Posted on 09/01/2006 8:50:56 PM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
What I care about is that he, and Colin Powell sat around for three years, and watched the administration get trashed, (and he let Judy Miller sit in jail, but the NY Times "forgot" that).
And now, instead of responding, Armitage phoned it in to the NY Times.
And, why would she tell him on their THIRD date that she was undercover CIA??
He should be fired and held up to ridicule.
Wilson must be feeling lonelier still. The Times isn't going to be able to muddy the waters forever and when they clear all of the lies are going to be undeniable. If the Times can't use him to bash Bush then he has no further use at all. Perhaps, as someone suggested last night, he can work this to a cozy tenured faculty position at an Ivy League diploma factory.
Also, remember how when Miller finally agreed to testify, she apparently negotiated an agreement with Fitzgerald that her testimony would be limited to her contacts with Libby only? So, at that time, Fitzgerald knew that Armitage was the leaker, but he agreed not to ask Miller any questions about her possible dealings with Armitage. Fitzgerald was amazingly uncurious about the original underlying basis for the inquiry, and was focused with tunnel vision on trying to screw Libby to the wall, even though he knew that Libby was not the originator of the leak. Again, the phrases 'overzealous prosecution' and 'prosecutorial misconduct' come to mind...
Prosecutorial abuse is a criminal offense and Fitzgerald must be prosecuted.
Then, put Nihong on notice and the rest of the abusers.
Because she's a Slut??
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
On a small local blog for a radio talk show here, a reply as to why there is so little coverage of this revelation elicited the reply of "no one really cares."
Isn't it odd how they cared so much about "frog marching" Rove, arresting Cheney and impeaching Bush, but now the truth is out, Wilson is a liar, Plame is a whatever (anything but not covert) and all of a sudden, no one cares!
How convenient when we have troops in harm's way being fed lies associated with this mess.
I just bought world series tickets for the Cubs for 07.
I think NY SLIMES and Wash Compost doing this is the 6th sign and the Cubs winning is the 7th.
Fitzgerald is ripping the guts out of the Daley Machine in Chicago so he will not be fired.
You've got to love this, though, just for the sheer comic relief of seeing the Left stab each other in the back.
The New York Times and the Washington Post only gave a sh*t about Joe and Val Wilson because they could use them as a conduit to "get" the Bush Administration. Hell, I bet that they knew the Wilsons were full of it from the get-go.
Now that the entire affair has been exposed to be a fraud and a sham, and *their* "reputations" are at stake, the WaPo and NYT are throwing Joe and Val over the side to save their hides.
And tonight, on OlberCreep's show, the Wilson's lawyer was ripping the WaPo for the "disconnect" between today's editorial and the coverage of the leak investigation on their news pages.
Of course, there's a disconnect *now*!! The WaPo and the NYT are trying to bury their complicity in the whole thing and are using these two editorials to wash their hands.
Hilarious.
Same here.
Imagine what Judith Miller must be thinking.
Thats why I can't hate him completely. He's blowing apart the state and countty democratic stranglehold.
Although getting rid of Daley would bring Jesse Jackson Jr to the mayors office.
Daley is a democrat I don't dislike. But I may have to recuse myself. His dad and my grandmother grew up together and he and my mother have been friends their whole lives and his wife is my Godmother.
Colin Powell lost the respect of some very good supporters over this.
The Honor he was taught as a Soldier on the US Army and as a General Officer has been betrayed by his silence.
Maybe the Democrats will embrace him now, he's fits in with them.
watch for the spin here folks. in a strange way, our side now wants the Libby trial to go forward. some interesting information might surface in testimony there, in light of these recent revelations.
if you see the left turning on Fitzgerald, its a signal that they want the Libby charges dropped - because they fear the trial. since the whole Fitz GJ was a setup and a perjury trap to begin with, he's not going to drop the charges out of some sense of moral or legal ethics - he didn't have any going into it. if he drops the charges now, its because the left fears revelations at the trial.
yes, and those "other journalists" knew who Wilson's wife was BEFORE talking with Rove and Libby - and likely lied about that during their GJ testimony. they were the bait for the perjury trap to come later.
Valerie Wilson's cover was blown in July 2003. The first sign of that cover being blown was when Mr. Novak published a column on July 14th, 2003.
But Mr. Novak was not the first reporter to be told that Wilson's wife, Valerie Wilson, Ambassador Wilson's wife, Valerie, worked at the CIA. Several other reporters were told.
In fact, Mr. Libby was the first official known to have told a reporter when he talked to Judith Miller in June of 2003 about Valerie Wilson
Fitzgerald knew this wasn't accurate. His comments about Libby's indictment were extremely misleading and very deliberate.
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