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Rice Knew 'Nothing' About CIA Agent Leak
Reuters ^ | 09-28-03

Posted on 09/28/2003 3:39:47 PM PDT by Brian S

Sun September 28, 2003 02:30 PM ET By Lori Santos

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday she knew "nothing of any" White House effort to leak the identity of an undercover CIA officer in July, a charge now under review at the Justice Department.

On "Fox News Sunday," the top aide to President Bush said, "This has been referred to the Justice Department. I think that is the appropriate place for it."

Rice said the White House would cooperate should the department headed by Attorney General John Ashcroft decide to proceed with a criminal investigation of the matter, which centers on the alleged public disclosure of the wife of former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

Wilson was sent by the CIA to Niger in 2002 to investigate a report that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium from Niger, but returned to say it was highly doubtful.

The Washington Post reported on Sunday that two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and revealed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife -- apparently in retaliation for his conclusion, which undermined the position of the White House.

The Post said CIA Director George Tenet sent a memo to the Justice Department raising questions about the alleged leak, which could mean prison time and a fine.

Rice said, "I know nothing of any such White House effort to reveal any of this. And it certainly would not be the way the president would expect his White House to operate."

Bush made the Iraq uranium claim in his January State of the Union speech. Critics have said the Iraq-Niger assertion, which later was found to be based partly on forged documents, showed the administration had tried to hype intelligence to make a case for going to war.

URANIUM REPORT

Wilson said in August there had been several attempts to discredit him but mainly through an article by Chicago columnist Robert Novak that said two senior administration officials said Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the uranium report.

Novak's column named Wilson's wife and said she was a CIA operative dealing with weapons of mass destruction.

Asked if the White House was not concerned that top officials might have done such a thing, Rice said she did not recall any discussions of the matter.

"I don't remember any such conversations," Rice said.

"It is well known that the president of the United States does not expect the White House to get involved in such things, anything of this kind," she added.

On NBC's "Meet the Press," U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, a Democratic presidential candidate, said Bush personally should "investigate what happened ... And people ought to be punished for doing this."

Rice also said top officials "didn't remember" in the case of the president's State of the Union address in January, in which he said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

Though the offending phrase had been deleted from an October presidential speech in Cincinnati, Rice said, "Three-plus months later, people didn't remember that George Tenet had asked that it be taken out. ... I didn't remember. (Deputy national security adviser) Stephen Hadley didn't remember."

"We are trying to put now in place methods so you don't have to be dependent on people's memories for something like that," she added.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cia; condoleezzarice; denial; georgetenet; josephwilson; leak; robertnovak; stephenhadley; valerieplame
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To: NutCrackerBoy
If your scenario is correct (and I am not doubting it) then the "enforcers" were stupid enough to be baited into committing one or more felonies and potentially endangering intelligence assets during war for petty political gain, and richly deserve to go to jail, and since Ashcroft is against anybody getting anything less than the max that means 10 years.
21 posted on 09/28/2003 5:54:04 PM PDT by UncleJeff
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To: UncleJeff
Whoever it was didn't just expose individuals, he revealed a source and/or method.
22 posted on 09/28/2003 6:02:30 PM PDT by aristeides
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To: aristeides
IF it is as it is being portrayed, they came awful close to treason.
23 posted on 09/28/2003 6:05:44 PM PDT by UncleJeff
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To: NutCrackerBoy
I would argue only that Bush doesn't own all of the CIA. There is a sizable contingent there too who have it in for Bush.

If so, then you can bet that Daddy knows exactly who they are. And they should watch their backs.

24 posted on 09/28/2003 6:11:40 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: NutCrackerBoy
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
25 posted on 09/28/2003 6:13:01 PM PDT by Pan_Yans Wife ("Life isn't fair. It's fairer than death, is all.")
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To: Solamente
self-generated by Wilson and his wife, both who would qualify as "senior administration officials."

Wouldn't Bush & co. have undermined their claim about the uranium by exposing the wife?

Consider: who's side would that knowledge tend to support, the administration, or the Wilson, who would be regarded as someone "in the know."

Also, Novak is a hack.

26 posted on 09/28/2003 6:53:53 PM PDT by tsomer (almost housebroken)
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To: Brian S
hit piece number 51 using the carville talking points.

I think with this much effort on their part that the "vicims" involved might need to be careful of impending Arkencide. The dims (and their allies, including some posting these articles here) are setting them up for the same fate as the English "arms expert" who's suicide sparked such a damaging row surrounding Tony Blair. This won't get legs until someone dies.

27 posted on 09/28/2003 7:01:02 PM PDT by Phsstpok (often wrong, but never in doubt)
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To: tsomer
Let me clarify the above:

The question is, who profits from the revelation that Wilson is married to a CIA agent directly involved with the report?

I would think that Wilson would gain greater credibility as someone in a position to know what he claimed to know. What would the administration have gained? It seems that this would have undermined its claims about the uranium story by showing that Wilson had an authoritative source for his.

As for Novak, he has published BS before; I consider him as reliable as Debka. Buy a box of salt.
28 posted on 09/28/2003 7:06:18 PM PDT by tsomer (almost housebroken)
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran
Exactly! Hillary would do anything to embarass the Bush admin.

And .. I suspect with good reason - the Wilson's are very, very palsey-walsey with the Clintons.

