Former Envoy Talks in Book About Source of C.I.A. Leak [Wilson/Plame fiasco]

Former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV says in a new book that he believes the White House official behind the disclosure of his wife's identity as an undercover C.I.A. officer was "quite possibly" I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. But Mr. Wilson offers no firm evidence to support his assertion, and the White House has denied it.

Mr. Wilson writes that Mr. Libby "evidently seized opportunities to rail openly against me" and was an "ardent neoconservative" who had the "motive and means" to conduct a covert inquiry to identify Mr. Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame.

Her name was disclosed by Robert D. Novak in his syndicated column in July 2003 after Mr. Wilson publicly criticized the Bush administration's handling of reports that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Niger, in Africa. Federal prosecutors are investigating who gave Mr. Novak the information about Ms. Plame; disclosure of an undercover officer's identity can be a crime.

The book, being published on Friday by Carroll & Graf, is titled "The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's C.I.A. Identity — A Diplomat's Memoir."

The Plame-Novak controversy has its roots in the State of the Union address in 2003 when Mr. Bush said that the British government had learned that Iraq had sought uranium in Africa, a possible indication of Saddam Hussein's interest in nuclear weapons.

Mr. Wilson has said and recounts in the book that he knew that Mr. Bush's remark about Africa was wrong. Mr. Wilson traveled to Niger in February 2002 at the C.I.A.'s request to investigate the assertion and concluded that it was false. The C.I.A. told him it had become involved because Mr. Cheney had asked whether there was any truth to the reports about Iraq's interest in Niger's uranium, the book said. The White House has maintained that Mr. Cheney did not learn about Mr. Wilson's trip until Mr. Wilson wrote an Op-Ed article about it for The New York Times last July 6.

Mr. Bush's comment in the State of the Union address, Mr. Wilson writes, ignored two previous inquiries by Barbro Owens-Kirkpatrick, an American ambassador to Niger, and Carleton Fulford, a Marine Corps general, who also found that the Iraq-Niger story was not credible.

Mr. Wilson writes that a White House effort to damage him began at a March 2003 meeting called to develop a critique of him for the vice president's office. Citing an unnamed source "close to the House Judiciary Committee," Mr. Wilson writes that "either the vice president himself or, more likely, his chief of staff, Lewis (Scooter) Libby chaired a meeting at which a decision was made to do a work-up on me."

Mr. Wilson writes that the meeting was attended by senior Republicans, possibly including Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker. On Thursday, a spokesman for Mr. Gingrich, Rick Tyler, said Mr. Wilson's account was a "complete fabrication."

Mr. Wilson says those in the meeting decided that "the strategy of the White House was to confront the issue as a `Wilson' problem rather than as an issue of the lie that was in the State of the Union address."

As to the leaker, Mr. Wilson does not limit his suspicions to Mr. Libby. He says another person whose name "has most often been repeated to me" is Elliott Abrams. Mr. Abrams is a former official in President Ronald Reagan's administration who became embroiled in the Iran-contra affair and now works in the National Security Council.

Last year, Mr. Wilson identified Karl Rove, senior political adviser to Mr. Bush, as the probable source of the leak, but he later backed off from that accusation. In the book, he writes that Mr. Rove circulated information from the work-up on him within the administration.

The White House has denied that Mr. Libby, Mr. Abrams or Mr. Rove were involved in the disclosure.

Asked about Mr. Wilson's account, Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, said he was "simply not going to review or promote a book whose author has said his primary purpose is to pursue a political agenda to defeat the president."

Mr. Wilson is supporting Mr. Bush's Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, in the presidential race.

Apart from the White House denials, the issue of how Mr. Novak obtained the information for his column has turned from an embarrassment into a serious legal matter. In December, after a preliminary three-month inquiry by the Justice Department and the F.B.I., Attorney General John Ashcroft referred the matter to Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the United States attorney in Chicago.

Mr. Fitzgerald has conducted a grand jury investigation into the disclosure as a special counsel, summoning several current and former White House aides to testify. No one has been charged.

Quite apart from the matter of her employment, the assertion that Valerie had played any substantive role in the decision to ask me to go to Niger was false on the face of it. Anyone who knows anything about the government bureaucracy knows that public servants go to great lengths to avoid nepotism or any appearance of it.

A non-denial denial.

Two government officials have told the FBI that conservative columnist Robert Novak was asked specifically not to publish the name of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame in his now-famous July 14 newspaper column. The two officials told investigators they warned Novak that by naming Plame he might potentially jeopardize her ability to engage in covert work, stymie ongoing intelligence operations, and jeopardize sensitive overseas sources. ... Lamely attempting to shirk responsibility, Novak claimed that the CIA no was "a soft no, not a hard no."

Something I myself have said here. Novak's blame that the CIA didn't warn him enough was absurd. I also speculated that the "leak" to Novak wasn't malicious, just inside-the-beltway chatter and gossip. Novak blew his reputation to keep his mouth shut, if he ever had any.

BTW, how does this story comport with the malicious Bush admin leaking story???

As far as the CIA warning goes, I'm more willing to believe Novak than Wilson and some CIA bureaucrats looking to cover their butts.

Novak calls around to find out the motivation for sending a Clinton hack.

