Novak: The abuse of my integrity provokes this response

Houston Chronicle ^ | July 31, 2005 | Robert Novak

[Cincinatus' Wife]

A statement attributed to the former CIA spokesman indicating that I deliberately disregarded what he told me in writing my 2003 column about Joseph Wilson's wife is just plain wrong.

Though frustrated, I have followed the advice of my attorneys and written almost nothing about the CIA leak over two years because of a criminal investigation by a federal special prosecutor. The lawyers also urged me not to write this. But the allegation against me is so patently incorrect and so abuses my integrity as a journalist that I feel constrained to reply.

In the course of a front-page story in last Wednesday's Washington Post, Walter Pincus and Jim VandeHei quoted ex-CIA spokesman Bill Harlow describing his testimony to the grand jury. In response to my question about Valerie Plame Wilson's role in former Ambassador Wilson's trip to Niger, Harlow told me she "had not authorized the mission." Harlow was quoted as later saying to me "the story Novak had related to him was wrong."

This gave the impression I ignored an official's statement that I had the facts wrong but wrote it anyway for the sake of publishing the story. That would be inexcusable for any journalist and particularly a veteran of 48 years in Washington. The truth is otherwise, and that is why I feel compelled to write this column.

My column of July 14, 2003, asked why the CIA in 2002 sent Wilson, a critic of President Bush, to Niger to investigate an Italian intelligence report of attempted Iraqi uranium purchases. All the subsequent furor was caused by three sentences in the sixth paragraph:

"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 that Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the Italian report. The CIA (Harlow) says its counter-proliferation officials selected Wilson and asked his wife to contact him."

There never was any question of me talking about Mrs. Wilson "authorizing." I was told she "suggested" the mission, and that is what I asked Harlow. His denial was contradicted in July 2004 by a unanimous Senate Intelligence Committee report. The report said Wilson's wife "suggested his name for the trip." It cited an internal CIA memo from her saying "my husband has good relations" with officials in Niger and "lots of French contacts," adding they "could possibly shed light on this sort of activity." A State Department analyst told the committee that Mrs. Wilson "had the idea" of sending Wilson to Africa.

So, what was "wrong" with my column as Harlow claimed? There was nothing incorrect. He told the Post reporters he had "warned" me that if I "did write about it, her name should not be revealed." That is meaningless. Once it was determined that Wilson's wife suggested the mission, she could be identified as "Valerie Plame" by reading her husband's entry in "Who's Who in America."

Harlow said to the Post that he did not tell me Mrs. Wilson "was undercover because that was classified." What he did say was, as I reported in a previous column, "she probably never again would be given a foreign assignment but that exposure of her name might cause 'difficulties.' " According to CIA sources, she was brought home from foreign assignments in 1997, when Agency officials feared she had been "outed" by the traitor Aldrich Ames.

I have previously said that I never would have written those sentences if Harlow, then-CIA Director George Tenet or anybody else from the Agency had told me that Valerie Plame Wilson's disclosure would endanger herself or anybody.

The recent first disclosure of secret grand jury testimony set off a news media feeding frenzy centered on this obscure case. Joseph Wilson was discarded a year ago by the Kerry presidential campaign after the Senate committee reported much of what he said "had no basis in fact."

The re-emerged Wilson is now accusing the senators of "smearing" him. I eagerly await the end of this investigation when I may be able to correct other misinformation about me and the case.

Novak is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington.

[BamaAndy]

Beautiful... Wilson will get his.

[Just mythoughts]

"The best theory I have heard here is he went to Niger to help them cover up the connection. That assumes that enough decision makers in the CIA wanted to bury the yellowcake connections as much as possible. Seems reasonable to me."

Thus far this is what appears to be what was taking place, the CIA appears to have been the tool used by others higher than their paygrade.

The liberals who went out on a limb with their votes and speech to stop this war have done absolutely nothing to find out the whole picture. They have seemed quite content to place the responsibility upon old Joe Wilson's woman, and tarnish his supposed good name from a presidential campaign and yet old Joe hasn't seemed to notice who used him and threw him and his woman from the train.

The timely demand for this investigation over a supposed outing served another purpose, prevent President Bush from asking the necessary questions to find out what the .ell was going on. I have no doubt that had anybody from the White House made inquiry we would have heard it leaked by now, with a full transcript made available as was previously done to the Speaker of the House.

"An alternative theory is that the CIA set up the yellowcake deals in the 80's to empower Saddam and set up more yellowcake deals recently to help provide evidence against Saddam. In that case Wilson is alone in defending Saddam against the charges. Maybe he feels bad about the way Saddam was stung with a nod and wink to go into Kuwait which he was part of (although which side is he was on is in question)."


