The Sweet Mint Tea Pot Dome Scandal

CNSNews.com ^ | 10/01/03 | Rich Galen

[kattracks]

* Don't fall into the trap of believing -- because of the frenzied coverage and the hysterical statements of the Democrats -- that someone in the Bush White House "outed" a CIA covert agent.

* Before we start, let me say that there is a long, bi-partisan tradition of political stupidity in Your Nation's Capital. Paul Kratner of the Jefferson Airplane once said that San Francisco was "49 square miles surrounded by reality."

* If political stupidity were a crime, Washington, DC would be "49 square miles surrounded by razor wire."

* Ok, so, a former US Ambassador, Joseph Wilson, was sent to Niger in 2002 to see if he could find evidence of Iraq trying to purchase material to make a nuclear device.

* Wilson's idea of how to conduct an investigation was unique. In his July, 2003 NY Times op-ed piece on his investigation, he first waxed rhapsodic about his surroundings: "The city was much as I remembered it. Seasonal winds had clogged the air with dust and sand. Through the haze, I could see camel caravans crossing the Niger River (over the John F. Kennedy bridge), the setting sun behind them. Most people had wrapped scarves around their faces to protect against the grit, leaving only their eyes visible."

* Which tells us a little something about the level of editorial dysfunction at the NY Times last summer.

* Then Wilson detailed the guts of his investigation: "I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people: current government officials, former government officials, people associated with the country's uranium business."

* This, in the business, is called "phoning it in."

* By the way, on May 23, 2003, according to the Federal Elections Commission, Wilson donated $1,000 to the Presidential campaign of one John Kerry, Democrat from Massachusetts.

* I'm shocked.

* All right, so what about the claim that the White House generally, and Karl Rove in particular, called reporters to out Wilson's wife as an undercover CIA operative?

* Rove denies it. The White House denies it. There is not the first thread of the first shred of evidence that Rove had anything whatever to do with this. But, to see where Wilson's agenda lies, this quote from Wilson (having gotten into the sweet mint tea again) on the BBC website: "It's of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs."

* The New York Times reported on Monday that: "Mr. Wilson backed off somewhat from his previous statements that Mr. Rove had probably leaked the story. But, Mr. Wilson said, 'at a minimum, he condoned it, and he most certainly did nothing during the six or seven days after the Novak article appeared to discourage others from talking about it.'"

* So, the guy everyone is quoting on whether the Iraqis were trying to buy nuclear materials cites as his evidence against Rove... Ok, he doesn't have any evidence against Rove other than his modestly bizarre fantasy on that frog-marching-hand-cuff thing.

* Here's another tip: Any time Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer is the lead dog for the Democrats, you want to watch where you step.

* Unfortunately for Mr. Schumer and the Democrats there may not have been any law violated. According to the Washington Post, the following elements must exist:

- The disclosure must have been made by a government employee with access to classified information; (That's probably a go)

- The disclosure must have been intentional; (That's obviously a go)

- The person accused must have known the person identified was a covert agent; (That's not at all clear), and

- The person accused must have known "the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship to the United States." (Ah. Drat. There goes the case.)

* Robert Novak, the columnist who wrote the original column about Wilson's wife, said, "According to a confidential source at the CIA, Mrs. Wilson was an analyst, not a spy, not a covert operative, and not in charge of undercover operatives."

* If the CIA identified Mrs. Wilson as an employee, then the "affirmative measures to conceal" test was clearly not met.

* This is a tempest in a sweet-mint-tea-pot-dome.

* On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: A short explanation of the Teapot Dome Scandal; links to the Wilson NY Times op-ed piece, the BBC report, and a GREAT Mullfoto!

Copyright 2003, Richard A. Galen

[norton]

"The Justice Department would not have opened an investigation if she were not an undercover case officer."

Wrong.

Justice department's job is to look into just this kind of thing, routinely and expeditiously. It's noted in other threads that they are running about fifty of them at any given time; this only happens to be directed at the White House and (surprise!) very heavily publicised.

[painter]

"Suppose someone in the DemocRAT Party who is still embedded in the wainscoting of the Bush Govt. did this? Not to overly tinfoil, but I smell a very big rat here."

I would love that.Providing Ashcroft nails that sob and everybody gets to see him/her being dragged off in handcuffs!

[painter]

"I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea."

Sweet mint tea? I'm betting Rum shots or the liqure of choice over there.

[XHogPilot]

Wilson even published that his wife was a CIA employee.

Now this is relevent! Where did you get this info?