 article by Pincus, “there was general discussion with the National Security Council and the White House and State Department and others” regarding Wilson and his trip, says a former intelligence officer. Source: Time Magazine, “When They Knew”
In ‘mid-June’ Woodward learned about Valerie Wilson. Sounds to me like the National Security Council didn’t like Pincus’s story and tried to get Woodward to redirect the coverage. But contrary to Woodward’s assertions, Pincus doesn’t recall being told about Wilson’s wife by Woodward.
Let’s look at another thing from Woodward’s statement (no longer a .pdf):
I have not been released to disclose the source’s name publicly.
Wow, is that a pregnant statement. A current or former White House official ‘went to Fitzgerald’ and divulged that they leaked about Wilson’s wife in mid-June to Bob Woodward. Does that mean that this official confessed voluntarily? They just walked into Fitzgerald’s office and said, “Pat, my conscience is bothering me and I want to confess that I was the first person to leak this information and I did it long before Scooter Libby dished to Judy Miller”?
I don’t think so. This information must be part of a deal. Apparently the official volunteered this information to Fitzgerald on November 3rd, one week after Libby was indicted. That is very intriguing. For what it’s worth, Rove’s spokesman says that Rove is not the official that spoke with Woodward. Who could it be?
I think this is big news. This unnamed official must have been informed that they were going down for something and then decided to spill some serious beans. How else can we explain their sudden cooperation? Whoever it is, my money is on someone in the National Security Council.
from some of his interviews and conversations but not all. He knows most of the administration from the work he did on his book. Would he not want to subconsciously protect his sources for the book? I know that journalists are always accused of being sloppy, but this is a professional so the claim of not knowing whether he talked about Wilson since he had it in his list of questions to ask is odd. Not impossible, but odd. Odder still is that he claims he talked to Pincus but Pincus doesn’t remember the conversation as being about Wilson or his wife. I wonder if he gave Fitzpatrick copies of his notes tapes? It doesn’t sound as if he did. But two hours is a long deposition and his report is short.
Pincus is saying that Woodward told him in October 2003 (after Pincus wrote a story mentioning that an administration source had contacted him about Wilson) that other reporters had been contacted as well. According to Pincus, this was only a “vague” reference, certainly not anything as detailed as Woodward telling him about Valarie Plame and what she did at the CIA.
can someone sum all this up for me
im totally confused
i’m trying but it is no easy task.
My buddy Evan at Alternet has a succinct version, and includes this photo … sigh … oh, for those days, eh?
One snippet:
“… Yet he kept [that he was told of Valerie Plame’s identity before any other journalist by an as-yet-unnamed senior administration official who is not Karl Rove or Scooter Libby] secret from his editors and traipsed around as a critic of the investigation. Shameful. He only told his editors when he received a subpoena himself. …”
hmmmm… nice hairdo
They all were my heroes, once a upon a time.
who is who in this pic?
coming from the orange zone:
The Woodward Bombshell
There the author claims that Bush should be able to pick out the leaker easily. Since Bush couldn’t find his ass with both hands I doubt it. Maybe somebody could simplify for me why Bush should know? Anyway due to Woodward’s account there are at least two Senior Admin Offals he talked to.
Intriguing look at Fitz’s visit to Bush’s lawyer shortly before indicting Libby again from the orange zone:
Bush’s attorney
I think it’s either David Wurmser doing a deal to save his shabby self from prison, or a second tier NSC officer duped by Cheney’s office into being the one to disclose Plame’s info.
Either way, all roads lead to Cheney.
As one reads more and more about the CIA Leak investigation, it becomes apparent that the WH was not a secure environment, but rather a playground for insiders to gossip blithely. So-called “Senior Administration Officials” (SAOs), the ubiquitous source of Valerie Plame’s CIA identity, have little regard for this nation’s security, especially when it comes to blabbing classified information to a variety of people purportedly without top secret clearance, i.e. Judith Miller and Bob Woodward.
One begins to wonder. . .
