Posted on 04/22/2006 1:50:41 PM PDT by Mr. Brightside
Schieffer Denounces “Dubious First” Firing of Leaker & Totenberg Praises Stories
Brent Baker
April 21, 2006 - 22:22.
At least one leading mainstream journalists isn't too happy about the revelation Friday that on Thursday the CIA fired an official who admitted being the leaker of top secret information about CIA prisons overseas used to hold al-Qaeda suspects. Bob Schieffer didn't withhold his personal opinion from his newscast as he introduced a CBS Evening News story by asserting that “it is no secret that the current administration does not like its people hanging out with news reporters without permission” and he described the firing as “a first -- a dubious first, to be sure.”
Citing the Washington Post story on the then-secret prisons and the New York Times article disclosing terrorist surveillance efforts, both of which won Pulitzer Prizes on Monday, NPR's Nina Totenberg declared on Inside Washington that nefarious Bush administration practices justified the decision to reward the two newspapers: "It's a good thing that they won for those intelligence stories because the Bush administration is investigating now and is threatening to subpoena and conceivably jail those reporters. So I think it's important that those stories be rewarded as something important to have done." (Transcripts follow.)
CBS's story didn't name the CIA staff member and neither did ABC's World News Tonight which held itself to a short item read by the anchor. Friday afternoon on MSNBC, and on the NBC Nightly News, Andrea Mitchell identified the fired CIA employee as Mary McCarthy of the CIA's Inspector General's office. MSNBC.com's story, by Robert Windrem and Mitchell, reported:
In a rare occurrence, the CIA fired an officer who acknowledged giving classified information to a reporter, NBC News learned Friday.
The officer flunked a polygraph exam before being fired on Thursday and is now under investigation by the Justice Department, NBC has learned.
Intelligence sources tell NBC News the accused officer, Mary McCarthy, worked in the CIA's inspector general's office and had worked for the National Security Council under the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.
The leak pertained to stories on the CIA’s rumored secret prisons in Eastern Europe, sources told NBC. The information was allegedly provided to Dana Priest of the Washington Post, who wrote about CIA prisons in November and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize on Monday for her reporting.
Sources said the CIA believes McCarthy had more than a dozen unauthorized contacts with Priest. Information about subjects other than the prisons may have been leaked as well....
[UPDATE: Saturday's New York Times reported: "Public records show that Ms. McCarthy contributed $2,000 in 2004 to the presidential campaign of John Kerry, the Democratic nominee."]
That Priest story was a November 2 front page article, “CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons: Debate Is Growing Within Agency About Legality and Morality of Overseas System Set Up After 9/11.” See this Post page for a collection of Priest's 2005 stories for which she won the Pultizer “for her persistent, painstaking reports on secret 'black site' prisons and other controversial features of the government’s counterterrorism campaign.” My April 18 NewsBusters item, “Pulitzer Prizes Award Journalists Who Undermined Anti-Terrorism Programs,” provided a rundown of the honoring of Priest and New York Times reporter James Risen, as well as of Washington Post fashion critic Robin Givhan for her shots at conservatives.
Schieffer introduced the April 21 CBS Evening News story:
“It is no secret that the current administration does not like its people hanging out with news reporters without permission. But the administration took that concern to a new level today and scored a first -- a dubious first, to be sure -- but a first. Jim Stewart has more on that.”
Later, on Inside Washington aired at 8:30pm EDT on Washington, DC's PBS affiliate, WETA-TV channel 26 (and which will re-air at 7pm Saturday on Washington's cable NewsChannel 8 and again at 10am Sunday on Washington's ABC affiliate, WJLA-TV channel 7 where it was taped Friday afternoon), NPR's Nina Totenberg argued:
“It's a lucky thing that the New York Times and the Washington Post -- not a lucky, it's a good thing that they won for those intelligence stories because the Bush administration is investigating now and is threatening to subpoena and conceivably jail those reporters. So I think it's important that those stories be rewarded as something important to have done....”
“One of the things that a civilized and democratic society is supposed to do is have a system of checks and balances. And this administration did not allow that system of checks and balances to exist. Congress didn't know about this stuff by in large, it didn't approve of this stuff by in large. And the administration has not tried to institute any sort of mechanisms, legal, any legal mechanisms to put, have anybody from outside check them.”
Fellow panelist Charles Krauthammer, a syndicated columnist, retorted: “In the NSA case, that's simply not so. There were eight top leaders in the Congress who knew about the program. To say that Congress was not informed is simply wrong.”
What's not to love?
"he described the firing as “a first -- a dubious first, to be sure.”
Bob, from what I know of history, you didn't get fired for revealing secret info. You got hung or shot.
First of many, Bob, first of many!
All these stinking Klintoon appointees should have been fired on day one!
And this administration did not allow that system of checks and balances to exist.
That's actually not correct. This administration does not allow it's policy to be undermined by a series of politically inspired leaks. The CIA is at war with this administration and the MSM is giving them cover for their attempt to dismantle the elected government.
In other words the CIA and MSM have declared war on We the People.
Will Mary McCarthy suffer the same fate as Jonathan Pollard?
Hey, Bob...I heard you were on the *list*.....
When you try to be Mr. Nice Guy it doesn't work.
I hope the lesson of Bush is learned by the next Republican president!!
Clinton even fired the travel office people.
Bush was more naive than Jimmy Carter.
I hope she gets put to death to serve as a nice, big example to all of the other national security fools and journalists who have a political ax to grind.
CBS, forged documents, zero credibility, yada, yada, yada..
What she did is violate the rules concerning discussing internal CIA matters with unauthorized persons. After all, there are NO SECRET UNDERGROUND CIA PRISONS ~ never were.
Tell Bob Schieffer he should start paying attention to FOX TV's "24". He'd known all about what was going on if he'd watched that show. They sell the first three seasons in DVD sets at the Wal-Mart in fact.
Fortunately, her picture shows she is white.
I figured that with our luck, she would be black... which would bring out Jesse Jackson, the NAACP, etc.
So does this mean that the MSM willactually have to go out and find the story themselves instead of sitting at their desks waiting for someone to call and give them one?
Schieffer is a long-time Dan Rather stooge, cut from the same cloth, just not quite as weird as Rather.
When will he be relieved of his duties?
Schieffer ought to know ... he's been covering the news since Benedict Arnold was made a Major General after Saratoga.
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