Russert has previously downplayed or neglected to report on his involvement in the scandal.
the mystery behind Russert's silence and his connection with Libby
Russert's silence is strange because, after all, he is a "journalist." ... More below:
Tim Russert was the first journalist to "cave" and cooperate with Fitzgerald. Michael Isikoff reported on August 1 that "[t]he deal was not, as many assumed, for Russert's testimony about what Libby told him: it focused on what Russert told Libby."
An NBC statement last year said Russert did not know of Plame, wife of ex-ambassador Joseph Wilson, or that she worked at the CIA, and "he did not provide that information to Libby."
Andrea Mitchell, Time's Matt Cooper, and even Judith Miller and her attorneys, have been Chatty Cathies about the case. But not Russert. Why? And why did Russert and NBC cave so quickly following Judge Hogan's ruling, while Cooper and Miller fought the subpoenas?
My faith in the media aside -- read that as snark -- the wildest outcome might be if Fitzgerald determines that it was Russert who told Libby about Plame. After all, it might explain Russert's silence and avoidance.
But, really, I am skeptical of the lot of them. Here's hoping that Fitzgerald has documentation -- like the all-important Matt Cooper e-mail -- that'll put holes in their stories.
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Fallout from the Miller Affair
by Larry Johnson
Thu Oct 20th, 2005 at 07:41:29 PM EDT
by Larry C. Johnson
When Judith Miller went to jail in July I rejoiced because some justice, at least in my eyes, was being visited on a media whore who helped the Bush Administration mix the KoolAid that took us to war.
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Chickens Come Home to Roost on Cheney
by Larry Johnson
Thu Oct 20th, 2005 at 12:34:45 PM EDT
By Ray McGovern
(for my blog - Larry Johnson)
Indictments are expected to come down shortly as special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald completes the investigation originally precipitated by the outing of a C.I.A. officer under deep cover. In 21-plus months of digging and interviewing, Fitzpatrick and his able staff have been able to negotiate the intelligence/policy/politics labyrinth with considerable sophistication. In the process, they seem to have learned considerably more than they had bargained for. The investigation has long since morphed into size “extra-large,” which is the only size commensurate with the wrongdoing uncovered—not least, the fabrication and peddling of intelligence to “justify” a war of aggression.
Ray McGovern speaking as an analyst on the PBS Newshour after the appointment of Porter Goss as Director of the CIA.
Biography:
Ray McGovern works for Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. He was a C.I.A. analyst for 27 years, and is now on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.
The coming months are likely to see senior Bush administration officials frog marched out of the White House to be booked, unless the president moves swiftly to fire Fitzgerald—a distinct possibility. With so many forces at play, it is easy to lose perspective and context while plowing through the tons of information on this case. What follows is a retrospective and prospective, laced with some new facts and analysis aimed at helping us to focus on the forest once we have given due attention to the trees.
In late May 2003, the Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) informed me that a former U.S. ambassador named Joseph Wilson would be sharing keynote duties with me at a large EPIC conference on June 14.
I was delighted—for two reasons. This was a chance to meet the “American hero” (per George H. W. Bush) who faced down Saddam Hussein, freeing hundreds of American and other hostages taken when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. More important, since Wilson had served as an ambassador in Africa, I thought he might be able to throw light on a question bedeviling me since May 6, when New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote an intriguing story about a mission to Niger by “a former U.S. ambassador to Africa.”
There Once Was an Ambassador in Niger...
According to Kristof, that mission was undertaken at the behest of Vice President Dick Cheney’s office to investigate a report that Iraq was seeking uranium from Niger. The report was an entirely convenient “smoking gun.” Since Iraq lacked any nonmilitary use for such uranium, it had to be for a nuclear weapons program, if the report were true. Or so went the argument. The former ambassador sent to Niger had found no basis for the report, pulling the rug out from under the “intelligence” the administration had used during the previous fall to conjure up the “mushroom cloud” that intimidated Congress into authorizing war.
