Second Letter from Alberto Gonzales to W.H. Staff

White House ^ | 9-30-03 | Alberto Gonzales

[dogbyte12]

IMPORTANT FOLLOW-UP MESSAGE FROM COUNSEL'S OFFICE

This communication is a follow-up to the directive I sent you this morning regarding the preservation of certain materials in the possession of the White House, its staff, or its employees.

Pursuant to a request from the Department of Justice, I am instructing you to preserve and maintain the following:

"[F]or the time period February 1, 2002 to the present, all documents, including without limitation all electronic records, telephone records of any kind (including but not limited to any records that memorialize telephone calls having been made), correspondence, computer records, storage devices, notes, memoranda, and diary and calendar entries, that relate in any way to:

1. Former U.S. Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, his trip to Niger in February 2002, and/or his wife's purported relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency;

2. Contacts with any member or representative of the news media about Joseph C. Wilson, his trip to Niger in February 2002, and/or his wife's purported relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency; and

3. Contacts with reporters Knut Royce, Timothy M. Phelps, or Robert D. Novak, or any individual(s) acting directly or indirectly, on behalf of these reporters."

You must preserve all documents relating, in any way, directly or indirectly, to these subjects, even if there would be a question whether the document would be a presidential or federal record or even if its destruction might otherwise be permitted.

If you have any questions regarding any of the foregoing, please contact Associate Counsels Ted Ullyot or Raul Yanes in the Counsel to the President's Office.

Alberto R. Gonzales

Counsel to the President

[aristeides]

The Guardian, a leftist rag in England, has been given the name of Karl Rove by one of the 6 reporters, who of course remains anonymous. He could be lying, that reporter could be lying, but if it is true, then the reporter broke his confidence with Karl Rove to do so. Reporters believe it was Karl Rove, because some reporters are going on the D.C. Circuit now and anonymously telling one another that they were one of the 6, and Rove was the guy, but ya can't use it, or source me to it.

Doesn't that provide a way for investigators to pin it on Rove or whoever? Couldn't they be doing such things as monitoring international telephone calls? (This is now an intelligence matter, so I suspect the NSA would be interested.)

[jbstrick]

It may have been established that his wife was truly a covert agent.

[aristeides]

Ah, so... If this is true then the Newsday story, rather than Novak's column, is really the key one since it outed Plame as a covert agent.

Unless Novak's merely identifying her as a CIA employee could have outed her as Directorate of Operations to somebody familiar with her postings abroad (as the political police in the countries where she was stationed, and where her informants -- one hopes -- still live, would be.)

[aristeides]

I think #29 establishes pretty conclusively that Plame was an undercover operative, which is the point that I was trying to make in this thread. Surely you don't want to go on denying it?

[Stultis]

The TV told me that the word "operative" is equivalent to "undercover."

Novak said today on Crossfire that he used that term reflexively without considering or meaning to invoke its signficance as a term of art. He said he meant it in the same loose sense that he would refer to Carville or Begala as DNC "operatives".

[Stultis]

Unless Novak's merely identifying her as a CIA employee could have outed her as Directorate of Operations to somebody familiar with her postings abroad (as the political police in the countries where she was stationed, and where her informants -- one hopes -- still live, would be.)

Yes, but if Novak is to be believed, his informants would not appear to be criminally culpable, as they did not seem to know of Plame's covert status (assuming she indeed had such status). They have to know of the covert status in order for the law to be applicable. (Not that they wouldn't be subject to firing or other punishment regardless.)

The difference with the Newsday piece is that they cite a "senior intelligence official" who "confirmed" Plame as "a Directorate of Operations undercover officer." None of Novak's sources never (apparently) said anything but that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA, and his sources at the CIA effectively denied that she was covert.

[aristeides]

But doesn't the law, technically, prohibit outing any CIA employee, covert or not? If so, the -- technically illegal -- outing of somebody you thought was a mere analyst might become a serious matter if people are killed as a result.

[Enlightiator]

It appears that former CIA employee Larry Johnson, now a talking head on TV and a "consultant," has been off the mark, and I mean way off the mark, before:

"(Not Exactly a) Whopper of the Week: Larry C. Johnson", by Timothy Noah

[cyncooper]

Johnson has no idea who leaked anything. The only evidence for a smear so far is Wilson against this WH.

[cyncooper]

Who was the reporter on Fox this morning saying that "everyone" knew she worked for the CIA?

Cliff May.

He also said a democrat was the one who told him about Plame-Wilson's employer. He went to say others knew about it, too.

[cyncooper]

There was no beef in Wilson's original report - actually a debriefing of some kind- and no reason for President Bush to act on the opinions developed by way of polite discourse with the very people who had most to hide.

The President and VP were not briefed at all about Wilson's Niger trip, nor were any senior WH officials. Per George Tenet's July statement on the matter.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

"Much Ado About Nothing".

aka: "The Dims Are Desperate For An Issue For 2004".

Already coming to a Leftist Theater near you.

Feh!

[Fred Mertz]

If Plame was outed in mid-July then the Agency had time to notify her contacts, since it seemed to be a 'quiet' event at the time of Novak's article.

My question is, why has it taken about ten weeks to have DoJ announce an investigation? I know, public pressure.

[aristeides]

My question is, why has it taken about ten weeks to have DoJ announce an investigation? I know, public pressure.

Things seem to have been moving at a fast clip since the Washington Post revealed over the weekend that the CIA had made the referral to DOJ.

To speculate: maybe the CIA leaked the news about the referral to hasten a reaction from DOJ, possibly because it was becoming impatient about the delay.

[bonesmccoy]

boy, those guys at the WH are P.O.'d.

GO GET 'EM GW!

[norton]

Well, yes, I am quite willing to deny it.

What you train for and what you do are often different things.

Thirty years ago (three decades) I trained for the same covert stuff - now I'm doing pretty mundane crap.

Do yourself a favor, don't let one guy's pronouncement define your ojective, and allow the process to develop; I think you'll find it a tad better, a tad more professional, than we have seen in the recent past.

[OldFriend]

Clearly Mr. Wilson's position on the war was clear. He was against liberating Iraq. He was against the sanctions. He was against the NO-FLY ZONE........

I would like to know exactly who in the CIA sent him to Niger. But I suspect, like who hired Craig Livingstone, we will never know.

Nor will we ever know if Wilson's wife, Plame, was in a classified position at the CIA.

The irony is that she works at the CIA under her maiden name. Mr. Wilson thought nothing of putting her maiden name on his personal website.

[OldFriend]

Newsday is popular with the Gerald Nadler types. Everyone that's sane in NY reads the New York Post.