White House Calm Before CIA Leak Deadline

AP ^ | Oct. 4, 2003 | SCOTT LINDLAW

[prairiebreeze]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House projected a business-as-usual air Saturday, though a Tuesday deadline to turn over documents in a leak investigation hung over nearly 2,000 staff members.

Interviews with nearly a dozen White House officials found no sense of urgency among the few workers in the office on a weekend.

All White House staffers face an order from President Bush's counsel to come forward by 5 p.m. Tuesday with any documents that might help the investigation into the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity.

Employees were required to sign a memo certifying either that they have produced relevant documents or have no such documents. The order covers materials such as electronic records, telephone logs, correspondence, computer records, notes and calendar entries.

Late into Friday night, the White House press office sifted through thousands of phone messages dating back to February 2002 and beyond, seeking potential contacts between administration officials and journalists who were the subject of the memo from White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales: syndicated columnist Robert Novak; Newsday's Washington bureau chief, Timothy M. Phelps; and Knut Royce, a Newsday staff writer.

Investigators are trying to determine who leaked to the three journalists the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA operations officer who has served overseas. She is married to former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who publicly accused the Bush administration of manipulating intelligence to exaggerate the threat from Iraq.

The news leak that exposed her identity also exposed the name of the CIA front company she used as a cover.

The company's identity appears in Federal Election Commission records because the CIA operative, using her married name Valerie E. Wilson, contributed $1,000 to Al Gore's presidential primary campaign in 1999. Her husband contributed to both the Bush and Gore presidential campaigns.

The company that appears in FEC records, Brewster-Jennings & Associates, had been a CIA front for Plame, according to The Washington Post. That account was confirmed Saturday, only on condition of anonymity, by an official who recently left the government.

The arduous work of poring through phone logs turned up a few messages from the three journalists.

"We're just double-checking our records because the Department of Justice requested it and because the president made clear he wants to cooperate fully," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

The effort did not resume Saturday.

McClellan firmly ruled out any involvement in the leak by Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Libby did not provide the information, know who did and does not condone it, said McClellan said. He condemned "false, unsubstantiated accusations" that have been published in the news media about Libby's role.

Most people in the White House have no relevant documents and plan to simply sign Gonzales' directive saying so, several officials said.

Others, such as the White House Office of Political Affairs, virtually completed scouring their records Friday, though it was not clear what the search had produced. Still others planned to wait until Monday to complete the process.

The upper West Wing offices of Bush's top aides was described as hectic Friday, but quiet on Saturday.

Some officials made jokes about the inquiry; others complained bitterly that it was being driven by Democrats eager to fan a White House scandal.

No White House official has received a subpoena or hired a lawyer, several said.

[prairiebreeze]

The company's identity appears in Federal Election Commission records because the CIA operative, using her married name Valerie E. Wilson, contributed $1,000 to Al Gore's presidential primary campaign in 1999. Her husband contributed to both the Bush and Gore presidential campaigns.

What an apolitical couple.

Prairie

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[Parley Baer]

I agree. The Wilson's are the ones who need some looking into. Parley

[prairiebreeze]

Late into Friday night, the White House press office sifted through thousands of phone messages dating back to February 2002 and beyond, seeking potential contacts between administration officials and journalists who were the subject of the memo from White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales: syndicated columnist Robert Novak; Newsday's Washington bureau chief, Timothy M. Phelps; and Knut Royce, a Newsday staff writer.

Pinging you all to this. First time I've seen the other reporters names, or at least part of them.

Prairie

[Orangedog]

By the way, has anyone bothered to sh*t-can the fool at the CIA who confirmed her employment to Novak?

[Dolphy]

Thanks for the ping, Prairie. I've been thinking, what kind of judgement did Plame have (if she was a CIA operative) to marry a blabber mouth, adolescent like Wilson.

[prairiebreeze]

She supported Al Gore. Probably enough said right there about her level of judgement. The other reporters and their newspaper's names were news to me.

Overall, I liked the tone of the article. Calm is good!

Prairie

[Mo1]

Those reporters were mentioned in one of the many articles I've read

However ...

"The company that appears in FEC records, Brewster-Jennings & Associates, had been a CIA front for Plame, according to The Washington Post. That account was confirmed Saturday, only on condition of anonymity, by an official who recently left the government."

Who is this "official who recently left the government" and tonight is the first I've read about this company

[prairiebreeze]

I thought it was supposedly 2 sources at the WH who "confirmed" that. Although, if I don't remind myself of the storyline and details of this particular orchestrated circus, I lose track of who said and did what and when.

Prairie

[prairiebreeze]

Yes, that part was also news to me. Guess I've been on too many WMD and Arnold threads to keep up.

Do we have another leaker blabbing??

Prairie

[Peach]

Newsday - they are represented on FNC on Saturday nights at 6:30 by some reporter - can't remember his name.

It's the Saturday night show that discusses how the media reported the news during the week.

[goodnesswins]

I saw something yesterday about the front firm, and the fact that Valerie listed it as her EMPLOYER when she gave to the Gore campaign.

[GOP_Proud]

First time I've heard about the "front" company also.

[Mo1]

Peach .. I've been distracted with other things myslef to keep up the last couple days

goodnesswins .. Thanks .. but has anyone found out who this former government person is??

[Dolphy]

Phelps and Royce are the authors of an article entitled "Columnist Blows CIA Agent's Cover," shortly after Novak's first column in July. I believe they were the first to call foul. I don't think they cite any administration officials in their article, instead they cite intelligence officials who confirmed Plame's employment. They also included that she worked in an undercover capacity on WMD issues. I don't know all of Phelps and Royce's work, but if this is the article that got them named, it proves to me that the DOJ is investigating the CIA for the source of the leaks too.

[SandRat]

All White House staffers face an order from President Bush's counsel to come forward by 5 p.m. Tuesday with any documents that might help the investigation into the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity. In my humble opinion, there is calm in the White House because it is known for certain that the leak emanated elsewhere.

Let's hope and pray that when the evidence comes out that the finger of justice is pointing straight back at those that have been harping the loudest for an IC and their enablers in the media.

[samantha]

What puzzles me is why a diplomat can have a cia operative spouse and have any credibility in the country where he is assigned. What if the spouse is snooping in things in that country that she would only have access to as the diplomats spouse? This could be a big diplomacy nightmare. Why is nobody asking these questions?

[prairiebreeze]

Not nearly enough questions are asked that involve the State Dept. IMO

Prairie

[Mike Darancette]

tonight is the first I've read about this company

Palme/Wilson outed herself and the CIA front company in 1999 by making the contribution which goes into the public record. Novak got to the company through the internet.

My dad worked for one of these type companies 35 years ago, and what she did was BAD!

CIA Genius

[prairiebreeze]

"Two senior adminstration officials" are the sources mentioned by these two columnists when I searched for the title of the article you are mentioning. It was in July. Wilson started whining at that point.

If Novak's sources only told him her name and he used the word "operative" in his own context, as he has already explained, it seems a non-issue IMO.

This will get you to the original story link:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/950367/posts

Prairie