That's enough evidence for me!!

Hmmmm? I wonder if this could be the straw that breaks the Clinton's back. Could this be what trips them up and opens up the door ...?? Interesting!
29 posted on 09/28/2003 7:10:16 PM PDT by CyberAnt (America - The Greatest Nation on the Face of the Earth)
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To: tsomer
Wilson claims the intent was to serve as a warning to others on the inside who might consider releasing damaging info.
30 posted on 09/28/2003 7:19:14 PM PDT by UncleJeff
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To: Lancey Howard
"Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life, I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious, of traitors."
George H.W. Bush
April 16th, 1999
31 posted on 09/28/2003 7:38:53 PM PDT by UncleJeff
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To: Phsstpok
hit piece number 51 using the carville talking points.

Now that you mention it this is straight from the "Destroy Ken Star" playbook: leak something and blame the other guy.

32 posted on 09/28/2003 7:55:14 PM PDT by tsomer (almost housebroken)
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To: UncleJeff
Wilson claims the intent was to serve as a warning to others on the inside who might consider releasing damaging info.

How would that work? Five minutes of fame and a book contract with Simon and Schuster; not much punishment there, it would seem.

33 posted on 09/28/2003 7:58:11 PM PDT by tsomer (almost housebroken)
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To: tsomer
I guess the theory is that if they will commit felonies to get back at Wilson very publicly any other potential whistle-blowers had better think twice before crossing Rove, or whoever.
34 posted on 09/28/2003 8:11:56 PM PDT by UncleJeff
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To: jwalsh07
Well, whoever leaked it needs firing, that's for damn sure.

Clinton and democraps have well placed backstabbers and saboteurs throughout the federal bureaucracies. The liberal media is all over this singing glory hallelujah.

Just like their mentor they are without honor or shame. If it results in the major collapase of U.S. foreign policy, or the Middle East going Nuclear it's all OK if it serves the political purpose.

35 posted on 09/28/2003 8:33:36 PM PDT by SSN558 (Be on the lookout for Black White-Supremacists)
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To: ex-snook
"Critics have said the Iraq-Niger assertion, which later was found to be based partly on forged documents, showed the administration had tried to hype intelligence to make a case for going to war. "

Wilson is a side-show to the main question yet unanswered, who was in the chain that forged and forwarded the documents? Why is this still covered up?

I'd like to know about the forged documents, too.

But why does the media continue to misreport the story? Bush did not base any statement in his SOTU Address on forged documents or Joseph Wilson tea-sipping trips. He based it on British Intelligence which was not based on the forged documents at all.

Each story I've read today on this investigation makes it appear that President Bush made a reference to Niger based on forged documents and ignored Wilson. That is not true.

As to the Wilsons. I've been posting on other threads and I think this story is being spun to draw attention away from whatever they've done and make it appear the Bush administration has done something wrong. Someone on another thread made the excellent analogy to the Florida couple taping Newt and company and the initial stories were spun that it was the Republicans' discussion that was the wrongdoing. Same here, IMO.

And btw, Novak did not report Plame was an "undercover" operative. She may have been, either in the past or was currently, but I don't think so. Again, lazy and loose use of language by these "reporters" to help direct the story the way they wish.

36 posted on 09/28/2003 8:46:42 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: UncleJeff
potentially endangering intelligence assets during war for petty political gain

Just who are you referring to as an "intelligence asset"? Valerie Plame, whose husband was busy writing anti-war diatribes in "The Nation" on the eve of war? That asset?

And while I'm on the subject, why didn't Wilson bother to include in his "Nation" piece that was written about two weeks after the State of the Union Address any concerns he had about what he'd "found" (or not) in Niger and the president's speech? Hm?

Oh, and when Wilson was a guest of Bill Moyers at the end of February---again, after the SOTU speech, is Wilson agreeing that Saddam has WMD, but his disagreement is with war and Wilson was arguing for "containment" and accusing Bush of Empire building.

Now, I wonder about "intelligence assets" married to such and just where their loyalties lie.

37 posted on 09/28/2003 8:52:14 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: tsomer
Now that you mention it this is straight from the "Destroy Ken Star" playbook: leak something and blame the other guy.

You are correct.

38 posted on 09/28/2003 8:54:51 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: No Truce With Kings; Miss Marple
Novak has sandbox envy. Whenever I read him I smell McCain.

Speaking of odor, this story reaks of CYA. A certain former ambassador employed by the employer of his wife, both weighted like lead in the pencil of a previous Administration, ain't 'xactly prime beef. Folks forget that the CIA is stocked by the Academy. Operatives and agents are one thing, "analysts" are quite another.

This story is rank.
39 posted on 09/28/2003 8:55:54 PM PDT by nicollo
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To: UncleJeff
I guess the theory is that if they will commit felonies to get back at Wilson very publicly any other potential whistle-blowers had better think twice before crossing Rove, or whoever.

Let's be precise, shall we?

Wilson is no "whistle blower", he is a liar in that he tells part of a story and omits certain facts in order to shape it against this administration. And now his accusation exposing him more as the partisan fraud that he is.

Too bad. Years ago I guess he did a good thing right before the first Gulf War, but then he got in tight with clinton and here we are.

40 posted on 09/28/2003 8:59:05 PM PDT by cyncooper
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