by Larry C. Johnson (bio below)
I was interviewed today on CNN’s Situation Room about the retirement of Valerie Plame Wilson from the CIA.
Here is the transcript:
WOLF BLITZER: My next guest trained with Valerie Plame back in the 1980s. On her outing he was recently quoted as saying, “At the end of the day, she was betrayed by her own government and they show no signs of remorse.” Larry Johnson is a former CIA officer. He’s joining us now to discuss the outing of Valerie Plame-Wilson and the impact on other CIA officers.
Larry, thanks very much for joining us.
LARRY JOHNSON, FMR. CIA OFFICER: Hi, Wolf. Good to be with you.
BLITZER: Those are very strong words: “At the end of the day, she was betrayed by her own government and they show no signs of remorse.” What exactly do you mean?
JOHNSON: I mean if the president came out and said look, I want the resignations right now of Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, he’d be sending a sign that he would not tolerate this kind of behavior. Instead, they’re hiding behind a kind of legalisms we heard when Bill Clinton was president, trying to find what the meaning of is is, trying to find what, you know, the particular legal statute is.
And that shouldn’t be the standard here. Valerie is a very low- key, professional person. One of these days, the American people will have a chance to get to know her. And what they’re going to find is she is not the person that’s been portrayed in the press.
She is low-key, she’s quiet, she’s professional, she’s very smart and they’ll find that the loss of her as an intelligence officer is something that has hurt the American people and our national security.
BLITZER: You probably saw that article that Victoria Toensing wrote in the “Wall Street Journal” in early November, and, among things, Vicki Toensing is a former deputy assistant attorney general during the Reagan administration. “If the CIA truly, truly, truly had wanted Ms. Plame’s identity to be secret, it never would have permitted her spouse to write the op-ed. Did no one at Langley think that her identity could be compromised if her spouse wrote a piece discussing a foreign mission about a volatile political issue that focused on her expertise?”
What do you make of her suggestion that her husband in effect was partially responsible for the outing Valerie Plame-Wilson?
JOHNSON: It is amazing to me that someone with Victoria’s Toensing’s education and experience can be so totally ignorant and incompetent on issues related to intelligence and cover. The fact of the matter is there are lots of other people who are undercover in the CIA who are married to foreign service officers, some of whom have written op-eds.
And just because you do write an op-ed doesn’t mean that you say, therefore, my wife works at the Central Intelligence Agency. So this kind of apologizing for what is really an unconscionable act, I find just totally disgusting and it’s really a discredit upon someone like Victoria Toensing.
BLITZER: Is she under some sort of security concern right now given all the publicity that’s gone out there?
JOHNSON: Yes. There have been very specific threats delivered against Valerie. And unfortunately, she is not going out and seeking the publicity. You know, and it’s natural for the press to want to cover it. And I don’t fault the press for this but it’s something that both her and Joe have to be concerned about because they want to protect their children.
They want to protect themselves and, look, at the end of the day they’re not looking to take a high profile in the public spotlight. Valerie’s not running for a camera right to sit down and say, hey, let me tell you my story.
I hope at some point she decides to come out and sit down in an environment where she can tell her side of it and talk about the damage that’s been done to her. Unfortunately, she’ll never really be able to disclose the damage that has been done to our nation because there’s still secrets that she will keep until her death.
BLITZER: Larry Johnson, a former CIA officer joining us. Thank you, Larry, very much.
JOHNSON: Thanks, Wolf. Thanks for having me.
Continued below:
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Larry C. Johnson is CEO and co-founder of BERG Associates, LLC, an international business-consulting firm that helps corporations and governments manage threats posed by terrorism and money laundering. Mr. Johnson, who worked previously with the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism (as a Deputy Director), is a recognized expert in the fields of terrorism, aviation security, crisis and risk management. Mr. Johnson has analyzed terrorist incidents for a variety of media including the Jim Lehrer News Hour, National Public Radio, ABC’s Nightline, NBC’s Today Show, the New York Times, CNN, Fox News, and the BBC. Mr. Johnson has authored several articles for publications, including Security Management Magazine, the New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times. He has lectured on terrorism and aviation security around the world. Further bio details.