Oh history does seem to have a way of being repeated. If my memory serves me correctly Britain was a protectorate of Kuwait, and while there were bold claims that Saddam was given the "nod and wink" to take Kuwait, seems to me it was more specific to a limited area where supposed slant drilling was taking place.

Old Saddam thinking he was the modern day King of Babylon took what he deceived himself to believe as a green light to capture Kuwait misread the tea leaves.

Another reason why I think Blair was readily willing to join US now, because we took the "heat" in the first trimming of old Saddam's wings by helping Britain fulfill its obligations.

[Just mythoughts]

".... The very first time that the program known as "Oil for Food" crossed my research vector? ....."


The Clintons had a plan for a global village, and its title was the stated foreign policy "equalize all nations".

[Just mythoughts]

WOW, some grand retirement plan. Obviously not surviving on a union pension.

[Alia]

Was it actually called (named) "Equalize all Nations"? Or is this the common "term" for it?

[Matchett-PI]

Cincinatus' Wife: "I hope Rush talks about it today."

pageonetoo: "...If you want to support a lying druggie, that's fine! I'll get my news from FR, and the net!.."

He makes people laugh at vacuous mentalities and refuses to carry the water for religious kooks and other negative, paranoid goof-balls that bombard him with emails trying to get him to talk about their pet agendas instead of only talking about what he is interested in. Isn't that the REAL reason you have a problem with him?

I thought so.

[Mo1]

Novak Speaks Out on Plame Case, Hits CIA Spokesman
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1454651/posts

[Just mythoughts]

I read this as well, interesting that "if" this is accurate maybe Mooolah Durbin's recent call to arms was his way of fighting back.

The other two have been very very quiet.

[Just mythoughts]

"Was it actually called (named) "Equalize all Nations"? Or is this the common "term" for it?"

I will have to look for specific time and place but they are the words of Maddie Albright! "EQUALIZE ALL NATIONS", I think it was in regards to the adoption of N.Korea and their desire for nuclear time frame.

[linkinpunk]

she could be identified as "Valerie Plame" by reading her husband's entry in "Who's Who in America."

Real "deep cover." Sheesh. Why are we wasting taxpayer funds on this?

[Alia]

That's fine -- thank you -- I'll do the work myself and look for it. Glad you brought it up! :)

[Matchett-PI]

Limbaugh's show is basically a 3-hour advertisement for his "Rush 24/7" service, t-shirts, PodCast, blah blah blah.

Question and answer.

[RAY]

No mention on MSM, that I have seen this morning. Went to news site and sent to everyone on my political list!

[Lazamataz]

Maybe you should get a radio program.

I'm sure I'd succeed. I can succeed at anything I put my mind to.

My style? Think Dennis Miller.

[FreeAtlanta]

UN - Oil for Fraud, Oil for Blood, etc. - yeap.

I watched the old Wesley Snipes movie, "The Art of War" (rel. 2000) and surprising was surprised at all the pro-UN and anti-Right winger propaganda in it.

The left truly is stupid. Unfortuanatley, they still have power and hold persuasion over a lot of mindless sheep.

[LucyJo]

I realize that is a big "if" considering the source, and that the track record for Republicans actually doing anything, even if it were to be accurate, is poor. May be just a warning shot across the bow of the Dem/MSM Rove Scanal Ship.

[nuffsenuff]

Novak is pissed.

Of course, the libs are going to turn this into "He's part of the 'conspiracy' so he's lying." but we all know the deal.

Fitzgerald has some surprises in store for them.

I can't wait.

[razorback-bert]

I make the low nut on that "Lifestyle" to be $15,000 a month, they must a gotten a Clinton bookdeal, which are the cattle futures market of DC.

[jammer]

Pretty good thoughts, Justmythoughts.

But a couple of quibbles. First, Kuwait would have been a protectorate of Britain, not the other way around. Second, Kuwait was a province of Iraq (the whole mess is a geographic construct, anyway), and April Glasby DID give Saddam the okay to invade with the nod and the smile. We jerked the rug out from under him.

[FreeAtlanta]

Excellent!! Worthy of repeating!

Well, I would like to know how (before he wrote his book) he got the money to have:

a $765,000 house in DC
a Jaguar convertible
a Mercedes sedan
a $14,000 Rollex watch
a kitchen remodel with granite countertops
Oriental rugs in every public room of his home
maxed out donations to Gore, Kerry, and assorted Rat politicians
attendance in expensive clothes at many DC cocktail parties, including White House dinners
support for two children from a previous marriage
nanny or pricey day care for the twins born in his current marriage
start-up money for his "consulting" company

All of this on the retirement pay of a mid-level bureaucrat with his wife's salary at the same level. Neither Plame nor Wilson comes from a moneyed background.

WHERE did the money come from?