Posted on 09/30/2003 5:59:49 PM PDT by AntiGuv
The burgeoning flap over the leaking to the press of the name of a CIA agent - a clear and serious violation of federal law - is a serious, serious legal and political problem for the Bush White House.
Let us explore the numerous implications:
1) The facts: In July two high level White House aides called at least six DC reporters - one of whom was Robert Novak - to 'slime' whistle-blowing former US Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife, by revealing that she, Valeria Plame, is a CIA agent.
2) The CIA is furious over the 'politicization' of the identity of one of their agents. CIA Director George Tenet has asked the Department of Justice to investigate and bring criminal charges.
3) Former Ambassador Wilson - once appointed by the first President Bush and the last US Ambassador to meet with Saddam before the 1990 invasion of Kuwait - believes it was G.W. Bush's closest political advisor, Karl Rove, who either made or authorized the 'sliming' phone calls. Wilson is so angry over this lawbreaking that he has called for Rove to be arrested and "frog marched out of the White House in handcuffs."
4) The Bush White House was angry at Wilson for writing a July 1, 2003 op-ed piece in the New York Times explaining his Administration-authorized investigation into the 'Saddam tries to buys uranium from Niger' story. After shooting down that tale, Wilson was shocked to see the President make the same claim in this year's State of the Union speech.
5) Now, here is a key question: who in the White House was so angry with Wilson for 'blowing the whistle' that they authorized these six phone calls? Certainly no one can believe that low-level aides would even know that Plame was a CIA agent let alone feel free to have a concerted 'leaking campaign.'
6) Clearly whoever orchestrated this anti-Wilson campaign was looking for payback - payback for having the temerity to challenge the veracity of the President of the United States. But their anger took them over the edge into lawbreaking. Who in this disciplined, top-down, well oiled White House would read Wilson's op-ed and slam his fist down on the desk and proclaim, "That bastard is going to pay! What do we have on him? Let's get it out there!"
7) Whoever authorized the Plame leak could possibly go to jail for this willful act of lawbreaking. And those who actually called the six reporters could also go to jail - unless they cop a plea and rat out others.
8) Preliminary reports are that there is a great dissension inside the White House staff over this leak. Many are described as 'disgusted' at the outing of Ms. Plame.
9) There is still the question of whether or not the Ashcroft Justice Department will honestly investigate the Bush White House. Already Capitol Hill Democrats are calling for an Independent Counsel to do this investigation. But that law expired and has not been renewed.
10) Meanwhile over at the Langley HQ of the CIA, there is much disgust over the way they are always made the scapegoats by this White House. After all, CIA Director Tenet had kept the African uranium tale out of the Cincinnati speech last October that helped escalate the case for a pre-emptive war against Iraq. But if heads don't roll over the Plame leak, you can bet that CIA will leak things of their own about the Bush White House.
11) Leaking and blackmail have always been a part of governing inside the Beltway. But it has been one of this Administration's unexplained curiosities why President Bush has kept Clinton's CIA Director - especially after so many massive intelligence failures: 9/11; our failure to get Osama; our failure to prove the existence of WMD before the war; our failure to get Saddam; and our failure to find WMD in the six months since the end of the war.
12) Many have wondered if Tenet has 'something' on the Bushes. Now many more are wondering who made those six phone calls - and who authorized them?
13) We need to reverse things: if the Clinton White House had sold out an active-duty CIA agent as 'payback' for some whistle-blowing article, we would be outraged. This crime is no less serious because it was done in a Republican White House.
14) Long ago, in a piece entitled "Bush's Achilles Heel," I wrote that this Bush's weakness was the entire mystery, secrecy and sometimes-illegality of the intelligence community. This Plame leak now threatens to become a huge story - involving lawbreaking, revenge, abuse of power and the inevitable cover-up. Plus the 10 Democrats running for President and the media are going to have a field day with it.
15) Yep, 'tis true: payback is a bitch.
This makes no sense to me. I'm sure if someone wanted to slime this guy, they could have come up with something a lot more creative than 'outing' his wife. How does that qualify as a slime?
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 operators."
And the thlot plickens;)
Novak,when your in a hole,quit digging.
Why are you so sure it's a fact? We know about Novak and what he wrote. He denies the White House called. Who are the other five reporters? At this point your lead fact is meerly an accusation. I'm not sure who made it, but it certainly can not be stipulated as a fact. Everything else follows from this, so if it is shown to be just a baseless accusation then all the other facts in your post become meaningless and the scandel is over.
That sentence alone tells me all I need to know about Larry Johnson.
BTW...welcome to FR.</sarcasm>
I'm sorry, but this mini-bio is an oxymoron that casts doubt on Johnson's credibility.
"...and savage a stupid policy, an erroneous policy, and frankly what was a false policy of suggesting that there was nuclear material in Iraq that required this war."
And this passage indicates his motivation for his comments.
Cliff May (another reporter) has said that on at least two occasions he was told by political types (at least one of them a democrat) that Wilson's wife was in the CIA. If these people knew she was in the CIA in whatever capacity, don't you think that every intelligence agency in the WORLD knew it too?
At the very least he and his "Compromised Wife" should be prosecuted under the Logan Act for unauthorized Foreign Policy moves.
BTW, I'm not at all troubled by this...The STUPID Party learned something from the last eight years of the EVIL Party.
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