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Way to go..great job..I am so sick of Victoria Toensing getting a free pass all the time. She is just a hidious individual and I am so thankful you put her in her place and let the American People know she is a dipshit. The law she created is so poorly written and is just pathetic. When things like this happen I would think we would want the person doing the outing prosocuted to the fullest extent, but with her shitty wording and writing it makes it almost impossible to convict someone. Why the fuck did they create a Law if it is usless. Pigwoman. I turn the channel if she is showing her face and her way far right wingnut mind. She is vile, up there with Karen Hughes if you ask me. Keep spreading the truth my friend. I hope Rove does down in flames very soon.
I agree. Tanks Larry for putting straight the sorry excuse of a human known as Victoria Toensing.
Chamonix, I agree Toennsing is vile. I however equate her with Condi Rice. Rice is more insidious, therefore more dangerous in my mind.
Toensing is a hack. If the press were honest that is how they would introduce her, as a former US Attorney with a decidely right wing bias who is nothing more than a shill and apologist for the Republican Party. And have been for some time now.
Mr. Johnson;
Thank you again for representing those who risk their lives each and every day in secret to defend this nation. What a shame they need representation against their own commander in chief.
I am at a loss how the press continues to ignore that a court had to pass judgement on the evidence that real injury had been done to the United States before an investigation of this case could even begin. The Bush flunkies have been allowed to argue that no damage was done by Ms. Plame’s “outing”. And yet the entire investigation has clearly been fueled by great anger by working agents and staff at the CIA.
But I have always wondered why Tenet was so quick to request the investigation. Did he think the court would never approve it? Or was the anger in the ranks so strong he was given no choice?
Larry thanks for bringing this up again:
“There have been very specific threats delivered against Valerie. And unfortunately, she is not going out and seeking the publicity.”
I disagree that it is “unfortunate”. Until her boys are much older, I feel she being a terrific “mom” in very trying circumstances, by keeping their lives as “normal” as possible. Publicity would destroy whatever “normal-ness” now exists for her children.
You did a terrific job cutting through the usual noise in these kind of interviews. We are grateful for all of the men and women who have served us with honor and integrity. Thank you for reminding us that such things still exist.
It’s a good thing Wolf has a situation presented to him and he’s not left to figure things out for himself.
Your one statement sums up the heart and soul of what happened to Valerie, her family and her country. Thanks again for having the integrity to stand up and speak out. We need more people like you.
They never give you enough time but at least Wolf didn’t uninvite you. I’m still looking forward to you squaring off with Bozell one day.
Man, I was going to highlight that quote too. Obviously he wants to let Larry explain things a bit, but that was stoopid.
Larry: Bravo, the plain simple hard-hitting truth can be spoken by our side. It’s refreshing.
Yeah, I hate when that happens to me, too.
The Daily Show had a great pice the other night of clips of reporters saying ‘I don’t know’ every way possible. I think it was the airliner shooting story. Wolf had more than one appearance.
I’m certainly no fan of Blitzer, but I have to say I don’t think he’s as dense as he makes himself out to be.
He’s so self-absorbed, he’s so much his own biggest fan, that it’s almost embarrassing to watch him in action most of the time, but the fact that he behaves in a way that dumbs down the level of discourse on his show is one more prime example of how the MSM is failing the public on a regular basis.
Blitzer was a pretty good reportere back when hewas still “hungry”. Now that he’s a millionaire star he’s lost the diligent and skeptical perspective every good newsperson needs.
I can’t speak for anyone else but I don’t think Wolf is stupid. I think his comment and presentation make it appear that he’s uninformed and has trouble reaching a logical conclusion. It also makes him appear to lack depth and understanding. The best conclusion is that he’s smart enough to know it looks like this and he allows it to happen.
I agree with you. I would add only that where you say he “…has trouble reaching a logical conclusion…”; I would say that the reason he has trouble with this is because he no longer cares enough to reach such important conclusions because his own star-status doesn’t require such diligence.
IMHO, the operative reason why Blitzer is unable to perform as a responsible journalist is because he’s become so self-important that he now believes that whatever he decides to say or do is automatically “right”.
Your addition is much more accurate. I had made the same observation about Chris Matthews before. It seems to be a fairly common MSM disorder.
Yes, I can’t think of a single prominent formerly top-notch journalist or pundit who, upon reaching star status, has maintained the discipline and diligence required to be good at his/her job.
Russert, Matthews, Woodward, Mitchell, Brokaw, Rather, Blitzer, Tom Friedman, etc. All of them are now failing the public on an ongoing basis.
