Man Behind the Furor (Wash. Post Puff Bio on Joseph Wilson)

The Washington Post ^ | Wednesday, October 1, 2003 | Richard Leiby

[kristinn]

Former diplomat Joseph Wilson used to tell reporters he felt certain how his obituary would read. It went: "Joseph C. Wilson IV, who was the last American diplomat to meet with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, died . . . "

But "it seems to change," Wilson said yesterday, smiling across his desk in his Washington office. He has kept mentally revising the obituary to keep up with the political maelstrom over Iraq policy and White House leaks that is swirling around him.

A recent version began: "Joseph C. Wilson IV, the Bush I administration political appointee who did the most damage to the Bush II administration . . . "

The current version goes: "Joseph C. Wilson IV, the husband of the spy the White House outed, . . . "

SNIP

As the world now knows, Wilson is married to Valerie Wilson, nee Plame. She is his third wife. She is 40, slim, blonde and the mother of their 3-year-old twins. In the photos in his office, she has the looks of a film star.

"She is really quite amazing," Wilson said. "We were just discussing today who would play her in the movie," he cracked.

SNIP

Even though the White House has said Rove wasn't involved, Wilson made clear yesterday that he has no intention of backing off from his assertion that Rove at least condoned someone's making telephone calls to reporters about his wife. He said he took a call from a reporter who quoted Rove as saying: "Joe Wilson's wife is fair game."

Wilson said he and his wife have attended the same Episcopal church as Rove. Wilson quoted Valerie as saying, "Perhaps the next time we are taking communion I should introduce myself so he can see that I have a face and a name other than 'fair game.' "

[YaYa123]

I can't confirm what you saw earlier.

He called the State Department after the state of the union speech to see if they remembered his trip to Niger. Why would the State Department know of his trip?

"A week after the Novak column, Karl Rove called a reporter I respect and said Wilson's wife is fair game".

Wilson said, yes, he will tell the FBI the names of the reporters who told him the White House called them.

[kristinn]

Maybe Mrs. Wilson is tasked to State.....

[Sabertooth]

Former diplomat Joseph Wilson used to tell reporters he felt certain how his obituary would read...

"Joseph Wilson, whose 15 minutes of infamy commenced when he lied about the Administration of President George W. Bush..."

[Green Knight]

Tempest in a teapot ping.

[BillF]

From the post: She is 40, slim, blonde and . . . has the looks of a film star.

On another thread I read that former CIA guy Larry Johnson said Plame began her CIA training 30 years ago. [emphasis added]

Careful, her real age is a state secret, maybe the only real secret in the whole controversy.

[Mo1]

In the mid-1980s he worked for then-Sen. Al Gore (D-Tenn.) as a congressional fellow. He briefed Gore by phone from Baghdad as the senator was preparing to vote to authorize force in the Gulf War. Wilson argued then that force was required.

Is he taking credit for the reason Gore voted for the war??

Cause I've heard a different story

BTW ... This is SUCH a barf puff piece from the Post

[aristeides]

From the Daily Telegraph story:

The disclosure of Miss Plame's identity is reported to have caused great anger at the CIA, amid fears that foreign contacts cultivated during her covert career are now in grave danger. The investigation was initiated at the request of the CIA director, George Tenet.

Mr Wilson has accused the president's top political adviser, Karl Rove, of telling journalists that his wife was "fair game". As the formal criminal investigation began, Mr Wilson stepped back from directly fingering Mr Rove as the "source or the authoriser" of the leak, saying he "at a minimum condoned it".

[Fred Mertz]

I made a mistake by saying 30 years. Johnson actually (and slyly) said three decades. In theory she could have served twelve years from, say 1989-2001, and covered three decades - the 80s, 90s, and 2000s.

[Mo1]

I guess she started at the CIA really young huh?

[Mo1]

Says a reporter called him and said, "I just got off the phone with Karl Rove. He said your wife is fair game." Doesn't name the reporter(s), but he will tell the FBI.

Hmmm .. wonder what those reporters are thinking now?

[aristeides]

From later in that Telegraph story:

The scandal took off at the weekend after an unnamed senior administration official, reportedly close to Mr Tenet, told the Washington Post that two White House officials leaked Miss Plame's identity to selected journalists in an act of "revenge" on Mr Wilson.

If true, that would explain why the story took off over the weekend. I wonder who that senior administration official close to Tenet is. Vice President Cheney?

[aristeides]

And here's an interesting paragraph from tomorrow's Guardian story:

Reporters at Time magazine and NBC News and a handful of others were also tipped off about Ms Plame, and Democrats claim the source in each case was Mr Rove. According to some accounts, Mr Rove, did not mention Ms Plame by name but referred to "Wilson's wife" being a CIA employee.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Washington Compost: "There HAS to be a scandal here! THERE HAS TO BE!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

[Timesink]

Koppel asking about Rove. Wilson says he's been told by reporters who spoke to Rove a week after the Novak article. Says a reporter called him and said, "I just got off the phone with Karl Rove. He said your wife is fair game." Doesn't name the reporter(s), but he will tell the FBI.

Even if this is 100% true (and we have every reason to believe Wilson is lying through his teeth and it's 100% false), IT DOESN'T MATTER. It is NOT illegal for someone working in the White House to have an opinion about something that has already happened.

Hell, it's not even an opinion, it's FACT. Once Plame was outed, she was outed, period, and she WAS fair game. (And again, I'm assuming for the sake of discussion that she even had a position sensitive enough to be outed from, which she likely did not.) That wouldn't be Karl Rove saying "I'm going after Wilson's wife," that would be Karl Rove telling a reporter THE LEGAL REALITY.

[Sacajaweau]

btt

[aristeides]

Hell, it's not even an opinion, it's FACT. Once Plame was outed, she was outed, period, and she WAS fair game.

Wrong. As I was told repeatedly during training in military intelligence, the fact that some classified matter had appeared in some newspaper or magazine did not make it legal for any of us to confirm the report. It remained classified, until declassified. (After all, a confirmed story is not quite the same thing as an unconfirmed story.)

[YaYa123]

Oh there was no written report. We've known that for awhile, and tonight on ABC NIGHTLINE, Wilson explained how he returned from Niger one day, had a flight out the next, so a CIA staffer came to his house and took notes as Wilson dictated them. He told Koppell, yes, the staffer took the notes back to the CIA.

How's that for big shot ego tripping?

[Humidston]

What if the meaning of "fair game" really meant she wasn't in a sensitive position that required deep cover?

[Texas Eagle]

"She is really quite amazing," Wilson said. "We were just discussing today who would play her in the movie," he cracked.

And there you have it. This is all a big publicity stunt.

[dennisw]

Drama queen, indeed. Maybe Harvey Firestein can play Mr. Wilson in the film opposite Madonna as Mrs. Wilson.....

She's 40 years old yet one guy who (claims he) did his CIA training with her says she's been undercover for 3 decades.