Posted on 07/14/2005 9:32:15 PM PDT by blake6900
Source: Rove Got CIA Agent ID From Media By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer
Presidential confidant Karl Rove testified to a grand jury that he learned the identity of a CIA operative originally from journalists, then informally discussed the information with a Time magazine reporter days before the story broke, according to a person briefed on the testimony.
The person, who works in the legal profession and spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, told The Associated Press that Rove testified last year that he remembers specifically being told by columnist Robert Novak that Valerie Plame, the wife of a harsh Iraq war critic, worked for the CIA.
Rove testified that Novak originally called him the Tuesday before Plame's identity was revealed in July 2003 to discuss another story. The conversation eventually turned to former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was strongly criticizing the Bush administration's Iraq war policy and the intelligence it used to justify the war, the source said.
The person said Rove testified that Novak told him he had learned and planned to report in a weekend column that Wilson's wife, Plame, had worked for the CIA, and the circumstances on how her husband traveled to Africa to check bogus claims of alleged nuclear material sales to Iraq.
Novak's column, citing two Bush administration officials, appeared six days later, touching off a political firestorm and leading to a federal criminal investigation into who leaked Plame's undercover identity. That probe has ensnared presidential aides and reporters in a two-year legal battle.
On Thursday, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada pressed for legislation to strip Rove of his clearance for classified information, which he said President Bush should already have done. Instead, Reid said, the Bush administration has attacked its critics: "This is what is known as a cover-up. This is an abuse of power."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Democrats were resorting to "partisan war chants."
Across the Capitol, Rep. Rush Holt (news, bio, voting record), D-N.J., introduced legislation for an investigation that would compel senior administration officials to turn over records relating to the Plame disclosure.
Rove told the grand jury that by the time Novak had called him, he believes he had similar information about Wilson's wife from another reporter but had no recollection of which reporter had told him about it first, the source said.
When Novak inquired about Wilson's wife working for the CIA, Rove indicated he had heard something like that, according to the source's recounting of the grand jury testimony.
Rove told the grand jury that four days later, he had a phone conversation with Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper and — in an effort to discredit some of Wilson's allegations — told Cooper that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA, though he never used her name.
An e-mail Cooper recently provided the grand jury shows Cooper reported to his magazine bosses that Rove had described Wilson's wife in a confidential conversation as someone who "apparently works" at the CIA.
Robert Luskin, Rove's attorney, said Thursday his client truthfully testified to the grand jury and expected to be exonerated.
"Karl provided all pertinent information to prosecutors a long time ago," Luskin said. "And prosecutors confirmed when he testified most recently in October 2004 that he is not a target of the investigation."
Rove's conversation with Cooper took place five days after Wilson suggested in a New York Times opinion piece that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat. Novak's column identifying Wilson's wife as a CIA employee and Cooper's magazine piece came out a few days later.
Pressed to explain its statements of two years ago that Rove wasn't involved in the leak, the White House refused to do so this week.
"If I were to get into discussing this, I would be getting into discussing an investigation that continues and could be prejudging the outcome of the investigation," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
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Associated Press special correspondent David Espo contributed to this story.
"I think the Republicans KNEW about this then and just egged them on."
I agree. If Rove has a history of anything, it's allowing the adversary to dig a deep enough hole to bury themesleves in the end. ;-)
It was reported by a Freeper that Brit Hume said the word from the Rove camp is that Rove learned where Joe Wilson's wife worked because a reporter told him. Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby, also has testified that he learned it from a journalist.
Something doesn't add up about why Judith Miller went to jail. The New York Times reporter didn't write a story about the Valerie Plame case and had a waiver from her source in order to talk about it to the grand jury. But she insisted on going to jail anyway. Speculation is mounting that Miller is protecting herself, that Miller was herself a source of information about Plame that made it to several Bush administration officials and was then recycled to columnist Robert Novak [Although we now know that Novak knew before he called Rove, as did Cooper]. He, then, disclosed Plame's employment by the CIA and her role in arranging for her husband Joe Wilson's mission to Africa to investigate the Iraq-uranium link.This scenario was also backed up by the Washington Post:This would help explain why Miller didn't write a story about the case. It would be difficult for Miller to write a story when she was so deeply involved in how it developed. Disclosure of her role then or now would be extremely embarrassing.
