Posted on 07/31/2005 8:49:58 AM PDT by Republican Red
I doubt Novak would protect Powell. i believe it's the former DCI.
It may take a while, but Condi will sweet it out good, including all the corners.
Makes sense. What impresses me is that Fitzgerald's office has apparently been water-tight so far--not a word coming out to anyone.
In re Richard Armitage, allow me to direct you to a virulent leftie site (an org where I found the Oil for Food Scam early on): RICHARD ARMITAGE QUIETLY CONFIRMED AS DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE
This site's links tell quite the story..
*****The leaker is Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson. She has been tight with a group of leftie newsettes forever.*****
Judith Miller reported on WMD for the NYT. That was her beat. She had to have sources who worked on WMD issues. Valerie Plame worked on WMD issues.
I believe that for some strange [dem] reason, JM would go to jail to protect her relationship with Valerie Plame, and not for many other people. Surely not to protect Karl Rove &/or Scooter Libbey.
It is also very likely that JM became a 'source' of the Plame connection to Pincus, Matt Cooper, etc.
Eggzackly. Beyond some pro-forma word-processor rattling, the MSM has been fairly subdued in their support of the jailbird.
There were several pieces written about how a' senior administration official' was parading around the plane on the President's July 7th trip to Africa with the State dept. memo in hand--and they quoted from the memo.
Rove and Libby weren't on the trip.
Doesn't this likely mean that the memo was shown to media people on the plane by the senior official--which is usually a phrase attached to the Sec. of State?
Am I missing something? If Plame was not covert (I don't think she could be NCO either) what exactly was leaked? I know there are different designations of CIA but apparently many knew who she was. So exactly what leak are we talking about when we say "the leaker". The SP certainly is investigating leaks but I doubt they are about the hyped Plame one, unless in fact she was Covert(NCO?).
Are you thinking that Powell or Armitage leaked it to Novak? I guess Armitage isn't a political "gunslinger" .. but I don't know if that can be said about Powell...he's probably one of the most political public servants that ever walked the hallowed halls.
bttt
By Josh Marshall
From: Politics
Late this evening I got emails from a few readers who told me about a news story on Chicago's Channel 9, WGN-TV which pointed out that Patrick Fitzgerald's term as US Attorney in Chicago is coming up in October and that pressure is building to deny him a reappointment.
As it was described to me, the news segment featured an interview with former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R)(no relation), who suggested that Denny Hastert might be pushing to turn Fitzgerald out of his job.
And who would think a stand-up guy like Denny Hastert would stoop to something like that?
The Coffee House Politics Jul 27, 2005 -- 11:29:30 PM EST
Feisty U.S. attorney's job safe
July 29, 2005 -BY LYNN SWEET Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON -- It's his call.
Though his term is up this fall, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the aggressive prosecutor who is investigating Mayor Daley's City Hall, possible illegal White House leaks and who has a former Illinois governor awaiting a corruption trial, is in no danger of losing his job.
Fitzgerald's original four-year term expires in a few months, and former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.), who engineered his appointment (they are not related), is raising a concern the Chicago-based career prosecutor may be pressured out.
The former senator said in a WGN-TV interview Wednesday he feared for Patrick Fitzgerald's future because of his pursuit of official corruption. Peter Fitzgerald did not offer specifics and was vacationing Thursday and could not be reached.
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) was asked about Peter Fitzgerald's concerns Thursday . "I know there [have] been innuendos about my getting pressures. I can tell you nobody has talked to me or called me about this. Anybody. Period,'' Hastert said.
For legal and political reasons, however, it seems it is Patrick Fitzgerald's decision to stay or go. Legally, if President Bush does nothing, he stays on the job even though his term is over. Politically, Bush would face a storm of protest if he fired a man who is investigating his own administration.
Patrick Fitzgerald's White House investigation of the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity is putting him at the doorstep of Bush advisor Karl Rove. His pursuit of criminality in City Hall contracts and hiring is taking him into Daley's inner circle.
Illinois Democratic Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama have been on record since January -- before the White House and City Hall probes heated up -- as wanting Patrick Fitzgerald to stay.
Hastert said Thursday, "My view on this thing, first of all, he was appointed. He serves at the pleasure of the president of the United States. As far as I know, the U.S. attorney general nor the president or anybody else has asked for his resignation. He serves for the duration as far as I'm concerned.''
Durbin spokesman Joe Shoemaker said Thursday Durbin "thinks there is no finer attorney than Patrick Fitzgerald. He is honest and thorough.''
Hastert wouldn't seek change
White House spokesman Allen Abney referred questions about Fitzgerald to the U.S. Justice Department. A Hastert confidant said the speaker did not issue a statement of support because he does not know Patrick Fitzgerald and has never talked to him.
Hastert said Thursday that before he would do that, "I'd like to see what his views are and what he plans to do," especially in the area of illegal drug money laundering.