Actually, Seymour Hersh can be seen as an exception. Even though his venue at the New Yorker might not be quite so grand as the others,he is rergarded as a “star” in journalism and yet retains the diligent and skeptical attitudes necessary for quality work. He is, however, clearly the exception.
Sometimes I think that dear ol’ Leslie is not much smarter than a bag of rocks
game is a loser. I agree 100% with your comment that she was betrayed by our government and no one is taking responsibility. As W likes to say we are fighting a war on terror, however, it appears his political cronies are more important than a frontline CIA operative.
And when are we going to get a CIA damage report for the outing of Ms. Plame. How many covers were lost because her cia status became public knowledge, did anyone die??
Thank you Larry for continuing to speak out on behalf of Valerie. You give this woman hope that someday this cabal will be taken out.
Brilliant smackdown. Just brilliant.
I’m just finishing reading Joe Wilson’s book Politics of Truth. It’s taken me longer and been much more substantive than I had expected–and the first half, about his African experiences in the diplomatic service, is very illuminating. Even though I’ve been following the case almost from Day 1, and have been paying a lot of attention to the news, there’s much I’ve missed. He puts a good deal of the rapidly passing details in perspective.
What’s clear to me is that he was a thorn in the administration’s warmongering side well before his Times op-ed, which seems to have been the final straw for the neocon camel. (Not to mix metaphors or anything.)
And I think he’s just as shocked as the rest of us by what this administration is–always before, we’ve had government officials who, from whichever side of the aisle, operated from the same playbook, honoring the fundamental premises of the nation, working for what they saw as the best results for the country as a whole.
What we have in place now is a radical and revolutionary group that does not operate within the accepted rules of government and nation, and we are so blindsided and shocked we haven’t a clue about how to counter it. Wilson uses the term “cells” (which I read with all its counterrevolutionary, communist implications) to describe the cliques of neocons who weaseled their way into such departments as State, and it’s the best description I’ve seen yet.
Great job, thanks for being out there on the front lines, Larry!
It makes me sick to see MSNBC running a story all morning about the rise in the preznit’s approval ratings, now at 41% for his handling of Iraq. You just have to wonder how this miracle occurs, did the same people they asked before change their minds, or did they ask different people, or did they ask different questions, or what? I just can’t believe that Bush standing up in front of military personnel spouting empty rhetoric can really change public opinion. And what are they crowing about anyway? 41% still sucks as an approval rating, period.
Just makes me wish even more that Fitz would step out from behind the curtain and indict Rove, but will he do it even if he believes that Rove should be indicted? Can you imagine the pressure on the man? And they can get to him. They can get to anyone, and they can certainly get to him. I’m sure rotten-to-the-core Bushco thinks Fitzpatrick’s wife is “fair game,” too.
Thanks Larry!!
First of all: “What do you make of her suggestion that her husband in effect was partially responsible for the outing Valerie Plame-Wilson?”
My answer would be that If Joe Wilson had anything to do with her outing, Fritz would have indicted him long time ago. Therefore that statement is bull.
Second item: “At the end of the day, she was betrayed by her own government and they show no signs of remorse.” Since when does this govenment has ANY remorse.We went to war on a lie, where over more thn 2000 Americans died.
Also, it is my understanding that to search EVERY single container in our ports would cost about 20 billion a year. We are inspecting only 20% of the cargo. If we took those all billions that were thrown away in Iraq, we could inspect every single ship, and every single container FOR SEVERAL YEARS and therefore insure that no wmd’s would enter this country and posibly save millions of our people.
Remorse?? None!!
Glad you are still being asked to be on these shows to have a few lone voices defending Valerie and how absolutely derelict bushco is on this whole matter..to say nothing of being behind the whole sorry mess to start with.
As for Wolfie..gee what did he think your statement meant..pretty self explanatory actually if he cared to follow through on that himself like a real journalist would. I honestly don’t think they(MSM) even know anymore what real investigative reporting means or entails. They just continue to read opposing viewpoints then get other people to comment..as for Victoria Toensing….jesus she has always been one nasty piece of work.
Sorry to step off the topic for a second, but I am unable to watch Wolfie without hearing his voice echoing in m head, “…seman stained dress, seman stained dress, seman stained dress.” He was so thrilled to have been leaked that little tidbit, his glee at what he then thought of as a “news” story it was appalling. I wonder if he still thinks a president having an affair is big news?
Kimit