Posted on 11/15/2005 8:49:00 PM PST by atomicweeder
Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward testified under oath Monday in the CIA leak case that a senior administration official told him about CIA operative Valerie Plame and her position at the agency nearly a month before her identity was disclosed . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Jim Angle reporting on the story now. Nothing new (to us Freepers, that is). New to the world.
Angle did have to correct Shep, Administration Official does not mean White House Official. Shep said "Oh."
Is he that dumb or that biased?
>>Is he that dumb or that biased?<<
Yep-Both
" When does Fitzgerald interview General Vallely who has stated unequivocally that Joe Wilson told him his wife worked at CIA before any of this balogna hit the fan?"
" William Jeffress Jr., one of Libby's lawyers, said yesterday that Woodward's testimony
undermines Fitzgerald's public claims about his client and raises questions about what else the prosecutor may not know. "
From the long list of people never called before the Grand Jury- General Vallely, General McInerney, Victor David Hanson, Clifford May and Joe Wilson ( according to Joe Wilson on Keith Olbermann )
the last minute decision to interview Plame's neighbors and the post indictment interviews , makes it appear that Fitzgerald has yet to see the complete picture.
Bingo!
Corn cites Bush 41's commendation of Wilson for his leadership in Iraq using what appears to be language from an award. "Your courageous leadership during this period of great danger for American interests and American citizens has my admiration and respect. I salute, too, your skillful conduct of our tense dealings with the government of Iraq....The courage and tenacity you have exhibited throughout this ordeal prove that you are the right person for the job." I presume Wilson provided it to Corn.
Corn cites a June 12 WP article, "On June 12, The Washington Post revealed that an unnamed ambassador had traveled to Niger and had reported back that the Niger caper probably never happened. This article revved up the controversy over Bush's claim--which he made in the state of the union speech--that Iraq had attempted to buy uranium in Africa for a nuclear weapons program." I suspect that Corn had already spoken to Pincus and Kristof before the Wilson NYT article.
Corn writes, "Soon after Wilson disclosed his trip in the media and made the White House look bad. the payback came. Novak's July 14, 2003, column presented the back-story on Wilson's mission and contained the following sentences. This has been Wilson's mantra , i.e., payback.
Corn goes on to say, "So he will neither confirm nor deny that his wife--who is the mother of three-year-old twins--works for the CIA. But let's assume she does. That would seem to mean that the Bush administration has screwed one of its own top-secret operatives in order to punish Wilson or to send a message to others who might challenge it." It is amazing to realize that this language, which has come to dominate the attacks from the Left on Bush today, was written just two days after the Novak article.
"This is not only a possible breach of national security; it is a potential violation of law. Under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, it is a crime for anyone who has access to classified information to disclose intentionally information identifying a covert agent The punishment for such an offense is a fine of up to $50,000 and/or up to ten years in prison.. Journalists are protected from prosecution, unless they engage in a "pattern of activities" to name agents in order to impair US intelligence activities. So Novak need not worry." Two days latter, Corn is citing the law that Fitzgerald used to go after Libby and Rove. The CIA didn't send over the referral to the DOJ until much later.
"Is it relevant that Wilson's wife might have suggested him for the unpaid gig. Not really. And Wilson notes, with a laugh, that at that point their twins were two years old, and it would not have been much in his wife's interest to encourage him to head off to Africa. What matters is that Wilson returned with the right answer and dutifully reported his conclusions. (In March 2003, the International Atomic Energy Agency concluded that the documents upon which the Niger allegation was based were amateurish forgeries.) His wife's role--if she had one--has nothing but anecdotal value. And Novak's sources could have mentioned it without providing her name. Instead, they were quite generous."
"The Wilson smear was a thuggish act. Bush and his crew abused and misused intelligence to make their case for war. Now there is evidence Bushies used classified information and put the nation's counter-proliferation efforts at risk merely to settle a score. It is a sign that with this gang politics trumps national security."
It defies credibility to believe that Corn could have authored this article just two days after Novak divulged Plame's name without some close cooperation by Wilson, cooperation that predeated Novak's article. It is all too pat to be believed. It appears to me that Wilson knew his wife would be drawn into this once he published his July 6th article in the NYT. He was setting a trap for the WH. I would also note that Corn was physically present at Fitzgerald's press conference and even asked a question.
LOL! If he is, I guarantee they ain't listening!
Great analysis!
I don't find any of this boring. Oil for Food, Able Danger, Rockefeller, all these stories may be connected.
Good Lord willing,I'm in for the duration...;)))
Exactly. The Klintoon holdover, trying to damage the Administration first by sending a lying leftist Dimmycrap partisan to conduct the so-called "investigation" and lie in the New York Times
about hsi finding, then by revealing the lying leftist Democrat partisan's wife's ID, knowing that he would never be identified and the mainstream media would blame the White House. A coup d'etat wioth the connivance of the mainstream media.
If Fitzgerald doesn't call Vallely, if I was Libby's lawyer I would.
BTW, interesting articles on Drudge. I am going to defend Woodward on this one. He has been shooting up warning flares since this began. His colleagues chose to ignore it. He said a long tome ago "don't go down that road."
I also have to agree with Bradlee. "He doesn't have to tell every goddamn thing he knows."
I have eliminated Libby, Cheney and Rove in an ealier post. Now I have eliminated Card.
Tenet or Powell. That's where my money is. He said he pleaded with that 3rd source for a release, but the source refused. Who has the most to lose?
Tenet-it may open a big can of CIA worms
Powell-he values his reputation as a straight shooter
Either way, regardless of how we feel about Woodward, he holds the cards on this one and his colleagues know it. In a he said/he said pissing contest, who will be believed by the masses? The "Deep Throat" guy or some guy named Pincus most have never heard of?
This will get very interesting, to be sure.
Woodward all but threw a marker on the table when he flipped that book out of his pocket. He knows it and I am sure many, many in DC know it.
Someone said earlier Woodward is pretty much bipartisan, he is in it for Woodward. If he holds the cards, he has one damned big story. I bet alot of "journalists" are sweating bullets.
I'm right here with you. This will be interesting and (okay, I'll admit it) fun.
Administration official means someone other than WH official. They can keep dreaming but its a false hope.
Don't miss the obvious here. Whoever the "high Administration official" was, said official went to Fitzgerald and told him that he, "Administration official", had revealed Plame's identity to Woodward. Said official then gave Woodward a release to testify about the conversation. Woodward was stuck. He had to tell Fitzgerald what he knew. As they say in the Guinness ads, "Brilliant!"
Bravo Sierra. No one in the admin asked him..
The switch-off of terms (Administration official and White House official) is something the Rats/MSM use often. It muddies the water enough to throw people off. Most people really don't understand the distinction.
The switch-off of terms (Administration official and White House official) is something the Rats/MSM use often. It muddies the water enough to throw people off. Most people really don't understand the distinction.
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