WASH POST's Ben Bradlee Claims Plame Leaker Was Richard Armitage

The Drudge Report ^ | march 13, 2006 | Drudge

[blogblogginaway]

WASH POST's Ben Bradlee Claims Plame Leaker Was Richard Armitage Mon Mar 13 2006 10:48:34 ET

THE WASHINGTON POST's famous Watergate editor Ben Bradlee claims that it was former State Department Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage who was the individual who leaked the identity of CIA official Valerie Plame.

In the latest issue of VANITY FAIR: "Woodward was in a tricky position. People close to him believe that he had learned about Plame from his friend Richard Armitage, Colin Powell's former deputy, who has been known to be critical of the administration and who has a blunt way of speaking. 'That Armitage is the likely source is a fair assumption,' former WASHINGTON POST editor Ben Bradlee said."

'I had heard about an e-mail that was sent that had a lot of unprintable language in it.'"

Developing...

[dinoparty]

V-e-e-e-e-ry Interesting!!!!!

[digger48]

Yeah...but..but...Cheney TOLD him to...

[SoFloFreeper]

ooooooooooooooh..the MODERATE Armitage????????????????? ooooooooooooooooooooooh.................what did Colin Powell know and when did he know it??? LOL.

[SierraWasp]

I heard a report on KSFO radio in San Franpsycho this morning that Valerie was listed on THE INTERNET as a CIA employee during that time!!!

[Darkwolf377]

I may be in a minority here but I simply don't care about this story. Is it me or is the MSM replaying more stories in the Bush Administration that, under Clinton, they'd have said were "old news" and moved on? Particularly katrina, which the MSM should be ashamed for distorting so blatantly this last go-round.

[Tallguy]

Ben Bradlee can sit on the identity of Deep Throat for how many years??? But in this case he hangs a source out to dry? What do these decisions have in common: they both disadvantage Republican administrations.

[dinoparty]

If true, one of the following will happen:
1) The MSM will fail to mention that Armitage was a CRITIC and saboteur of the Administration for which he worked; OR
2) The leak story will silently go away without explanation.

[Howlin]

Scotter ping

[Howlin]

SCOOTER

I knew I was gonna do that sooner or later! :-)

[gondramB]

Well, that would certainly be good for the administration....

but what would be Armitage's motive?

[dinoparty]

Good question. To make the admin look bad? Or maybe he simply let it slip without any significant reason?

[putupjob]

For those following this story at all, this is very old news.

[blogblogginaway]

Who knows what Armitage's motive would have been. I don't believe Plame was 'undercover' in the first place therefore no 'outing' occurred.

The question is, if true, why hasn't Armitage come forward? Why didn't he come forward in the beginning?

[dinoparty]

I'm not doubting you, but do you have a link to an old story about this?

[shield]

Yep....either him or Powell...it's been said for a while now....with quite a bit of material to back this up. It convinced me...

[gondramB]

"Good question. To make the admin look bad? Or maybe he simply let it slip without any significant reason?"

To make the admin look bad he would have had to also blame it on Libby or Rove. Slipping without reason seems more likely - and damn wouldn't that be ironic. Armitage has failed to damage the administration any other way and to accidentally cause this much harm would be amazing.

BTW, given Woodward's social circle and the way Plame socialized they could have just been at the same party...

[shhrubbery!]

an e-mail that was sent that had a lot of unprintable language in it..

Oooooh. Now would that be Armitage allegedly calling...

...never-a-NOC Valerie Plame a b_ _ _ _ and a w_ _ _ _?
...or Plame's hubbie, Joe Wilson, a lying b_ _ _ _ and a w_ _ _ _ ?

Or, more likely (given his 'moderate' track record), Armitage calling our president and vice president some, shall we say, unkind names?

[maggief]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10117465/site/newsweek/

Nov. 28, 2005 issue ...


So who is Novak's source—and Woodward's source—and why will his identity take the wind out of the brewing storm? One by one last week, a parade of current and former senior officials, including the CIA's George Tenet and national-security adviser Stephen Hadley, denied being the source. A conspicuous exception was former deputy secretary of State Richard Armitage, whose office would only say, "We're not commenting." He was one of a handful of top officials who had access to the information. He is an old source and friend of Woodward's, and he fits Novak's description of his source as "not a partisan gunslinger." Woodward has indicated that he knows the identity of Novak's source, which further suggests his source and Novak's were one and the same.

[gondramB]

{"Who knows what Armitage's motive would have been. I don't believe Plame was 'undercover' in the first place therefore no 'outing' occurred.

The question is, if true, why hasn't Armitage come forward? Why didn't he come forward in the beginning?"

Well you can out something that is classified even if it's already known. If you and i invent something and it gets classified it can be illegal even for the two of us to talk about it.

Do we know if Armitage was even questioned by the FBI? Maybe he lied about disclosing Plame.. wouldn't that be a twist.