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!
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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?
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.
Mebbe it was Mr. Deep Throat himself (Felt).
My money has always been on Joe Wilson.
I say Joe Wilson......but who knows?
Friday ping.
This story is a landmark in at least one way: The MSM are condemning a whistleblower. Funny how they only do that when the whistle is being blown on someone in cahoots with a Clintonista.
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.
IIRC, she was already known as a CIA employee. I don't think she was ever an under cover operative (spy) though.
Once a leak....always a leak.....
Joseph Wilson was the source.
It was Joe Wilson.
The whole investigation started because the left thought that they could get the Bush Administration!
Now it looks as though they have caught there own, AGAIN!
"What goes around, comes around," "you reap what you sow!"
Mine too! But I don't rule out there being more than just one leaker. Both/all of them, in my opinion, are Clinton holdovers working for the administration. Otherwise, the reporters would have quickly either reported, or leaked, who it was.
BTW, has it ever been confirmed that Plame was indeed a classified officer of the CIA, and not simply some analyst? The "All Stars" on with Brit Hume last night were saying that there was no crime committed in the "leak."
Here's my latest guesses:
“Leak” no. 1 to Novak (assuming his "not a partisan gunslinger" description isn't deceptive):
Win: Lawrence Wilkinson (Colin Powell aide)
Place: Richard Clarke
Show: George Tenet
Longshots: Alan Foley, Greg Thielmann, Powell
“Leak” no. 2 to Novak:
Win: Richard Clarke
Place: Scooter Libby
Show: Colin Powell
Longshot: Ari Fleischer
B: Cooper’s “Some government officials”
Pick ‘em: Thielmann, Foley, Clarke, Wilson, Plame, Libby
C: State Department Memo Leak to Wall Street Journal
Pick 'em: Some no-name apparatchiks, Ari Fleischman, George Tenet
Who would know that Wilson's wife reccomended him for the job. To whom did the wife reccomend him? It had to be a CIA job. She had to reccomend her husband to someone who knew her and knew her husband. That means someone in the CIA.
Would the man in charge of picking the person to make the trip tell the presidents staff... I picked Wilson for this job becuase his wife told me to pick him?
At least one of the presidents staffers no doubt asked the person in charge of this at the CIA about who was piked to do the job. That person likely replied ,"Joe Wilson" Do you thihk that if the staffer asked why Wilson was picked the person who hired him would say... "His wife told me to hire him"
The leaker in my view is someone in the FBI that did not like Plume using her position to get choice jobs for her husband.
You can bet that if knowing who the leaker is could hurt George W. Bush.. the Times would have released that person's name before the judge finished asking.
MD4BUSH?
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