Most important however, is this: If the White House asked, Hastert's team would not recommend a change, the source said.
Peter Fitzgerald was the state's senior Republican in 2001 when he reached outside of Illinois to recommend Patrick Fitzgerald, then a New York federal prosecutor, for the job. In the process, Peter Fitzgerald alienated Hastert by refusing to discuss with him the selection of three new U.S. attorneys for Illinois after Bush came into office.
Here is how the selection system for U.S. attorneys works:
* A U.S. attorney is nominated by the president and needs Senate confirmation, though there are no hearings.
* When the term is up, the U.S. attorney serves until a successor is named. No affirmative action -- such as a formal reappointment -- needs to take place.
Hold on a second. I just thought of something.
Could it be possible that Sen Roberts is going to investigate whether Plame's covert status was improperly issued in order to set up this entire thing?
Judith Miller + Mandy Grunwald (Cooper's wife) = Hillary. Bill & Hill are the only people I know of who people will go to jail to protect.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Personally I would feel a whole better if Durbin wasn't such a big supporter of Fitz. The only real question at this point may be just what angle is he pursuing. Free Republic has done an excellent job of revealing facts and time line but most of that is based on evidence gathered independently of GJ testimony. I have no idea if Fitzgerald going after the real crimes. Judy Miller should be tried for treason for tipping off a potential terrorist cell. This maybe the crux of the investigation but only time will tell.
I still would like to know just what her real status was/is at the CIA. I don't think that has been answered as a matter of fact.
The problem with the Powell scenario is that he doesn't seem to do his own dirty work. But his former department has been in this from the get go. This is from October, 2003:(You might also note in the link who the 3 journalists that were mentioned...Novak, Royce and Phelps. The latter 2 are from Newsday. I have always considered that quite interesting.)
The Defence and State departments and the CIA also are part of the investigation.
Promising to co-operate, Secretary of State Colin Powell said his department's officials would search documents and other records "to see if we have anything relevant." He said he was not sure "what they are looking for."
Officials at State were instructed in a separate memo to hold on to the same type of documents demanded at the White House.
"At this stage, Justice is not requesting retrieval/production of documents," the State memo said. "Rather, this is a request that documents that are potentially relevant to the criminal investigation be preserved and not destroyed."
U.S. posts overseas are also being asked to comply. Link
Josh Marshall has posted a second Wilsongate memo from White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, and a couple of names kind of leap out of it:
Pursuant to a request from the Department of Justice, I am instructing you to preserve and maintain the following:[F]or the time period February 1, 2002 to the present, all documents ... that relate in any way to:
(skipping)
3. Contacts with reporters Knut Royce, Timothy M. Phelps, or Robert D. Novak, or any individual(s) acting directly or indirectly, on behalf of these reporters.
The inclusion of Novak is no surprise, but who are Knut Royce and Timothy M. Phelps? Josh tells us:
Knut Royce and Timothy Phelps of Newsday have done some of the best reporting of anyone in town on the whole issue of Iraq, politicized intelligence and the Joe Wilson matter. They've clearly got some awfully good and pretty generous sources. What are their names doing in this memo?They reported early on Novak's original column. But why that should put them in the mix here isn't immediately clear.
Mind you, the two Newsday reporters do not appear to be among the six allegedly contacted by the White House leakers. So their potential role in the investigation would seem to be limited.
But some of the gang apparently have been thinking about this over at Daily Kos, and Hunter filed a report on a previous thread. So take it away Hunter:
Who the heck are Royce and Phelps? They're the (first) ones who wrote a story about Novak's outing of Plame. (Actually, I think David Corn was first -- billmon) In their story, they say:A senior intelligence official confirmed that Plame was a Directorate of Operations undercover officer who worked "alongside" the operations officers who asked her husband to travel to Niger.See what just happened there? Why Royce and Phelps were named by WH Counsel, and why the investigation is starting over at the CIA? The WH just said -- "Okay, you want an investigation? Fine. We'll do it. Let's investigate who over at the CIA confirmed our original leak to Novak to be true."
Nice backhand, if incredibly evil. They're not going to concentrate on who originally leaked, they're going to dilute it with looking for anyone at the CIA who confirmed the leak... thus putting the CIA under the same guns.
It's looking more and more like war.
I (Billmon) think I'm going to withhold judgment until I've had a chance to check the Newsday stories, and mull things over a bit. But Hunter's theory doesn't appear to be implausible on its face. The FBI did say last night that the investigation would start at the CIA, and Royce and Phelps do appear to have been the recipients of a leak from the agency. But I don't know how the White House expects to turn up daming evidence against the CIA in its own records.
The last time the Mayberry Machiavellis tried to return service to the Ivy League Spooks (back during the original Yellowcakegate affair) they got the ball smashed back into their faces. We'll just have to see whether they're looking for a rematch.
This is Royce and Phelps' original column:
bttt
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