Isn’t this fun?
one thing is for sure, Dubya ain’t stinking ‘former Capitol Hill staffer’.
My guess reading this quickly is that someone from the Whitehouse has mentioned this and Woodward is a williing participant, pretending to be flustered by having to appear before the grand jury.
The idea is to muddy the waters. Make it look like this revelation of Plame was talkied about long before Scooter Libby became aware of it.
It fits the Right Wing defense that “everybody knew” she was with the CIA.
This is helpful to the Whitehouse, not something that is intended to endanger them.
Why would a whitehouse official go to Fitzgerald? Ask that question. The answer is to do something helpful to the Whitehouse. Not to blow whistles.
Then Woodward who appears to be a volunteer government operative like Judy Miller plays along. He may very well have testified truthfully.
I think after seeing Fitzgerald on TV that he is straight. But I am sure his sympathies are toward the Republiicans as all of his appointments have come from Republicans.
A prejudiced democratic prosecutor could have indicted the entire WHitehouse on this matter long ago.
think for a minute, please.
Someone went to Fitzgerald and told him that they (not someone else) leaked classified information to Bob Woodward. They did this two weeks ago, not two years ago. Whoever did this just exposed themselves to charges of leaking classified information (at a minimum). But much more likely, they have testified previously, and testified deceptively or outright untruthfully. The only reason to do this now is to exchange information in exchange for leniency.
This information does nothing legally for Scooter Libby. At best, it protects someone from charges that they ‘knowingly’ outed a covert operative. But Libby is not indicted on that charge. He is indicted on airtight charges of lying.
If this protects anyone, it is certainly not Libby. Moreover, Woodward is totally disgraced. His reputation is ruined. Utterly. He is not a willing participant here, although he may be shading his testimony for a variety of reasons, including to conform with his many previous public statements.
Here is a thought. The person who went to Fitz is a low-level pawn falling on his or her sword to better the defense case. They (the defense cabal) think they’re pretty sure that there are no charges for the “leak,” just the cover up, so the Rove team calls in a loyal operative to say I leaked it to Woodward (who would have to be part of the deal — “You help us, you’ll continue your book deals.”) Just trying to figure it out myself.
Of course, if the above were the case, and if Fitz figured that, he could then dig, and dig, and dig to ferret out the conspiracy described above. And maybe Woodward ends up truly disgraced, doing more federal time that Judy, for his role in cover-up conspiracy.
Kind of crazy. But that’s what speculation is all about, isn’t it boys and girls.
Fitz has moved past the low-level low-lifes. I think this came from up higher, and I am betting on Rove or his secretary (might as well bet on somebody). If Bush is going down anyway — and it looks as though he may physically as well as politically implode — the safe course is to get off the ship and let the Captain goes down with it. This is a ‘sauve qui peut’ scenario. It is based on the premise that the public life of Karl Rove is finished, as is that of the lesser criminals.
The second scenario builds on the first, but has a different take. The leak is part of a campaign to force Bush out, and get a new President in to hold power until the 2008 elections. The candidate will be a respectable conservative Republican like Barr or even Hagel, though Hagel seems unlikely at this point. The idea would be to ‘get past this moment’; the MSM would go with it, and the country would be saved from the terror of a Democratic administration.
Just thinking about the possible end games.
I like the “replace Bush now” thought. I mean, I don’t really like it politically, because I think it could save the Repubs bacon, but I would take it as a way to oust the war criminal. And it almost seems plausible. What a crazy world.
But isn’t Fitzgerald’s alleged intention to find out if there was a conspiracy to out Plame. He said that sand was thrown in his face in regard to Libby testimony regarding the outing. So….if he is on the trail of the conspiracy charge to out Plame, there is much more at stake than the obstructing justice charge. I think Fitagerald said in his news conference he hasn’t been able to determine the conspiracy charge as of yet. He also made a comment about how dangerous the outing of a CIA agent is and how it “endangers us all” etc. etc. So, that could be his real focus and not obstruction. After all that is what he originally set out to investigate.
