Novak: Wilson did not forcefully object to naming of CIA wife in column

The Hill ^ | October 06, 2007 | Mike Soraghan

[NonValueAdded]

NOW you speak, Novak, after letting the adminsitration swing in the breeze for all those months, watching all the lies go by from idiots like Wilson? Shame on you. Shame. Your hands will never be clean.

[bray]

Novak is the biggest slimeball in this entire fiasco. He lets Libby hang and now wants to wash his hands.

Pray for W and Our Troops

[Jacquerie]

US v. Libby was absolutely nothing more than a political show trial worthy of the old Soviet Union.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

If a shield law results - this will have been the perfect and complete disaster. If journalists get a federal shield there will be an incentive to leak information to DC journalists to damage opponents/opposing interests like we have never seen.

[Paladin2]

And here I had hoped that this was history.

[God luvs America]

I’m sure Meet the DePressed will talk about this tomorrow....

[hsalaw]

He and Armitage - two skunks who knew exactly what happened and let everyone else twist in the breeze. Disgusting.

[muawiyah]

The Armitage thing is minor compared to the fact that Novak was confirming what he'd found out with Joe Wilson and apparantly Wilson confirmed it for him.

So, it's not just Novak and Armitage letting Libby, et al, swing in the wind, it's the known traitor Joe Wilson doing as his masters in AlQaida directed him (or something to that effect).

This news is huge ~ and devastating to the lieing liars who pretend to be the Democratic party these days.

[RKV]

Don’t know about you folks, but I’ve just stopped reading this guy. He used to be right about half the time, but damn if I’m going to be set up again by this jerk.

[Dr. Frank fan]

This stupid “Plame affair” thing was the biggest deal made out of the smallest nothing in American history. Thankfully, I’ve already (mostly) forgotten entirely about it, as has everyone else. (Because it was so stupid.)

[A.A. Cunningham]

Novak said that Armitage was his source long before Libby's trial. Even Newsweak had it figured out in November of 2005.

Fitzgerald knew all of this and proceeded any way. He's the biggest slimeball.

[elpadre]

a little off topic

It seems to me that spouses of people working in State Dept. or any other who is involved in foreign affairs or required to travel overseas on government business, should NEVER be allowed to work at CIA in a covert capacity. It puts one or the other into a position where they could be easily blackmailed, pressured or endangered. The risks, I believe are significant.

If there is no law, there should be one - it is a matter of national security.

[Doctor Raoul]

Frequently the CIA people are overseas using a cover of being a State Dept employee.

[elpadre]

and if an actual spouse of the state employee is on site, my post applies. I suspect that two things are true:

1. the countries being targeted by CIA are fully aware of the “cover.”
2. The “enemy” has successfully used the “cover” or the agent through blackmail, bribery, etc. in many cases.

There is plenty of information out there suggesting CIA has been compromised many, many times. East Germany used to be masters of such activity, and, I suspect, China has picked up the baton.

[bboop]

Oh, snooooooooze. Joe Wilson, yaaaawwwwn.

[2nd Bn, 11th Mar]

Novak is jealous of Helen Thomas.

Semper Fi,

[pepperdog]

It is a policy that people with certain kinds of clearance aren’t allowed to travel, even to friendly countries without prior approval and that approval isn’t given lightly. I’m betting that after 911 it is much more stringent. I continue to be amazed that Wilson was allowed to go anywhere outside of the US since his wife supposedly had a very, very high degree of clearance. I feel sure that if the spouse is in a job that requires travel to foreign countries the person holding the critical clearance would be immediately reassigned to a job that didn’t require access to sensitive information. It has to be this way otherwise the investigative agencies would be overwhelmed with continual review requirements each time the spouse of a cleared person hit the road. I believe the basic premise of classified clearance was violated in the Plame case but since it was inside the beltway there will probably be nothing done. The rich and/or the politically well connected really are different aren't they?

[CutePuppy]

No law necessary.

Spouses of ambassadors and other people in prominent positions in State Department are automatically presumed to be working for CIA or at least regularly debriefed or reporting to other intelligence services - that's why even the idea of Valerie Plame's "undercover", "clandestine" or, as Fitzgerald tried to finesse, "classified" status (which in itself was meaningless and not even qualified for the statute he was "investigating") was so laughable - she would be automatically considered a spy by anyone she had a contact.

Yet this was the hook for this entire imbroglio and phony "investigation" which [almost] paralyzed White House and was, IMO, criminally and cynically used by Democrats and "progressive" media for political purposes, and almost succeeded in "Watergate II".

[elpadre]

we seem too anxious to provide opportunities to those who would do us harm.