As if there is any comparison between Fitzgerald's quest and the fate of Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings. Sheesh. What a stretch.
Posted on 10/27/2005 4:52:55 AM PDT by Seaside
Visiting Seattle on the eve of possible grand jury indictments against top White House advisers over the leak of his wife's identity as an undercover CIA officer, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson said it was "a sad day for our country."
Wilson said Wednesday he took little comfort that the men he believes have engaged in a campaign of character assassination against him for the past two years -- Karl Rove, President Bush's deputy chief of staff, and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice president's chief of staff -- may soon be facing charges and possible jail time.
"The fact that this may become a crisis of governance should please no one," Wilson said at a private hotel reception before speaking in downtown Seattle Wednesday evening.
Wilson, 55, was here to present information from his book, "The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir." His speech was part of Foolproof's American Voices series.
Greeted by a boisterous, packed house of about 900 people at Seattle's Town Hall, Wilson said that by publicly questioning the president's reasoning for the war in Iraq, he was simply acting in the country's best traditions.
"It is called holding your government to account for what it says and does in the name of the American people. We need to put this government on notice that it truly is a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
"When a government takes the country to war on lies and misinformation," he said to rousing applause, "that government ceases to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
"And that government becomes a government that preys on the people."
Though Rove and Libby appear to be at the heart of the grand jury investigation, The New York Times reported this week that, according to lawyers involved in the case, Vice President Dick Cheney first disclosed the name of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, to Libby in June 2003.
But Libby testified to the grand jury, according to lawyers close to the case, that he first heard the name of Wilson's wife from journalists.
Wilson said he was withholding judgment regarding the claims about Cheney. "I don't know what to think of that, except to say it saddens me deeply. I get no satisfaction from that."
The two-year grand jury investigation is now coming to a head. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald met for several hours Wednesday with the grand jury in Washington, D.C., and his announcement regarding possible indictments could come as soon as today.
Knowingly disclosing the identity of covert federal agents is a crime. Fitzgerald is also investigating other possible crimes, including obstruction of justice, making false statements to a grand jury and mishandling classified information.
Wilson served as a career diplomat from 1976 to 1998. In 2002, he was asked to investigate claims that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was seeking uranium from Niger for a nuclear weapons program.
When his inquiry turned up nothing, Wilson said he reported to officials in Washington that the claims were unfounded.
Wilson publicized his beliefs in a July 2003 Op-Ed column for The New York Times, arguing that the Bush White House had distorted intelligence about Saddam's attempts to acquire nuclear materials in order to justify the invasion of Iraq.
The article angered the administration, which denied the accusation.
Eight days later, in what Wilson and his supporters saw as raw personal payback, syndicated newspaper columnist Robert Novak published a column noting that he had been told by top administration officials that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, a CIA officer, may have played a major role in having Wilson sent to Niger.
"What I did was write 1,500 words in The New York Times," he said during the speech. "This was not an act of civil disobedience. This was an act of civil responsibility."
Wilson said he doesn't regret telling a Shoreline audience in August 2003 that Rove ought to be "frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs" -- though, he said in his interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "I didn't realize it would be picked up by every right-wing blog."
He said the more important thing is that Rove leave the White House, whether or not he's wearing handcuffs.
Wilson declined to say whether it's important, ultimately, that high officials serve prison time if indicted and found guilty.
What is key, he said, is that the legal system functions properly and justice is served.
"I believe in the institutions that have made our country great for 229 years," he said. "I continue to believe that the system, rooted to the rule of law, will be up to the task."
P-I reporter Paul Shukovsky contributed to this report. P-I reporter Sam Skolnik can be reached at 206-448-8334 or samskolnik@seattlepi.com.
Joe Wilson complaining about "character assassination" is like a 2-bit hooker complaining about low morals....
He engaged is a sleazy dishonest campaign of "character assassination" against Pres. Bush and VP Cheney from the start, then complains when the WH made a tiny half-hearted (and not very competent, alas) effort to answer his dishonest onslaught. When will the MSM bother to investigate and report on the the REAL story here?
You have got to be kidding me...
We have little reason to respect the legal justice system in this country. Not after 8 years with Janet Reno as the willing dupe for Clinton cronies who actually ran the DOJ. Webster Hubbell and Eric Holder just two.
Eric Holder. Remember him? He popped up again in the 2004 presidential election. "Eric Holder, formerly of the Clinton Justice Department, now a member of the Democratic Party's “Election Task Force,” made a chilling, outrageous remark on Fox News Sunday. Holder said, "If every vote is allowed to be cast, and if every vote is counted, John Kerry will be President within a day of that election."