THis movement may not be related to Libby’;s obstruction charge but the deeper charge of outing a CIA agent.
There is definetly something wrong with Woodward. He is competely establishment and it makes one wonder about how he initially exposed Nixon and who his connections were that led to that besides the guy who claims to be deep throat.
Talk about falling from grace, Woodward is like an aerodynamic “rock”, with booster rockets, that the “junkyard dog prosecutor” hurled down a bottomless pit. It does make you pause in wonder about Bob and the Watergate capers.
In my mind the Nixon bungling was more along the lines of the key stone cops, whereas in comparison, Bush, Cheney, and this cast of characters will face eternal hell. Of course if one listens to Tricky Bobby, Plamegate is merely piddling stories about a “third-rate CIA outing and really much ado about nothing.
All the Presidents Lackeys does have a common angry CIA thread which involves not only one bitter officer but practically every pissed off spook in the agency. If Nixon had a “Deep Throat”, Bush is on his knees to receive an oral gang bang communion.
The obscure aspect of this CIA outing is WHY was it necessary to use such extreme methods to eradicate Wilson’s Niger claim and what explosive evidence were they trying to bury.
If the bread crumb trail is followed back to the Niger forgeries in Italy, one has to wonder if the key to the entire mystery could actually be the forged Nigerian yellow cake documents themselves. Did our own neocon administration spooks actually forge and plant evidence, or facilitate this plot, for a convenient discovery of critical proof in “the run up to War”. Could someone in the White House have authorized this scheme of a “smoking gun”, which when revealed, manipulated our fear of a “mushroom cloud” to insure their purpose?
Additionally, could the uncovering of this complicated scheme redirect us to examine the true source all other misleading evidence used to rationalize a need for war? In doing so, might this guide us to the mother lode of propaganda and the final discovery how these valuable nuggets of misinformation were actually planned and disseminated.
Some links for reference
US bases in Iraq: sticky politics, hard math | csmonitor.com
mysterious deaths of top microbiologists
2 More Dead
War portfolios: Casting a wider net
Combining Biological and Economic Warfare
The Strange Saga of Cheney and the “Nuclear Threat”
This War is Brought to You By…
If one follows the thread outward from the original source documents, the most likely leaker — a full month before Novak — would be Fleitz.
This is going to involve Bolton very soon.
I think Bolton was the one who had the intercepted messages he obtained by abuse of access in hi position. This was the subject of papers wanted in his nomination process and denied. Bush later appointed Bolton as a recess appointment.
Maybe some of this might help. If not it was fun looking back to June 2002. I found a blog entry dated june 15 that mentioned Woodward’s interview the previous day or so and remarks Bush made concerning ‘unleashing the CIA’ to achieve a goal…but I haven’t found that exact reference yet.
I think it’s important to see the leak as part of an organized effort to achieve many things by way of conspiracy.
Woodward’s reputation with ‘The Left’ would ensure that the controlled message from inside was given credibility.
“Pat, my conscience is bothering me and I want to confess that I was the first person to leak this information and I did it long before Scooter Libby dished to Judy Miller”?
He may just be the first in a drawn out effort to try and muddy the waters on the leaks. But we still don’t know that Woodward was the first to be told of this by the White House. There are too many known unknowns, nevermind the unknown unknowns.
For all we know it may be bush, eh? lmao
Has there been any news on who has been called back to testify to the new GJ since the Libby indictments, and specifically since November 3rd?
I’m still counting on Darth and Rove.
But we already know Bush knew.
Rove lies his ass off all the time, so I don’t believe his attorney for a second. Could have come via his secretary who I believe recently testified or via Rove himself as a deal in the 48hrs before Fitzmas.
That is who I was trying to remember… I knew there had been news about someone testifying to the new GJ! Thanks for reminding me! lol
I was just reading about Ralston testifying and some of Abramoff’s 500,000 emails were being looked at. Evidently, all calls in for Rove had to be passed by Norquist first. They have a 1.5 million ‘charge-fee’ documented that was paid to an Abramoff front organization for access to a few meetings.
