Posted on 09/01/2006 8:50:56 PM PDT by rightgrafix
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 — An enduring mystery of the C.I.A. leak case has been solved in recent days, but with a new twist: Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, knew the identity of the leaker from his very first day in the special counsel’s chair, but kept the inquiry open for nearly two more years before indicting I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, on obstruction charges.
Now, the question of whether Mr. Fitzgerald properly exercised his prosecutorial discretion in continuing to pursue possible wrongdoing in the case has become the subject of rich debate on editorial pages and in legal and political circles.
Richard L. Armitage, the former deputy secretary of state, first told the authorities in October 2003 that he had been the primary source for the July 14, 2003, column by Robert D. Novak that identified Valerie Wilson as a C.I.A. operative and set off the leak investigation.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
DU must be boiling over with threads about this! Oh, wait, what am I saying, it's DU--they're no doubt filling the net with support for that movie about assassinating W.
GWB ought to fire Fitzgerald, and tell everyone it was because Fitzgerald is an idiot who spent years investigating a case where the answer was already known.
It would get a lot of publicity, and confront the pro-Wilson deceivers and remind Americans what is at stake.
-b-
NO, there is no question at all to those who are not so firmly locked into their partisan political dogma of Hate Bushism they simply cannot confess their gross errors.
I suspect Fritz just punted. HE knew after all the media hype and hysterics that he would get the June Media reaming to end all political reaming if he came out and said "Nothing to this, all manufactured hysteria by Democrat activists".
So he punted, he found SOMTHING to accuse someone in the White House about so they, not HE, would be the target of the Leftist hissy fit when Fritzmus turned out to be Fritzbust.
Pigs are flying by my window
If GWB fired Friz it would be seen as "Proof of a cover up". Better to let Friz hang himself.
Unlike the more truthful Washington Post account, the NYT couldn't be bothered to mention that the Bush administration had no reason to discredit Joe Wilson.
The Senate Intelligence Committee Chairmen and their report on Iraq war intelligence make mention of the little tidbit that what Joe Wilson testified to privately actually confirmed what the CIA was saying. Iraq was indeed trying to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger.
So when Wilson lied repeatedly to the American public about his findings in Niger, all the administration had to do was send out a spokesman to detail that Wilson was lying to the public.
Was Armitage Judith Miller's source as well? If true, the New York Times knew the leak investigation was a sham too, but still continued to attack the Bush Administration anyway.
I agree. Also the Washington Post article was much better written and had more facts.
I'm sure they aren't discussing it at all, but for once Michael Moore isn't the only elephant in the room; they are all agreeing not to say anything about the depressing fact that there will be NO Fitzmas.
And Voila, THAT was why he looked so sweaty and panic-y, at the press conference.
Shouldn't we be prosecuting everyone who lied to the prosecutor about Armitage telling them??
Every reporter who lied to the public about Cheney should be fired.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Ah but there is a story here if the Junk Media were not the Democrats plaything. Just how did unelected Govt bureaucrats stage manage a 3 year PR stunt attempt to sabotage the Foreign Policy program of the US's ELECTED Govt? The REAL corruption here is pretty ugly but of course that doesn't fit the DNC media template so they will just sweep this under the rug. Someone ones in the Govt picked Wilson. Considering his complete lack of anything other then reliability as a Bush Hater, WHO picked, and WHY was, Wilson sent to Niger? The stated claim, that Cheney sent him was proven to be a LIE.
When are those lamebrains not being used?!?
While the Washington Post trashed Wilson, unless I missed it, nowhere does the NYT state that there was anything wrong with Wilson's claims. They're still covering for him, and their still giving Fitzgerald a pass...
While the Washington Post trashed Wilson, unless I missed it, nowhere does the NYT state that there was anything wrong with Wilson's claims. They're still covering for him, and their still giving Fitzgerald a pass...
"Since this week’s disclosures about Mr. Armitage’s role, Bush administration officials have argued that because the original leak came from a State Department official, it was clear there had been no concerted White House effort to disclose Ms. Wilson’s identity.
But Mr. Fitzgerald’s defenders point out that the revelation about Mr. Armitage did not rule out a White House effort because officials like Mr. Libby and Karl Rove, the senior white House adviser, had spoken about Ms. Wilson with other journalists.
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