Posted on 10/06/2007 4:16:17 PM PDT by james500
Columnist Robert Novak said Saturday Ambassador Joe Wilson did not forcefully object to the naming of his CIA operative wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, when Novak spoke to him prior to the publication of a column that sparked a federal investigation and sent White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby to jail.
“He was not terribly exercised about it,” Novak said.
Instead, Wilson focused on not being portrayed as simply an opponent of the Iraq war. Wilson also stressed that his wife went by his last name, Wilson, rather than Plame, Novak said.
Novak forcefully defended his handling of the column and the legal wrangling that surrounded the special counsel investigation in a seminar on the CIA leak case at the 2007 Society of Professional Journalists Convention.
“It was an off-hand remark to a question I asked in an interview I requested,” Novak said. “This was not a conspiracy in the federal government to go after Valerie Plame Wilson.”
Novak said he complied with prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s subpoena to testify because his lawyer told him he had no legal grounds to resist, and losing a court fight could erode the legal protections of the press. He noted that, as a syndicated columnist, he had to pay the legal fees himself, to the tune of $160,000. His home newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times, contributed $30,000, he said.
He was surprised when the questioning began, that he was not pressed on his source. The reason, he said, was that Fitzgerald already knew that it was then Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
At one point, he recalled, former White House aide Kenneth Duberstein called Novak on Armitage’s behalf, asking if Armitage was the source.
“I said, ‘I can’t give you that information,’” Novak said with a grin.
Novak said his critics, including those in the press, have attacks his ethics, when in fact their quarrel was with his ideology.
“I was stunned by how little editorial support I received. I was under assault from editorial writers from across the country,” Novak said. “It is startling how little is known about this case by the people who are commenting on it.”
He said his case shows the need for a shield law like the one approved last week by a Senate committee. But he added, “Is it not hypocritical for my critics to support a law that would have saved me from three years of confrontation?”
"It is startling how little is known about this case by the people who are commenting on it," he says, yet that's how and from whom most people in this country "learned" about "outing of brave undercover CIA agent, a blonde James Bond in skirt tirelessly and selflessly working to defend our country, by big bad White House and, particularly, Karl Rove"...
That’s right. If there is a federal shield there will be an explosion of leaked military secrets during this time of war.
Just let it go and then all those Matthews and Olberman clones don't have to come out and say "We were wrong, there was no White House smear, it was all Wilson's fault."
Note similarity with Limbaugh fake soldier episode. Me thinks the chattering classes are being exposed as incompetent.
Uh-huh?
Either that or the whole thing was a left-wing sting operation to give the Dems some plausible deniability regarding Congressional votes in support of the war.
In other words, this appears to be a "set-up" so the lefties can obediently respond with "Bush lied..." to give cover for their pro war statements and votes.
Yeah, I know, this is pretty tinfoilish, so contrary arguments cheerfully encouraged.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.