He talks to a number of people. Two inform him of the Plame CIA connection (I think they were State Dept., maybe they were DOD or Energy, whatever).

Novak calls the CIA to get confirmation. There are some, like Foley, the CIA will ID.

The CIA gives Novak the SOP answer -- 'We don't want ANY of our employees ever named in the press.'

Now, Novak has been an investigative reporter for what, 30+ years? He certainly knows what the rules are. If the CIA did have a real problem, they would have told him -- and Novak would have complied. It was not THAT big a story for him to risk his 30+ year lucrative career for this.

In fact, it reminds me of the Sherlock Holmes line 'the dog didn't bark.' The CIA didn't 'bark' becuase Plame was not a super-secret NOC. Either because of the Ames scandal or through her own sloppy behaviour, Plame was no longer considered by the CIA to be a 'vital' protected source. Hence, the SOP response.

Wilson claims two unnamed sources told him that Novak was specifically warned. Well, Wilson is a big liar and I'm sure the CIA bureaucrats, under fire from within and without, are busy bleating out excuses.

Now, how Wilson's contorted version comports with his bogus claims about the WH being the source of the leak? It doesn't.

If Cheney, Rove, Libby, or other 'senior WH officials' told Novak that Plame was a CIA bureaucrat Novak wouldn't have needed confirmation from the CIA and wouldn't have needed to call the CIA.

I'm not arguing with you that a CIA official asked him not to ID Plame. Let me try explaining my thoughts a different way.

Option 1 -- Novak is told by 2 admin sources (not at the level of Cheney, Rove, etc, because if they told him, he would not have to call the CIA to confirm) that Plame works for the CIA. So Novak calls the CIA to confirm.

Novak [on the phone with a CIA communications dept. bureaucrat]: "Hello, my name is Bob Novak and I'm working on a story and my sources tell me a certain person, Valerie Wilson or Valerie Plame, works for the CIA. Can you confirm that?"

CIA flunky: "You mean the the nationally syndicated reporter Bob Novak? The one who regularly appears on TV?"

Novak: "Yes, are you able to confirm that Valerie Plame or Valerie Wilson works for the CIA."

CIA dunderhead: "Well, as you know, the CIA does not confirm or deny whether any person works for the CIA. Certainly not to a reporter who reaches millions of readers a day!"

Novak: "Yes, I know that. I've been an investigative reporter who knows all the rules since before you were born and does not want to risk my career, but is this something you can confirm?"

CIA simpleton: "Well, hold on a moment."

[Slight delay as the CIA poltroon checks the list of intel assets which should under no circumstances be revealed in the press by a nationally syndicated reporter.)

CIA dullard: "Uhm, Mr. Novak, as you know, the CIA does not confirm or deny whether any persons works for the CIA."

Novak: "Yes, but I've got two other sources who tell me she does. Is there a problem with that?"

CIA picklebrain: "Uh, I just must repeat Mr. Novak, the CIA does not officially confirm or deny whether any person or persons work for the CIA."

Novak: "OK, bye." Novak hangs up.

CIA muddlehead: "Uh, OK, bye Mr. Novak. Be seeing you around, or maybe not, tee hee hee, we are the CIA you know, (giggle). Hello, Mr. Novak? Can I call you Bob? Hello?

Option 2 -- Novak is told by 2 admin sources that Plame works for the CIA. So Novak calls the CIA to confirm.

Novak: "Hello, my name is Bob Novak and I'm working on a story and my sources tell me a certain person, Valerie Wilson or Valerie Plame, works for the CIA. Can you confirm that?"

CIA flunky: "You mean the the nationally syndicated reporter Bob Novak? The one who regularly appears on TV?"

Novak: "Yes, are you able to confirm that Valerie Plame or Valerie Wilson works for the CIA."

CIA buggleswarm: "Hold on let me check."

[Slight delay]

CIA snoozecatcher: "Uhm, Mr. Novak, we can not confirm that and we would caution you that information on CIA personnel is considered highly classified. That information might endanger CIA lives. The CIA would be strongly, at the highest level, opposed to any such disclosure. I can not express to you how strongly the CIA would be opposed to having any such information published on this topic."

Novak: "OK, can I talk to your boss?"

CIA buttermunch: "Yes, sir, please hold."

CIA official #2: "Hello, Mr. Novak? I've been told you have a question regarding the identification of a person in relation to the CIA. As you know, the CIA does not confirm nor deny whether any person works for the CIA.

"As you know, this information is kept secret for very good reasons as CIA empoloyees lives may be put in danger. Without saying that this is such a case, I must inform you that the CIA would be strongly opposed, and perhaps take legal action, if any person the CIA might consider to be a valued assett was identified in the press.

Novak: "OK, I know the rules, it's nothing to jeopardize my career over. Thanks for your time, bye."

The short version. Novak found out that Plame worked for the CIA from sources other than the WH. It's worth noting that Novak is not under any legal obligation not to reveal she is a CIA agent unless she is a 'NOC' class agent.

So, he checked with the CIA to make sure she was not covered. The CIA 'didn't bark,' so he proceeded.

The rest is just Wilson lieing his butt off and CIA bureaucrats covering theirs.

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