Kristof’s May 6 column had caused quite a stir in Washington. The only one to have totally missed the story was then-National Security Adviser and now Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (assuming she is to be taken at her word). Rice claimed that the information did not come to her attention until more than a month later. Right. (And the celebrated aluminum tubes were for nuclear enrichment—not artillery. Right.)
This ostensibly nuclear-related “evidence” was no mere sideshow; it went to the very core of the disingenuous justification for war. The Iraq-Niger report itself was particularly suspect. The uranium mined in Niger is very tightly controlled by a French-led international consortium, and the chances of circumventing or defeating the well established safeguards and procedures were seen as virtually nil. On March 7, Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, announced to the U.N. Security Council that the documents upon which the Iraq-Niger reporting was based were “not authentic.” Colin Powell swallowed hard but took it as well as could be expected under the circumstances. A few days later he conceded the point entirely—with neither apology nor embarrassment, as befits the world’s sole remaining superpower.
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Libby Fingers Tim Russert
Thu Oct 20th, 2005 at 09:01:33 AM EDT
MSNBC's Don Imus and CNN are buzzin' about the new story on Tim Russert's involvement in the CIA Leak case. Imus joked about Russert's possible indictment (then slipped in that his little boy Wyatt likes Tim who gives him lots of toys). Cozy.
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, (AP/CNN, Oct. 20, 2005; 6:32 a.m. EDT)
The sources are "people directly familiar with testimony the two witnesses gave" who also said that, during his grand jury testimony, "Rove was shown testimony from Libby suggesting the two had discussed with each other information they had gotten about Wilson's wife from reporters in early July 2003."
One problem is that, according to MSNBC TV today, Russert's testimony shows that he talked to Libby a week after Libby spoke with Rove.
And, unlike the Matt Cooper case, there may not be a "smoking gun" in the form of an e-mail from or to Russert. From the WSJ on July 11, 2005:
Newsweek magazine reported that among Mr. Cooper's notes was an email he sent to one of his editors describing a conversation with Mr. Rove a few days before columnist Robert Novak first identified Valerie Plame as a CIA agent in print [on July 13, 2003].
It's critical to keep in mind that if Matt Cooper hadn't sent that e-mail, he'd have been in a stronger position to resist Judge Hogan and Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald.
This story could be partially recycled news. From the July 23, 2005 WaPo story, "Testimony By Rove and Libby Examined" -- in which the sources were "lawyers in the case and witness statements":
"Libby has testified that he learned about Plame from NBC correspondent Tim Russert, according to a source who spoke with The Washington Post some months ago. Russert said in a statement last year that he told the prosecutor that "he did not know Ms. Plame's name or that she was a CIA operative" and that he did not provide such information to Libby in July 2003. [...]
The possible conflicts in the accounts given by Russert and Libby were first reported yesterday by Bloomberg News.
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Chris Matthews
"Wilson's wife was fair game?"
Was Matthews calling Wilson to warn him of this Rove statement, or to get some sort of confirmation from him on his wife's occupational choices?
So, Russert could have told Libby "Joe Wilson's wife works at the CIA", and his testimony would be technically truthful. Too cute by half, IMHO.
If LIbby said Russert told him about Plame...and Russert denies it, then will Fitz indict? It will be Russert's word against Libby's. But note that he is NOT trying to say Libby told Russert, but the opposite.
The reason Fitz wanted Miller's testimony was to back up Russerts' testimony....to imply that Libby had lied about where he heard it and had told Miller. But Miller says that Libby did NOT tell her about Plame...She can't recall who gave her the name, but it was not Libby.
What's so wacky is that all of this is irrelevant since (1) Plame was not covered by the law. The whole BASIS of this investigation is false and as such should have been concluded when that was determined. It is NOT illegal for the WH to try to discredit Wilson's LIES which is what they apparently did. HE said Cheney sent him (LIE) and they said, NO, his wife proposed it because she works at the CIA...AND that is in fact what happened.