New Questions About Inquiry in C.I.A. Leak

The New York Times ^ | September 2, 2006 | By DAVID JOHNSTON

[rightgrafix]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 — An enduring mystery of the C.I.A. leak case has been solved in recent days, but with a new twist: Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, knew the identity of the leaker from his very first day in the special counsel’s chair, but kept the inquiry open for nearly two more years before indicting I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, on obstruction charges.

Now, the question of whether Mr. Fitzgerald properly exercised his prosecutorial discretion in continuing to pursue possible wrongdoing in the case has become the subject of rich debate on editorial pages and in legal and political circles.

Richard L. Armitage, the former deputy secretary of state, first told the authorities in October 2003 that he had been the primary source for the July 14, 2003, column by Robert D. Novak that identified Valerie Wilson as a C.I.A. operative and set off the leak investigation.

[Freedom is eternally right]

According to the Newsweek story:

In the early morning of Oct. 1, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell received an urgent phone call from his No. 2 at the State Department. Richard Armitage was clearly agitated. As recounted in a new book, "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War," Armitage had been at home reading the newspaper and had come across a column by journalist Robert Novak.

According to the State Department, Armitage wasn't even in the country on October 1, 2003. Newsweek might try want to hire a fact checker. Daily Appointments

[Howlin]

"Later, Mr. Taft spoke with the White House counsel, Alberto R. Gonzales, now the attorney general, and advised him that Mr. Armitage was going to speak with lawyers at the Justice Department about the matter, the people familiar with Mr. Armitage’s actions said. Mr. Taft asked Mr. Gonzales whether he wanted to be told the details and was told that he did not want to know. "

[EQAndyBuzz]

The RATS kept the story alive for two years and now that they are once again proven wrong they are throwing Fitzgerald and Wilson under the bus.

Nice when RATS eat their own.

[bcsco]

I have a question, did Artimage write this up himself, and phone it in to the NY Times? It sure sounds like it.

Or Joe Wilson?

[Miss Marple]

Late to the thread, but isn't the case against the NYT about the leak of the Holy Land Foundation raid still open? And isn't Fitzgerald in charge of that, too? -That may explain their sudden disenchantment with him.

Someone down thread has probably pointed this out.

[patj]

I'm still wondering about the motivation of Korn and Isikoff for writing this book and outing Armitage. They are both partisan gunslingers so what do they have to gain for the democrats?

[Miss Marple]

I don't know. One thing I DO know, is that while we enjoy this Labor Day weekend, there are several people in New York and DC who will be spending their holiday sweating and strategizing with lawyers and assorted advisors. Sort of a heart-warming thought, in my opinion.

[NonZeroSum]

Charles Krauthammer said today that Bush should pardon Libby...but he can't do that unless Libby is convicted of something.

Sure he can. Richard Nixon was never convicted of anything.

[Pharmboy]

WAPO and the Times are mad at Wilson and Fitzgerald, all right. However, it's not for deception, lying, wasting our time, etc. It is for not delivering the goods and teasing them with hopes of victory over Bush. They ALL were played...

[Sacajaweau]

If Fitzgerald knew about Armitage and I believe he did, it was the extension of the scope of the case to include: "What if I can find a statement by Libby and/or Rove that I PERCEIVE as a lie", can I nail them??

Hillary is the one behind the whole thing. Joe was USED......like bigtime!! So was Matt Cooper. Cooper is indebted. Joe's just too stupid and arrogant to know it.

[Freedom is eternally right]

The outing of Armitage is just the hook to get you to read the book. Armitage will probably be painted as a sympathetic, lovable old guy who made a little mistake and is not speaking up because he is so ashamed of what he did. After you read the description of the book on Amazon, you will see that it is just another "Bush Lied" book. Sounds like they are also going after Judith Miller.

[dirtboy]

Yesterday the Wash ComPost trashed Joe Wilson and Fitzgerald, and now the NYT's...

They don't have any choice. They tried their usual trick of simply ignoring the news but that wasn't cutting it. So now they report the news and pretend their earlier advocacy of an investigation doesn't exist.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

Mr. Armitage had prepared a resignation letter, his associates said. But he stayed on the job because State Department officials advised that his sudden departure could lead to the disclosure of his role in the leak, the people aware of his actions said.

BUMP

[mewzilla]

Fitz has become the Mike Nifong of federal prosecutors....

[stocksthatgoup]

The Post reports on Friday and The Times reports on Saturday. Both obitiuary days for news they have to report but hope nobody will see. "Now can't we just MoveOn.org?

[Huck]

and all of a sudden, no one cares

That makes sense to me. Normal Americans never cared. I daresay 3 out of 4 Americans have never heard of Valerie Plame and couldn't tell you who Joe Wilson or Scooter Libby are if you offered them $1000 for the correct answer. The only ones who ever cared were the lib kooks in the MSM trying to make a scandal, and their kook fringe followers who stupidly believed the lies. The most watched Cable News show--where political followers reside--gets about 2 million viewers a night, in a country of 300 million. Truly, no one cares.

Obviously, the MSM cared before and will be silent now, because this was their production. Well, it was a flop.

[Freedom is eternally right]

Novak has said that in the January 14, 2004 meeting he had with Fitzgerald, three waivers of confidentiality were brought to the meeting by Fitz. One from Rove, one from Harlow, and the last one was from his primary source. This was two weeks after Fitz was appointed. Fitz requested and received from Comey a letter dated February 6 stating that he could investigate crimes that occurred during the course of his investigation.

[norwaypinesavage]

"Was Armitage Judith Miller's source as well?"

Extremely relevant question. Was Judith Miller protecting Armitage all along, and only agreed to speak (and get out of jail) when Fitzgerald offered to avoid questions about Armitage? Libby had freed Miller of any restrictions long before Miller went to jail. Did Armitage???

[norwaypinesavage]

The real story here is the total incompetence of the MSM reporting.

[13Sisters76]

Well- ser-PRIZE, ser-PRIZE! It was all a lie???!!! Oh SAY it ain't so!

If this administration REALLY wants to do something, it should go after, prosecute and JAIL every agenda-driven leaker in the CIA, the State Dept., Homeland Security, Defense and anywhere ELSE they find them. Quite a few of those leaks are far more important than whether or not a paper-pusher was "outed" (laffin' as I type that...).

They used to hang traitors- it's time to bring that back.