I've never found a reason to care about this story. I keep looking, and I keep not caring.
I'm sorry, but when did discrediting Joe Wilson become a crime against the state.
"Rove told grand jurors it was possible he first heard in the White House that Valerie Plame, wife of Bush administration Joseph Wilson, worked for the CIA from Libby's recounting of a conversation with a journalist, according to people familiar with his testimony."
So grand jury testimony is leaking now?
Isn't that a crime in itself?
I believe laws were broken when rogue segments of the CIA conduct activities with the intent of embarrassing the President of the United States and his administration.
It would not surprise me if Valerie Plame and her Husband are not the focus of this investigation. Was Joe Wilson's phone records subpoenaed?
NO HE MUST NOT, SINCE THAT'S NOT A CRIME.
"first heard in the White House that Valerie Plame, wife of Bush administration Joseph Wilson, worked for the CIA from "
Matt Cooper testified that he spoke to both Libby and Rove. Cooper testified that Rove said, "Oh, you heard that too?" Cooper took that as a second source corroborating his lead. However, it appears that perhaps Cooper mentioned it to Libby, Libby mentioned it to Rove, and Rove confirmed that he heard about it to Cooper. Cooper never had a second source if Rove was only repeating Cooper's original words to Libby back to him.
Cooper would have needed an independent source, and Rove/Libby are hardly independent of each other.
-PJ
Pretty soon they'll be reporting rumors of Condi becoming VP when Cheney resigns. Hey, wait a minute... ;)
"In testimony shown to Rove, Libby stated that numerous journalists appeared to have learned about Plame's identity in the period before her name was published and that he and Rove talked to each other about their contacts with reporters.
Libby's testimony stated that Rove had told him about his contact with Novak and that Libby had told Rove about information he had gotten about Wilson's wife from NBC's Tim Russert, according to a person familiar with the information shown to Rove.
Prosecutors, however, have a different account from Russert. The network has said Russert told authorities did not know about Wilson's wife's identity until it was published and therefore could not have told Libby about it.
Prosecutors also have evidence that Libby initiated the call with Russert and had initiated similar contact with another reporter, Judith Miller of The New York Times, several weeks earlier. Miller was jailed for 85 days before agreeing to testify before the grand jury."
Hmmm...Russert.
Here's NBC's spin:
"During the interview, Mr. Russert was asked limited questions by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald about a telephone conversation initiated by Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff, in early July of last year. Mr. Russert told the Special Prosecutor that, at the time of that conversation, he did not know Ms. Plame's name or that she was a CIA operative and that he did not provide that information to Mr. Libby. Mr. Russert said that he first learned Ms. Plame's name and her role at the CIA when he read a column written by Robert Novak later that month."
"operative" "role" so Russert did talk to Libby about Plame. Just not by name.
" Rove told grand jurors .....according to people familiar with his testimony. "
Unless " people " is a euphemism for Karl Rove or his attorney- this is a federal crime .
Criminal contempt or obstruction of justice.
Maybe Fitzgerald should clean up his own house before going after the White House.
She was not undercover. Whatever she might have been classified, one thing it was not was "undercover".
American society, or a large part of it, is afflicted with a case of the stupids, and the media seems to have caught a big case of it.
I think this was a decent article. Several leaks with minimal speculation (well minimal compared to the 'Cheney is resigning' crap).
This article seems consistent with what we have been hearing. It was leaked before that Rove said he had either heard directly or indirectly from journalists about Plame (Libby could be the indirectly). The fact that Rove and Libby talked about it a few days before the Novak article (7/14/03) is not surprising since Wilson had his article published in the NYT about a week earlier (7/6/03). I hope people in the WH were talking about it! Since Joe was claiming the Bush Admin manipulated intelligence. Joe provided no evidence except the story about his trip which the Senate Select committee ripped him apart on later. I would be surprised (and upset) if the WH didn't talk about it. Discussing with reporters the bogus claims of a critic is not illegal...I think it is called free speech. Now if someone can prove that the WH had classified info and leaked it to the press, then charge them, but nothing has come out so far to even indicate anything close to that.
Libby says he heard things from Russert. Russert says he never mentioned Plame or any covert status (but Russert does not say he did not say 'Wilson's wife works at the CIA').
Two staff talking in the hall about reporters questions is not a conspiracy.
The only thing this article does not go into further is this line: "Some evidence prosecutors have gathered conflicts with Libby's account." We have no idea what that refers to. It could be Russert or Miller. I am hoping it refers to Libby's first meeting with Miller on June 23rd. Mainly becuase Miller has said she does not think she heard "Flame" from Libby nor anything about covert status. And the second meeting contains "WINPAC" which as it turns out may be incorrect info. And Miller admits she did speak to others about Plame but she can't remember her sources. Wilson is going to rely on her at trial? Doubtful.
It looks like Rove is in the clear and Libby is still questionable (since I can't tell what conflict's the Prosecutor has with Libby). But even with Libby there does not appear to be a leak of classified info charge, it is more of a perjury or obstruction charge. But I would say that goes both ways. It could just as easily be one of the reporters who are charged with that (he said, she said).
Wilson's lies and CIA ties are another story for another Grand Jury.
After reading this story, about the nicest thing I can say is Solomon is an idiot. What "cover" was "blown" Johnny Boy? What "cover?" Right now, Libbies in the "media," the DemocRATS and this prosecutor are looking for something to indict somebody for. You can't "blow" the "cover" of a CIA desk jockey. Especially when everybody in the Liberal, elitist, social crowd knew Plame was employed by the CIA. This isn't working out for the Commie DemocRATS. All they can hope for is that somebody "lied" to the prosecutor or grand jury. It's the best they are going to get.
If any of this really is from the Grand Jury someone should be in jail.
If there is an indictment, maybe the defense lawyers will be able to start a discovery process. There are some aspects of Wilson's background which are odd.
For example, Ambassador Wilson is listed as an Adjunct Scholar with the Middle East Institute - which advocates for Saudi interests. The March 2002 issue of the Saudi-government weekly Ain al Yaqeen lists the Middle East Institute as an Islamic research institute supported by the Kingdom.
Wilson is listed as Strategic Advisor for Rock Creek Corporation. Rock Creek Corporation is listed on the Saudi webpage www.the-saudi.net/business-center/links-usa.htm as a firm doing business with Saudi Arabia. It would be interesting to find out what exactly Rock Creek Corporation does with respect to Saudi Arabia.
Wilson has spoken at press conferences given by anti-war organizations, such as Win Without War; and has given a keynote address to The Education for Peace in Iraq Center, a far-left group that opposed not only the U.S. military intervention in Iraq but also the sanctions and even the no-fly zones that protected hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Kurds and Shias from being slaughtered by Saddam.
The $64,000 question - Why would the CIA, in the middle of one shooting war (Afghanistan) and the run-up to what looked like and turned out to be another, deal with an inquiry from the White House on a sensitive national security matter by sending a retired, Bush-bashing diplomat with no investigative experience? Why did an Ambassador get this job? I don't think it's enough to say he got it only on the recommendation of his wife.
Rove and Libby both work in the White house. What right does that give them to talk to one another? (/sarcasm)
"The Rove-Libby contacts were confirmed to The Associated Press by people directly familiar with testimony the two witnesses gave before the grand jury. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the proceedings.
Libby's lawyer, Joseph Tate, did not return repeated phone calls this week seeking comment"
So we know, Solomon had more than one source for this article, and those sources weren't from the Libby camp.