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Freerepublic “Who leaked to Novak” Discussion Thread

Posted on 07/01/2005 1:09:11 PM PDT by Shermy

The investigation into leaks beginning with Robert Novak’s “Mission to Niger” appear to be coming to a close. The investigation is larger than merely who spoke to Novak. Here is a discussion thread for guesses who the guilty parties are in four of the investigation’s subjects: A. Robert Novak, B. Matthew Cooper/Time Magazine, C. Wall Street Journal, D. Judith Miller.

Feel free to add more subjects or comment on the whole matter as you please. And Happy Fourth of July!

____________________________________________________________________________

A. Novak: On July 14, 2003 Robert Novak published Mission to Niger. These are his famous 38 words:

“Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the Italian report.”

On October 1, 2003 Novak published The CIA Leak. which contains some hints - or deceptions. Here is Novak’s hint for “leak” no. 1:

During a long conversation with a senior administration official, I asked why Wilson was assigned the mission to Niger. He said Wilson had been sent by the CIA's counterproliferation section at the suggestion of one of its employees, his wife. It was an offhand revelation from this official, who is no partisan gunslinger.

Here is Novak’s hint “leak” no. 2:

”When I called another official for confirmation, he said: "Oh, you know about it."

Who are the officials behind “leaks” nos. 1 and 2?

B. Matthew Cooper/Time Magazine: on July 17, 2003 Time Magazine web-published A War on Wilson?, Cooper having the lead credit. The article says:

And some government officials have noted to TIME in interviews, (as well as to syndicated columnist Robert Novak) that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, is a CIA official who monitors the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Who are “some government officials?"

C. Wall Street Journal: On October 17, 2003 the article Memo May Aid Leak Probe appeared in the Wall Street Journal. The description of one of the two memos documenting how Plame recommended her husband for the Niger trip fits, IMO, the definition of “leak.”

An internal government memo addresses some of the mysteries at the center of the White House leak investigation and could help investigators in the search for who disclosed the identity of a Central Intelligence Agency operative, according to two people familiar with the memo.

Who are the “two people?” Side note: the information in this article Jeff Gannon/Guckert used for his interview of Wilson, though some speculated he had independent access to the memo.

D. Judith Miller: Unknown what she is wanted for by investigators. Some un-attributed articles say she was collecting information for a story on Valerie Plame or Wilson’s involvement in the WMD investigations.

Why do investigators want Judith Miller to testify?


TOPICS: Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: cialeak; josephwilson; novak; plame; plamegate; valerieplame
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To: Shermy

Was Clarke still in office at that time?


41 posted on 07/01/2005 2:38:07 PM PDT by Patriot from Philly
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To: rollo tomasi
IF everybody in the Federal Government was like this guy...: ...9-11 would be a daily occurrance.
42 posted on 07/01/2005 2:40:37 PM PDT by Checkers (Gitmo has killed fewer people than Michael Schiavo.)
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To: deCooper
Good afternoon.

I could believe that the whole dust up was the work of Joe and Val from start to finish.

Michael Frazier
43 posted on 07/01/2005 2:59:44 PM PDT by brazzaville (No surrender,no retreat. Well, maybe retreat's ok)
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To: Common Tator
Who would know that Wilson's wife reccomended him for the job.

Additional questions are WHY did Plame "recommend" her husband for the job and WHO did she make the recommendation to? SOMEBODY approved Plame's recommendation.

I think that Plame and the people she worked directly with sought to undermine the Bush Administration and they concocted a plan to use Wilson as their dupe. So they sent him on a mission to Niger. Wilson has been so righteously indignant about his wife's outing that I wonder if maybe the guy truly is as clueless as he comes off. It's possible that Plame left Wilson completely out of the loop, letting him just stumble along looking like a complete fool.

44 posted on 07/01/2005 3:03:58 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Patriot from Philly

"Was Clarke still in office at that time?"

No. That was a concern for me, but I found that ex-officials will not be noted as "former" if they served under the present administration.


45 posted on 07/01/2005 3:16:03 PM PDT by Shermy
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To: brazzaville; Fedora
I could believe that the whole dust up was the work of Joe and Val from start to finish.

Wilson was engineering a "scandal," no doubt about that. He believed there were WMDs in Iraq, he thought the nuclear case was weak. To the purpose of making Bush look like a liar they hit the weakest link, the nuclear. He was managing leaks in Brit and US papers before his article. I think Novak threw off his schedule to campaign for the position of Kerry Secretary of State.

