Posted on 01/28/2007 2:28:47 PM PST by freespirited
President Bush's ex-spokesman invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked in front of a grand jury about the illegal outing of spy Valerie Plame, prosecutors revealed this week. Former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer sought and received immunity from prosecution for unmasking the secret agent.
Armed with this immunity, Fleischer is now expected to testify Monday in the perjury trial of Lewis (Scooter) Libby.
Fleischer is expected to tell the court that Libby, formerly Vice President Cheney's top adviser, told him on July 7, 2003, that "he had some information that was hush-hush," said special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald.
What was hush-hush was that Bush critic and former ambassador Joseph Wilson was married to Plame, a CIA operations officer. Wilson had infuriated Cheney by debunking the White House claim that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had tried to buy uranium in Niger for a nuclear bomb.
Fleischer cited his Fifth Amendment rights in 2004 before a federal grand jury and was "reluctantly" given immunity, Fitzgerald said in court Thursday.
"I didn't want to give him immunity," Fitzgerald said.
Libby is fighting perjury charges for telling a grand jury he first learned about Plame on July 10, 2003, from journalist Tim Russert. That is three days after Libby allegedly told Fleischer about Plame.
Fitzgerald told the jury in opening arguments that Fleischer also helped spread the news about the spy.
"Ari Fleischer had conversations with reporters about Wilson's wife that he should not have had," Fitzgerald said.
Libby's lawyer Ted Wells said Fleischer told NBC's David Gregory and others about Plame during a stroll while on a presidential trip to Africa.
Wells told jurors Thursday that "Fleischer may have issues of credibility because of a deal that was cut."
This is the "Seinfeld" of scandals, a scandal about nothing.
....when asked in front of a grand jury about the illegal outing of spy Valerie Plame
It wasn't illegal and even Fitz doesn't believe it was illegal, or he would have charged somebody. In fact, NOBODY with a clue has claimed there was anything illegal about revealing that Plame was an employee of the CIA.
Wilson had infuriated Cheney by debunking the White House claim that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had tried to buy uranium in Niger for a nuclear bomb.
Wilson "debunked" nothing. All he did was take a junket, shmooze a little bit with some old "diplomat" acquaintances, and then come back home to claim he "found no evidence" that British Intelligence was correct about Saddam seeking yellow cake from Niger.
Anyway, I know it's only the Daily News, but you would think they would want to set their sights a little higher if they want to catch up to the Post.
Great post!
" When the director of the National Archives found out that Berger was being investigated by the FBI for stealing classified documents, the director's first call went to.... Bruce Lindsey.
That National Archives director was subsequently fired, but many suspect that before he left he likely destroyed the originals at Lindsey's request."
To: Uncledave I remember her from the 9/11 Commission Report...Page 117
Mary McCarthy, the NSC senior director responsible for intelligence programs, initially cautioned Berger that the “bottom line” was that “we will need much better intelligence on this facility before we seriously consider any options.” She added that the link between Bin Ladin and al Shifa was “rather uncertain at this point.” Berger has told us that he thought about what might happen if the decision went against hitting al Shifa, and nerve gas was used in a New York subway two weeks later.44
Page 128
The original sealed indictment had added that al Qaeda had “reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq.”109 This passage led Clarke, who for years had read intelligence reports on Iraqi-Sudanese cooperation on chemical weapons, to speculate to Berger that a large Iraqi presence at chemical facilities in Khartoum was “probably a direct result of the Iraq–Al Qida agreement.” Clarke added that VX precursor traces found near al Shifa were the “exact formula used by Iraq.”110 This language about al Qaeda’s “understanding” with Iraq had been dropped, however, when a superseding indictment was filed in November 1998.111 28 posted on 04/22/2006 12:25:17 PM PDT by P-40 (http://www.590klbj.com/forum/index.php?referrerid=1854) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1
bttt
Holy cow!
How interesting, piasa.
As an aside, I sure wish we knew what documents Sandy Berger stuffed removed from the archives.
To: Matchett-PICan You Trust the Washington Post's Reporters?
Dana Priest has an article about possible CIA secret prisons today in the WaPo. Who is Dana Priest, and why should we believe her?
she is married to William Goodfellow, executive director of the "Center for International Policy" [CIP]. The Center's mission? It seems to be a very left-leaning organization founded by old peace activists.
