Was the Joe Wilson Valerie Plame Affair a CIA Plot?

The National Ledger ^ | oct. 21, 2005 | Cliff Kincaid

[SF Republican]

the real story is that the CIA “launched a covert operation” against the President - little baby legs, grow baby grow.

[GOPJ]

...the real story is that the CIA “launched a covert operation” against the President when it sent Wilson on the mission to Africa to investigate the Iraq-uranium link.

Hmmmm

[massgopguy]

So she blows her cover to Wilson on their third date during a make-out session. What if he was, say, A RUSSIAN? Didn't she violate the law?

[princess leah]

It's way past time the President just shut down the CIA and fired everyone there...start over and vet every person who wants to be an undercover agent.

[Juan Medén]

Maybe we should be asking the CIA where the WMD's are. It sounds like this little cabal is capable of tipping Sadam off and even assisting in the hiding or disposal of the weapons. Maybe its time to start looking for double agents.

[Sacajaweau]

Excellent!! Thanks!! Just another Rathergate but much more serious because it suggests "Dem Operatives, including Valerie, in the CIA".

[txhurl]

Yes.

[bmwcyle]

Who did the TWA-800 video to cover Bill Clinton?

[kabar]

The money quote of the article:

DiGenova tells this columnist, “It seems to me somewhat strange, in terms of CIA tradecraft, that if you were really attempting to protect the identity of a covert officer, why would you send her husband overseas on a mission, without a confidentiality agreement, and then allow him when he came back to the United States to write an op-ed piece in the New York Times about it.”

[Enchante]

"DiGenova told me he believes there has been a “war between the White House and the CIA over intelligence” and that the agency, in the Wilson affair, “was using the sort of tactics it uses in covert actions overseas.” One has to consider the implications of this statement. It means that the CIA was using Wilson for the purpose of undermining the Bush Administration’s Iraq policy."

Yes, this is the theme that is so crucial to understanding this whole mess and the theme that a number of us have been sounding since fraud artist Joe Wilson first emerged on the national scene. Has Fitzgerald been onto this, or not?? I would hope/expect that there should have been all sorts of confidential grilling of current and former CIA and State people going on, especially the VIPS pigs, but who knows?? It does worry me that so little of the 'real' story ever seems to get into the MSM. I know that's not surprising given their biases, but it's still worrying that Goss and the WH so far have been totally unable to educate the media and the public about the real problems......

[Bob]

At this point in the media feeding frenzy over the story, the issue of how the investigation started has almost been completely lost. The answer is that it came from the CIA. Acting independently and with great secrecy, the CIA contacted the Justice Department with “concern” about articles in the press that included the “disclosure” of “the identity of an employee operating under cover.” The CIA informed the Justice Department that the disclosure was “a possible violation of criminal law.”

Nobody seems to want to talk about how this whole thing got started. The CIA certainly seems to have done exactly what it needed to do to hamstring the White House.

[Sacajaweau]

I believe she would have been allowed to tell her "Husband" but no one else. Joe should have never written that little gem. According to Joe, Valerie didn't approve of his book and yet she was engaged and was paid for a Cover Story with her charming snake. Secret Agent?? Me thinks not. Novak got it right. CIA Operative....Dem Operative!!

[TiaS]

Ever question why Porter Goss, another Florida Republican and former member of the Congressional Committee to oversee intelligence operations, was selected to head one of the already failed agencies he was being paid to oversee?

[UglyinLA]

When Valerie told Joe that she was NOC, they were only dating. On April 3, 1998, Plame became the third wife of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. Plame met Wilson, her second husband, at a Washington D.C party in early 1997. She was able to reveal her CIA role to him while they were dating because he held a high-level security clearance. At the time, Wilson was separated from his second wife Jacqueline, a former French diplomat. Wilson and Plame are the parents of five-year-old twins.

[advance_copy]

Was the Joe Wilson Valerie Plame Affair a CIA Plot?

George Tenet (Clinton holdover) requested this investigation in 2003. As Director of Central Intelligence, Tenet must have known that Plame was not a covert agent and no crime was committed in revealing her identity to reporters. The only motive that Tenet could have in requesting action by DoJ was a political hit on the White House, with the likely prime target being Vice President Cheney. Every American should be very concerned about the CIA meddling in electoral politics.

[tkathy]

Seems to me everything connected with the Niger thing should be declassified and hearings held and anyone who lied should be held accountable.

[Sacajaweau]

Joe started working for the Kerry campaign just before he went off to the Tea Party. Of course, there is no mention that Joe has business interests in Africa and he likely got a freebe trip on USA monies to take care of business, too.

[doesnt suffer fools gladly]

Off topic but I'm curious. Do Plame and Wilson have children from prior marriages/relationships?

[advance_copy]

It's not illegal for a covert op to blow their own cover -- usually stupid, but not illegal.