Posted on 09/07/2006 4:10:25 PM PDT by Laverne
(CBS) In an exclusive interview with CBS News national security correspondent David Martin, Richard Armitage, once the No. 2 diplomat at the State Department, couldn't be any blunter.
"Oh I feel terrible. Every day, I think I let down the president. I let down the Secretary of State. I let down my department, my family and I also let down Mr. and Mrs. Wilson," he says.
When asked if he feels he owes the Wilsons an apology, he says, "I think I've just done it."
In July 2003, Armitage told columnist Robert Novak that Ambassador Wilson's wife worked for the CIA, and Novak mentioned it in a column. It's a crime to knowingly reveal the identity of an undercover CIA officer. But Armitage didn't yet realize what he had done.
So, what exactly did he tell Novak?
"At the end of a wide-ranging interview he asked me, 'Why did the CIA send Ambassador (Wilson) to Africa?' I said I didn't know, but that she worked out at the agency," Armitage says.
Armitage says he told Novak because it was "just an offhand question." "I didn't put any big import on it and I just answered and it was the last question we had," he says.
Armitage adds that while the document was classified, "it doesn't mean that every sentence in the document is classified.
"I had never seen a covered agent's name in any memo in I think 28 years of government," he says.
He adds that he thinks he referred to Wilson's wife as such, or possibly as "Mrs. Wilson." He never referred to her as Valerie Plame, he adds.
"I didn't know the woman's name was Plame. I didn't know she was an operative," he says.
He says he was reading Novak's newspaper column again, on Oct. 1, 2003, and "he said he was told by a non-partisan gun slinger."
"I almost immediately called Secretary Powell and said, 'I'm sure that was me,'" Armitage says.
Armitage immediately met with FBI agents investigating the leak.
"I told them that I was the inadvertent leak," Armitage says. He didn't get a lawyer, however.
"First of all, I felt so terrible about what I'd done that I felt I deserved whatever was coming to me. And secondarily, I didn't need an attorney to tell me to tell the truth. I as already doing that," Armitage explains. "I was not intentionally outing anybody. As I say, I have tremendous respect for Ambassador. Wilson's African credentials. I didn't know anything about his wife and made an offhand comment. I didn't try to out anybody."
That was nearly three years ago, but the political firestorm over who leaked Valerie Plame's identity continued to burn as Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald began hauling White House officials and journalists before a grand jury.
Armitage says he didn't come forward because "the special counsel, once he was appointed, asked me not to discuss this and I honored his request."
"I thought every day about how I'd screwed up," he adds.
Armitage never did tell the president, but he's talking now because Fitzgerald told him he could.
He says he was reading Novak's newspaper column again, on Oct. 1, 2003, and "he said he was told by a non-partisan gun slinger."
"I almost immediately called Secretary Powell and said, 'I'm sure that was me,'" Armitage says.
Armitage immediately met with FBI agents investigating the leak.
Armitage "let down Mr. and Mrs. Wilson", my behind.
Nobody ever heard of those two scumbags before this fiasco. Now they're selling books and getting invited to hedonistic "beautiful people" parties with other plastic mice.
What about George Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and especially Scooter Libby?
Armitage is a coward and a weasel.
What an idiot. He stands by and watches Libby skewered, accused by forced to resign, while HE covers up for the Lefty Dems. Whoever else Richard Armitage may be he is neither honest nor decent.
DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE ARMITAGE:
OUT OF THE COUNTRY
(South and Central Asia)
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/appt/2003/24797.htm
(And yes, I'm going to save that page immediately.)
You're not missing anything. I can't understand the freaking thing either. Piss poor writing. What memo is he talking about?
He says he was reading Novak's newspaper column again, on Oct. 1, 2003
How is that questionable? One can read newspapers and other written communications from all over the world, these days.
if information is gathered about people and they're not charged with a crime, we don't hold up that information for the public to look at.
He had the bases covered. Wonder why Fitz gave the okay to talk?
Straight out of bubba's playbook.
Sure is a sorry state of affairs, he told the FBI before Armitage was even brought in, but he didn't tell the President he was the leaker. Didn't the President order everyone in his administration to let him know if they were involved, or is my memory incorrect on that. It is no wonder that Powell and Armitage were invited to leave at the end of the first term. Shameful behavior. To allow millions of tax dollars to be spent, to allow Rove, Libby, Cheney and President Bush to be slandered in the media. Only one question remains: How many in the media KNEW Armitage was the leaker, but kept the story going on and on and on and on. They should all be charged; fired, and shunned from here to forward, and that includes Matthews, Olberidiot, Schuster, Russert, Pinch, Keller...and thelist could go on and on and on and on.
Is he just the fall guy? Since the Washington Post said he was at home and woke up and called Powell and it's clear THAT'S wrong, I'm wondering how much else of this is wrong.
Why the ef didn't he offer to resign?
So, why did the special counsel lie?
Notice how he did not apologize to Scooter Libby?
ping:)
Best question of the day. Why did Fitzy lie, and besides lieing to the public in his presser, how many judges did he lie to in order to continue his witch hunt. Fitzy needs to step aside, dismiss the charges, and hang his head in shame forever.
THought you might be interested in this....
Dick's entire story is a doughnut shy of a dozen. How could anyone who rises to such a powerful position in government be so stupid and mendacious....aah, "government, stupid, mendacious"...never mind.
Who owns Fitz? Guess who?
Hillary is behind this all. Matt Cooper is the tie.
Naw, they're all Dumbocraps (I presume) and Dumbs can't be malicious.
The only good thing about this is that the DUmmies at DUmmieland didn't get Fitzmas, and they didn't get to see Rove frog-marched out of the White House.
The bottom line is Fitz kicked sand in our eyes. Fitz should be hung!!
like Ft. Marcy Park ?
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