Calendars show Armitage met reporter (Woodward)

HoustonChronicle/AP ^ | 8-21-06 | Matt Apuzzo & John Solomon

[STARWISE]

Then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage met with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in mid-June 2003, the same time the reporter has testified an administration official talked to him about CIA employee Valerie Plame.

Armitage's official State Department calendars, provided to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act, show a one-hour meeting marked "private appointment" with Woodward on June 13, 2003.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has investigated whether Bush administration officials intentionally revealed Plame's identity as a one-time CIA covert operative to punish her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, for criticizing the administration's march to war with Iraq.

When contacted at home Monday night, Woodward declined to discuss his meeting with Armitage or the identity of his source in the CIA leak case. Instead, he referred to his statement last year that he had a "casual and offhand" discussion about Plame with an unidentified administration official in mid-June 2003.

A person familiar with the information prosecutors have gathered, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the material remains sealed, said Woodward's meeting with the confidential source was June 13, 2003.

[STARWISE]

Fitzgerald's office declined comment Monday. Reached at his home in Virginia, Armitage said he could not discuss his cooperation with Fitzgerald's office, the meeting with Woodward or any details of the case.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, faces trial in January on charges he lied to authorities about conversations he had with reporters about Plame.

Libby's lawyer, William Jeffress, said Monday that Armitage's calendar only bolsters the defense's argument that information about the State Department official's role in the CIA leak affair should be released.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He's always ranked high on my list... we shall see.

[STARWISE]

Ping!

[STARWISE]

Ding.

[onyx]

Interesting....

[ncountylee]

Armitage always seemed to like to play Mr. Big Shot.

[rlmorel]

I can hear Rush already...PANT...PANT...PANT...

[The South Texan]

Armitage is one the people the Drive By Media likes to use as someone that had reservations about the Iraq War and now is critical of things going on over there. It will be interesting to see if the the Drive By Media throws Armitage under the bus.

[spyone]

What's the upshot? I have lost track of this whole issue.

[D Rider]

Then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage met with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in mid-June 2003M

Brings to mind a dark humor joke that was floating around defense contractor circles immediately after 911:

Q: Do you know what the real tragedy of 911 was?

A: They missed the State Department.

[RobbyS]

Armitage is a media pet. One can assume that much of the anti-Administration stuff that has ended up in the press originated with this malcontent.

[RobbyS]

You would have to drop a bomb to hit foggy bottom.

[STARWISE]

Hi O .... this is funny. Jason Leopold won't give up the ghost. He's gonna cry if he doesn't get his way:

"An indictment first reported by Truthout said to be connected to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's Plame investigation remains sealed, and Fitzgerald continues to work on the leak case.

The indictment, 06 cr 128, was returned by the grand jury hearing evidence in the CIA leak case between May 10 and May 17 - right around the time that Truthout reported, based on sources close to the investigation, that Karl Rove had been indicted on charges of perjury and lying to investigators.

However, that indictment remains under seal more than three months after it was filed - an unusually lengthy period of time, according to experts in the field of federal law. The indictment could be dismissed down the road, meaning the public may never get the opportunity to learn the identity of the defendant or the substance of the criminal case.

These experts said the length of time the indictment has been under seal suggests that the defendant named in the complaint is cooperating with an ongoing investigation and may have accepted a plea agreement."

[STARWISE]

Really?

[jrooney]

I used to like and admire Armitage but that was before I knew the man. Now I despise him. How Armitage could let Libby take the public beating he had as being the "first person to disclose" I SPY PLAME when he knew damn well he had, is an utter disgrace. He has no integrity and no character.

How Armitage could sleep at night when Libby was indicted and looking at over 20 years in prison is beyond my understanding.

[nopardons]

It IS Armitage and he told Woodward long before he told Novak and yes, he DID tell it to Novak too.

[nopardons]

And with his boss; Powell.

[onyx]

Ha ha ha! Poor Jason. I just looked for his pic --- here he is.....

[STARWISE]

I suspect you're right. Misguided loyalty to his boss, instead of his President and his country.

[Shortstop7]

You said it.

[jrooney]

And Jason likes to go around and threaten people he disagrees with. I would love for him to threaten my young son (5 years) because my son has been taught how to defend himself and one smack would knock that wussy Leopold on his wimpy liberal can. Yeah Jason, keep telling yourself you are a tough guy. At least the guy staring back at you in the mirror MIGHT agree.