Respect the legal justice system in America? Not after President Bush left many of Clinton clones in place within the DOJ and the FBI. (the CIA too!)
And not after the beleagered tenure of John Ashcroft, a honorable, qualified and worthy man maligned almost as badly as Ken Starr.
And let's not forget the affirmative action lawyers who still inhabit the halls of justice all across the country.
Why should we respect American justice?
As if there is any comparison between Fitzgerald's quest and the fate of Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings. Sheesh. What a stretch.
"Why should we respect American justice?"
You raise some interesting questions about the American justice system. Wish I had some good answers.
His and Valerie's morals leave a lot to be desired. He was a married man on the 3rd or 4th date with a woman not his wife Jaqueline, but Valerie Plame, and in a "heavy make-out" session, she 'outed' herself to a blowhard of monumental proportions! They lived together at the Watergate in DC until he was divorced from his wife in 1998, when they married and later moved to their present home. They expect people to believe she was a covert agent at this time?!! The CIA should have 'canned' her for her irresponsible and immoral behavior. A foreign agent could have had a field day with the behavior of the Wilson's. I think both Wilson's think more highly of themselves than they deserve.
I used to be a happy-go-lucky kind of non-political conservative gal who had a lot of friends....mostly non political libs, who thought that the American people were smart and fair-minded!....and the Clintons came along and changed all of that. That's why I detest them.
Wilson was MARRIED when he had his make-out tell-all session with Valerie? Are you sure?
"Plame also told Wilson that she'd be moving with him into the new house only as his wife. Records show that Wilson and his second wife, Jacqueline, to whom he was married for 12 years, were divorced in 1998. By the mid-90s, Wilson says, that relationship had pretty much disintegrated. "Separate bedrooms-and I was playing a lot of golf," he says. He had met Plame in February 1997 at a reception at the Washington home of the Turkish ambassador. He says that when his eyes fell on her from across the room he thought he knew her. He realized as he drew near that he did not-and that it was love at first sight. From that moment on, he says, "she did not let anyone into the conversation, and I did not let anyone into the conversation." At the time, Wilson was based in Stuttgart, serving as the political adviser to George Joulwan, the U.S. general in charge of the European command; Plame was based in Brussels. Meeting in Paris, London, and Brussels, they got very serious very quickly. On the third or fourth date, he says, they were in the middle of a "heavy make-out" session when she said she had something to tell him. She was very conflicted and very nervous, thinking of everything that had gone into getting her to that point, such as money and training. She was, she explained, undercover in the C.I.A. "It did nothing to dampen my ardor," he says. "My only question was: Is your name really Valerie?""
OMG! Thank you! Valerie is quite the tart!
Nothing happened to this guy either. "FBI General Counsel Howard Shapiro provided confidential FBI law enforcement information about Mrs. Clinton's role in bringing (Craig) Livingstone to the White House. When Shapiro realized that the information contained in Livingstone's FBI background file could damage Nussbaum and Mrs. Clinton, he immediately contacted the Office of White House Counsel and read verbatim the incriminating contents of Livingstone's file...
What he is really saying, "Please don't indict because Valerie, me and the scum in the CIA that tried to bring down a President will have to answer questions and furnish evidence."
BTW, I'm not so sure that Wilson won't be indicted...
Instead, it's a sad day for Joseph Wilson. I hope and believe that tomorrow will be worse for him.
From what I've seen this week I'm guessing Fitz thought Miller's testimony would sew up something. When she didn't break, his case was fatally hosed.
This is why the NY Times is so pissed at her.
Worst case scenerio, the GJ is extended.
Valerie's status was kept up as 'undercover' to enable her 'pay' to be kept UP. (haz duty pay).
This was one of the Clinton's methods of 'buying' government officials, with a "you owe me" clause.
When needed, she was called upon. Valerie was told to promote her hubby to her bosses for the role of INSPECTOR.
The Clintons knew what kind of 'inspections' he would perform.
Here is hoping this all backfires on them.
"The politics of LYING: Inside the Lies I have told while performing as a fake diplomat, and how they betrayed my wife's role as a clerk at the CIA while still receiving hazardous duty pay."
Joe and Valerie. TWO FAKES funded by your taxes courtesy of the Clintons.
So. Even at the time, she was just a clerk, but to 'set the hook' in Joe's mouth, she claimed to be MATA HARI.
Nothing like claiming to be a SPY to get a possible sexual partner HOT.
I have a top secret clearance with NSA, does that make me a spy?
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