I think he’s gone way beyond the leak and there are plenty of paths to follow.
Who is Deep Throat II? DTII has to be very high on the food chain in the White House to talk to the Bush White House’s official bibliographer about Wilson’s wife before she became Valerie Plame [a Senior Administrative Offical]. DTII told the Prosecutor about Woodward and released him from confidentiality claims to testify earlier this month after Libby was indicted. This disclosure does not help Libby and ruins Woodward’s reputation. Although denied by his lawyer, this totally feels like Karl Rove mucking around in the investigation to save his ass. The VP and President have absolutely no reason to squeal on Woodward to the Prosecutor and confirm a conspiracy to defame Ambassador Wilson. Karl must have forced one of them to do it. My gut feeling is VP Cheney would tell Karl were to shove it so it had to be the President’s lawyer who passed the info on to the Prosecutor.
Ok…I am really confused now. I have read and reread this diary, an article in the AP and a diary over at Kos. Did Woodward get called to testify or did he just go to Fitz himself? I agree this has Rove’s fingerprints all over it because it is being used to muddy the waters and distract. God I hate what these criminals can do. How do they continue to get away with it?
After all, we still haven’t tested the ability of a sitting President to be indicted for crimes against the United States. And even if indicted, he could still pardon himself. So, besides reputation and possible impeachment proceedings, what does Bush have to lose? Even still, if he helps Fitz get Cheney, he can appoint his own successor!
All roads lead back to Cheney. Bush 41’s proxy, Brent Scowcroft says he doesn’t even know him any more. Larry Wilkerson comes out with the “cabal” talk. Cheney’s even more hunkered down and irascible than usual, and appointed two of his co-conspirators to fill Libby’s shoes as a giant F-you to the world.
The Senate is hot on Cheney’s trail with the secret prisons and abuse. The CIA is probably out to get him as well. And I’m sure Cheney’s not much longer for this world anyway, what with all the cardiac disease we know he has. He’s totally expendable. The question is: does he go quietly into the night, or is there a scorched-earth policy?
Another possibility is that Mr.X is someone else who previously testified under oath to the GJ, and said something to the effect like, “I never told anyone about Wilson’s wife except Scooter. As far as I know, he’s the first one to have leaked this to the press,” thinking that there’s no way in hell Fitz could ever support or deny that statement. And then when Fitz says in his press conference, after all, we know Libby was the first person to leak Valerie Wilson’s name to the press, this Mr. X gets shaky. Is Fitz saying that because he believes Mr. X (and thus may call on him to testify in court) or is he saying it because he now has evidence to refute that claim and is trying to send Mr. X a message?
Whatever the truth, it seems likely that Mr. X would prefer to remain anonymous to the public at large and thus would not want to testify in court on the one hand, and on the other hand certainly doesn’t want to run the risk of a perjury indictment, so he is forced to broker a deal with Fitz: immunity from perjury and obstruction charges (if any) in exchange for information about what he said to Woodward (to put Woodward on the hook) and possibly documents that can refute others’ testimony.
Which makes me wonder if it isn’t Powell who might be Mr. X. As per Larry Wilkerson, we know there were documents in Larry’s posession that could trace all this back to Cheney. Wilkerson said he didn’t have them any more, but he never said what became of them. I’m fairly sure Powell testified in front of the GJ, and he certainly would prefer to remain behind the scenes in this whole affair. Plus, he’s pretty loyal to the Bush clan, if Poppy wants Cheney out (which I think he might given Scowcroft’s comments), Powell would be the guy to do it. For all we know, Wilkerson’s recent rumblings to the press may have been Powell by proxy, or maybe Wilkerson was trying to guilt Powell into cooperating with Fitz.
So many possibilities….
I am very interested in this
尖锐湿疣 性病 尖锐湿疣 咪喹莫特 疣迪 尖锐湿疣 咪喹莫特 疣迪 艾达乐 咪喹莫特 尖锐湿疣 尖锐湿疣 尖锐湿疣 尖锐湿疣