From their website:So Priest today reports on the CIA, while her husband heads a left-wing organization that wants to "reform the CIA". Interesting. http://tinyurl.com/oj48b
Promoting a U.S. foreign policy based on international cooperation, demilitarization and respect for basic human rights The Center for International Policy was founded in 1975, in the wake of the Vietnam War, by former diplomats and peace activists....In the 1990s the Center attracted a number of senior diplomats to its staff and expanded its agenda to include reform of the nation's intelligence agencies.74 posted on 04/22/2006 1:37:22 PM PDT by kcvl Other characters associated with CIP:
* Oscar Letelier : Cofounder of CIP along with Lindsay Mattison , maybe Goodfellow; Letelier had contact with Chilean Salvador Allende's daughter, Beatriz Allende, who was in turn married to Cuba's DGI station chief Luis Fernandez Ona. Letelier also cofounded the Center for Development Policy with Lindsay Mattison.... CIP's director was a State Department friend of [Oscar] Letelier's named Donald Ranard.
* William Goodfellow : Deputy director of CIP - maybe also a Cofounder of CIP along with Oscar Letelier?
* Luis Fernandez Ona : Cuba's DGI station chief- is married to Chilean leader Salvador Allende's daughter Beatriz Allende
* Lindsay Mattison : Cofounder of CIP along with Oscar Letelier; the two also cofounded the Center for Development Policy (CDP) in 1977 (Source: S. Steven Powell, Covert Cadre: Inside the Institute for Policy Studies, 236-237.)-------- 8 posted on 04/30/2006 2:11:38 PM PDT by Fedora | To 1
* Susan Weber : CIP also had an early staffer named Susan Weber who had previously been registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an employee of the Soviet embassy, working as a copyeditor for Soviet Life. (Source: S. Steven Powell, Covert Cadre: Inside the Institute for Policy Studies, 236-237.)-------- 8 posted on 04/30/2006 2:11:38 PM PDT by Fedora | To 1
* Donald Ranard : CIP's director was a State Department friend of [Oscar] Letelier's named Donald Ranard.
I'm equally concerned about what he may have switched or planted.
That's a valid concern...you're a step ahead of me in thinking this out.
I don't doubt much of it has to do with Sudan.
OPINION: It may be even more than that as BJ Clinton is really heavy into legacy building.
Just look at MAry McCarthy's circle of friends. Look at Dana Priest's hub Mel Goodman and who he appears with here:
Clarice Feldman points us to a liberal propaganda movie showcased by Moveon.org in supporters homes in December 2003, with the following cast of characters: Featuring: David Albright, Robert Baer, Milt Bearden, Rand Beers, Bill Christison, Kathleen McGrath Christison, David Corn, Philip Coyle, John Dean, Patrick Eddington, Chas Freeman, Graham Fuller, Mel Goodman, John Brady Kiesling, Karen Kwiatkowski, Patrick Lang, Dr. David C. MacMichael, Ray McGovern [see VIPS], Scott Ritter [former UN inspector fuded by Shakir al Khafaji the oil voucher guy], The Rt Honorable Clare Short, Stansfield Turner [Carter's screwup], The Honorable Henry Waxman, Thomas E. White [think Sandinistas], Joe Wilson [hubby of Valerie Plame], Colonel Mary Ann Wright, Peter Zimmerman.----- Documyth "Uncovered," http://www.offoffoff.com/film/2003/uncovered.php
"...and everyone's so related it's hard to tell who is actually in on things and who just happens to be associated."
DITTO that.
Meanwhile it's Bush's job to save US intelligence capability while these weenies try to destroy it. It's no wonder they were peeved at Rumsfeld for creating the alternative group at the Pentagon- in essence they don't want the people we elect to receive the broadest array of intel and analysis and having multiple agencies through which intel can be acquired foils their ability to control the flow of info. They want to filter all intel through people with their own mindset so that elected policymakers don't have enough intel to make a good judgement and must rely solely on one group of unreliable and compromised analysts or even one unelected individual.
I think Clinton's desire for a legacy is overrated. People who want legacies don't set about weakening their own country. In my opinion this is about power- not national power with humble leadership but a powerful wannabe international elite.
Migh be about Carter's legacy given the connections. ;-)
Three From Clinton Administration Urge Disney to Cancel or Revise Sept. 11 Miniseries
By JESSE McKINLEY
Published: September 7, 2006
Three members of the Clinton administration have written the chairman of the Walt Disney Company, ABC’s parent, to complain that the network’s coming two-part miniseries “The Path to 9/11” is fraught with factual errors and fabrications.
The letters ask that the five-hour movie, scheduled for broadcast Sunday and Monday, be either edited for accuracy or canceled, and ABC gave a small indication yesterday that some changes might be made...
The concerns of Ms. Albright, as well as those in letters from Samuel R. Berger, former national security Adviser, and Bruce Lindsey, a Clinton White House aide who is now chief executive of the Clinton Foundation, were echoed yesterday by several Democratic members of Congress. ...
Many wonder what Sandy may have delivered to the archives.
Maybe some cover documents to make Bubba look better ?
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