The more likely explanation is that Miller is protecting private discussions with administration officials, and that during those discussions she provided or confirmed information about Plame's identity. This would make sense. Both Miller and Plame covered the subject of weapons of mass destruction and it was likely that they knew one another, or at least were aware of each other's work in this field.
Sources close to the investigation say there is evidence in some instances that some reporters may have told government officials -- not the other way around -- that Wilson was married to Plame, a CIA employee.Now, the only thing that remains is what could Wilson/Plame and Miller be charged with?
This should apply to Reid in regards to his Henry Saad "just look at his FBI file" speech. He didn't disclose the details but showed that he had illegally seen or been told of raw data in Saad's file.
I've had similar thoughts. Reporters know who Plame is from gossip, whatever, they can't go to press with that so they call the WH etc. and ask leading questions. (Andrea Mitchell admitted it was known in the political/cocktail circles who Plame was, where she worked etc.)
WH person(s) confirm who wifey is, where she works and the reporters can go to press with "White House officials" confirm/indicated etc.
The fact that Miller didn't take advantage of Rove's blanket release indicates Miller must have another source.
I think you are exactlly right. I think Plame's job and her marriage to Joe Wilson was so well known that it was just floating around journo and Administration circles for months. Fitzgerald is probably not going to be able to pinpoint a single source for a "leak" of Plame's identity. Everyone is telling the grand jury they heard it from another journo first.
We also know that Joe Wilson is a fabulist who tells tall tales and has an extremely high opinion of himself and his wife. It's very plausible that he himself blabbed about Valerie while bragging to some journos at a cocktail party about how well connected he is and about all those danegrous missions he went on to Niger. Journos probably won't even tell the grand jury they just overheard Joe Wilson blabbing at a cocktail party and started gossiping to their friends.
I can't wait to hear Novak's story; perhaps the dates won't mesh and Wilson will be caught in yet another lie.
From another thread on this subject, and you may have already read this by now:
To: ohioWfan
Amid all the wondering about who first leaked Plame's name, I've come up with another (very plausible) candidate: Nicholas Kristof, NY Times columnist.
As you'll recall, Kristof's column in May, 2003 was the first to discuss Wilson's trip to Niger (without mentioning Wilson's name).
Well, I just went back and read the Vanity Fair article which featured the now infamous photo of Wilson and Plame in their Jaguar convertible. The article says:
In early May, Wilson and Plame attended a conference sponsored by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee [no partisanship here...no sireee!], at which Wilson spoke about Iraq; one of the other panelists was the New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof. Over breakfast the next morning with Kristof and his wife, Wilson told about his trip to Niger and said Kristof could write about it, but not name him. At this point what he wanted, Wilson says, was for the government to correct the record... [I'm virtually certain the "with his wife" is referring to Wilson's wife, not Kristof's because she is mentioned as attending the conference, whereas Kristof's wife isn't].
The entire article gives one a good impression of Wilson's concerted effort to create an atmosphere where he would "just HAVE TO correct the record" by disclosing his role in the Niger trip.
But, I'd forgotten that SHE was there at the initial breakfast with Kirstof.
Now I'm wondering if KRISTOF is the source Judith Miller is protecting?!
190 posted on 07/15/2005 10:46:00 AM EDT by Timeout
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Kcvl, Mo1; you all need to read Eva's replies on this thread.
She is dragging in some people that are going to make your head explode!
Unless she was willing to kill him.
Here's the link to the other thread where timeout posted the info I posted above. In the following post, timeout links to the Vanity Fair article:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1443317/posts?page=184#190
We need to put this in chronological order; I'm convinced there's a book here -- and that it's more than Joe Wilson, the biggest Pat Myself On The Backer I have ever seen.
"HHHMMMMM....Perhaps it was Judith Miller who first told Rove about Wilson's wife?????"
"Could be...which might explain why she never actually wrote a story on the subject. It could also explain that Rove was not her source...but Joseph Wilson was."