46 posted on 07/01/2005 3:19:48 PM PDT by Shermy
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To: brazzaville; Fedora
I could believe that the whole dust up was the work of Joe and Val from start to finish.

Wilson was engineering a "scandal," no doubt about that. He believed there were WMDs in Iraq, he thought the nuclear case was weak. To the purpose of making Bush look like a liar they hit the weakest link, the nuclear. He was managing leaks in Brit and US papers before his article. I think Novak threw off his schedule to campaign for the position of Kerry Secretary of State.

47 posted on 07/01/2005 3:19:48 PM PDT by Shermy
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To: Moral Hazard
"I did, and I'm sorry for all the trouble it has caused. At least a New York Times reporter gets to go to jail over it though."

Damn, and I was just getting ready to confess.
48 posted on 07/01/2005 3:38:45 PM PDT by Americanexpat (A strong democracy through citizen oversight.)
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To: Shermy

Thanks.


49 posted on 07/01/2005 3:43:43 PM PDT by Fedora
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To: Shermy

Thanks for the clarification. It would be interesting if it's Clarke, he's quite a media hero.


50 posted on 07/01/2005 3:43:52 PM PDT by Patriot from Philly
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To: Shermy
WHO CARES?!? I could not care less about this non-story. Valerie Plame was so clumsy with her covert status that half of D.C.'s social set knew exactly what she did. She should have had her clearance stripped long ago. Her political motives and that of her husband should have vetoed a special prosecutor. Bush should never have appointed one. Why did this warrant one and Sandy Berger did not? Trivial nonsense.
51 posted on 07/01/2005 3:46:57 PM PDT by montag813
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To: Patriot from Philly

Sinc Novak said it was a "long discussion" I thought of Richard "Boogie to Baghdad" Clarke. He had a lot of time on his hands.


52 posted on 07/01/2005 3:48:41 PM PDT by Shermy
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To: Shermy
Valerie Plame, is a CIA official who monitors the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

And a fine job she did.

/sarcasm

53 posted on 07/01/2005 5:27:40 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: OldFriend
IMHO, Novak lied thru his teeth as to who his source was. He hates this President and everyone in it and laid this at the administration's feet.

No, he did a service in his revelation and will reveal more when the grand jury investigation is over.

His columns on this were in no way anti-Bush administration.

54 posted on 07/01/2005 5:29:30 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: Sacajaweau
Wilson leaked his job to his wife on their third date. Good thing she wasn't a double agent.

She leaked her job to him. Whether she was even under-cover then has not been established, but loose lips certainly seems to apply to our gal Val.

55 posted on 07/01/2005 5:31:29 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: MamaLucci
Oh my, thank you very much. The New York Sun editorial hits the nail on the head:

A public interest also obtains in disclosing the connection between Mr. Wilson and the CIA, because the CIA - one could almost say a renegade CIA - had opposed all along President Bush's policy of a democratic liberation of Iraq. It preferred a Baathist coup. So a CIA role in attacking the president publicly about the justification for the Iraq war takes on a sinister aspect all its own, and one could argue that the real whistle-blower in this case is the still-unnamed source or sources trying to warn Americans of what was going on.

~snip~

It's a point to remember as this case - which, again, involves a rogue CIA effort to undermine America's commander in chief during wartime - works its way through the courts. The real whistle-blowers and heroes here are those who understood this point and got word via the press to the American public.

Exactly.

56 posted on 07/01/2005 5:51:42 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: My2Cents

There was no "WH source" at all. It was an "administration source".

I've never bought the Joe Wilson is the source theory. I've always said it was offered by way of explanation, not retaliation. It most likely was the CIA and possibly someone at State. (There are two officials)


57 posted on 07/01/2005 5:53:47 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: Useless_eater_on_steroids
Was it old "Bulldog" Jeff Gannon?

Try to follow along. Your inane slam is stupid in the extreme.

58 posted on 07/01/2005 5:58:33 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: Shermy
Who leaked to Novak

There has to be a Kinko's somewhere in all this.
59 posted on 07/01/2005 6:02:11 PM PDT by TheForceOfOne (My tagline snapped the last time the MSM blew smoke up my ass. Now its gone forever.)
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To: cyncooper

You're very welcome, cyn. I thought this editorial sounded as though you could have written it yourself............you don't work for the NY Sun, do ya?? ;)


60 posted on 07/01/2005 6:12:49 PM PDT by MamaLucci (Mutually assured destruction STILL keeps the Clinton administration criminals out of jail.)
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