What if Plame/Wilson were friends with Miller and got her involved in this sham to electronically lynch GW? Miller then goes to the Slimes editors/publisher and tells them about the sham. Then they go ballistic two summers ago to lynch GW.
Miller would have to go to jail rather than reveal that Plame/Wilson were friends and told her about their plot to destroy GW.
it will be an interesting read
Just for the record .. my head is spinning with all this news
Wasn't Judith Miller a pro-Iraq war reporter? I don't read the NY Times, well rarely, so I am not very familiar with her work. I know that I have read here on FR in the past that she seemed to support the war. Could it be that she has been fed false WMD information for years, and she wrote about it, fueling the fire against Saddam. Scott Ritter's 180 when we began preparations to go to war was so odd. Did the UN inspectors really destroy all the WMD (or most of 'em) and yet continue the facade that WMD remained in Iraq? Did the providers of WMD evidence suddenly feel the need to bring down a POTUS in order to cover up their years-long cries against Saddam. No doubt that Saddam had the WMD during the first Gulf War. However, who maintained an interest in Saddam continuing to be The threat against freedom lovers everywhere? Who totally missed the ball with OBL?
Now all my questions could be totally off the mark. And there could be perfectly good explanations for the whys and hows of this whole mess. It would be a very interesting book to follow from beginning to end. It's like a soap opera back when soap operas were fun to watch. (I admit that when I was in junior high and high school, I was addicted to a few.)
Chalabi was just there as a secondary confirmation for Judith Miller according to www.democracynow.org (a left-wing website).
Ms. Wilson, 42, whose husband said she has used her married name both at work and in her personal life since their 1998 marriage.
Furthermore, the real estate and property tax records of the couple's home going back several years list her name as Wilson, without the maiden name Plame, and as a second, separate name from her husband Joseph Wilson.
on August 12 and August 14, grand jury
subpoenas were issued to Judith Miller, seeking documents and testimony related to conversations between her and a specified government official "occurring from on or about July 6, 2003, to on or about July 13, 2003 . . . concerning Valerie Plame Wilson (whether referred to by name or by description as the wife of Ambassador Wilson) or concerning Iraqi efforts to obtain uranium."
When "Wilson's wife" donated to political candidates (she's been a Democrat like her husband), she listed herself as Valerie E. Wilson. Her donation in April 1999 to Gore gives her name "Valerie E. Wilson" and her employer cover Brewster-Jennings (previously reported and published).
Again, in October of last year, she donated under the name Valerie E. Wilson [occupation listed: "N/A/retired"].
Valerie Wilson is "The Spy Next Door" by WaPo's Richard Leiby and Dana Priest, page 1, October 8, 2003.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A58650-2003Oct7
"The sentencing of Judith Miller to jail for refusing to disclose her sources is the direct result of the culture of unaccountability that infects the Bush White House from top to bottom. President Bush's refusal to enforce his own call for full cooperation with the Special Counsel has brought us to this point. Clearly, the conspiracy to cover up the web of lies that underpinned the invasion of Iraq is more important to the White House than coming clean on a serious breach of national security. Thus has Ms Miller joined my wife, Valerie, and her twenty years of service to this nation as collateral damage in the smear campaign launched when I had the temerity to challenge the President on his assertion that Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium yellowcake from Africa.
The real victims of this cover-up, which may have turned criminal, are the Congress, the Constitution and, most tragically, the Americans and Iraqis who have paid the ultimate price for Bush's folly."
I had never read that WA PO article. They mention that the leak of Valerie Plame exposed a CIA front company in Boston and then go on to name it. This reminds me of the NYT recently exposing another CIA front company. I think that the presses Jihad against Karl Rove also extends to the CIA (other than Plame and a few significant other contacts).
Has anyone else noticed that however which way this story turns, there is a democratic hack behind it (Matt Cooper's wife, Valeria Plume herself helped Hillary CLinton, the NYT has endless hacks and receives the daily DNC talking points, Joe Wilson is a dem liar, etc). IF I were a conspiracy theorist I'd wonder if the Clinton smear machine didn't plot this out knowing the Wilsons were in gov't under the Bush administration and could use their loyalty to do just what has happened: trying to frame a high level Bush confidant in an effort to undermine the trust of the AMerican people towards this president.
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