perris @ 18

I for one want to discuss cheney’s bizarre claim that he didn’t send Wilson when in fact, he’s admitted that he did send Wilson

I want to discuss this too!

Cheney could not admit that he had found out way beforehand that he had evidence that the yellowcake claims were bogus, so he lied about knowing about Wilson’s trip. But it was reported on and it was reported to him. He was deflecting. See Below:

EPU’d from like two threads ago:

bellesouth @ 127

daveb @ 124

simp@17, wordsmith@64,Tap Duncan@106 and Redshift@81.

According to the SSCI report, Plame is responsible for suggesting that Wilson be sent. To say that she only conveyed the offer is wrong.

…however, interviews and documents provided to the Committee indicate that his wife, a CPD employee, suggested his name for the trip. The CPD reports officer told Committee staff that the former ambassador’s wife “offered up his name” and a memorandum to the Deputy Chief of the CPD on February 12, 2002, from the former ambassador’s wife says, “my husband has good relations with both the PM [prime minister] and the former Minister of Mines (not to mention lots of French contacts), both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of
activity.”

Great catch daveb! Where’d you find that! Cool.

Also, from the report to Grossman from Ford after Grossman asked Ford about the trip at the behest of Libby, Ford reports:

“In a February 19, 2002, meeting convened by Valerie Wilson, a CIA WMD manager and the wife of Joe Wilson, he previewed his plans and rationale for going to Niger but said he would only go if the Department thought his trip made sense (Tab 1). Both the memo of this meeting prepared by INR’s West AFtrica analyst (now in Pakistan) and other material indicate that the CIA believed the Ambassador and the Embassy were unlikely to ferret out the truth from their NIgerien contacts. INR strongly demurred from this view at the February 19 meeting. We have no record of any other INR written or personal contact with Wilson regarding Nigerien uranium.

The impetus for the Ambassador’s demarches in this period and the investigative trip by Joe Wilson (Tab 4 is the CIA account of this trip findings) was a “report of questionable credibility from a foriegn service.” This was INR’s conclusion in an assessment of March 1, 2002, entitled “Niger: Sale of Uranium to Iraq is Unlikely.” In a May 8, 2002 INR assessment of Iraq’s WMD and missle programs, we noted “There have been provocative allegations of Iraqi nuclear activities, such as an alleged contract for the provision of uranium from Niger, but we regard such information as questionable.”

However, Ford also states in this report that it is based on paper and electronic files and the recollections of those “at the margins”, not interviews with those that were actually present at the meeting. WHY??? “The two INR staff members who were most involved” (i.e. present at the meeting) ” are not here (one reassigned to Pakistan and another on leave) to guide us through these emails.”

Even these notes that Ford used are vague and clearly suggest that they were second-hand and written up well after the fact. They are not written by someone AT THE MEETING…but seem to be someone summarizing what they were either told or discerned from OTHER notes.

Exhibit DX71.5 appended to Ford’s assessment “Notes- Niger/Iraq Uranium meeting CIA 2/19/02″ opens with the odd statement “Meeting apparently convened by Valerie Wilson, a Cia Managerial type and wife of Amb. Wilson…”

“APPARENTLY CONVENED”?????

That desn’t appear to be the notes of someone who was present at the meeting? It seems that these are based on some other documents, and then these ambivalencies are written up by Ford as stating that Plame CONVENED the meeting.

And these selfsame documents were used by the SSIC!

Who has bothered to interview the CIA and others who were there? DID Plame convene the meeting? Did she lead the meeting? What does “convene” mean” (simply introduce her husband and give his bona fides/background?).

The references to Plame suggesting her husband for a mission seem to relate to the 1999 trip…not the 2002 trip. The SSIC does makes reference to confusion in the memories of some on this issue, I recall.

Is it just me or does the below quote lead one to believe that Ari was in fact Matt Cooper’s source (Cooper works for Time doesn’t he?)

“Fleischer said he again heard about Plame four days later aboard Air Force One from White House communications director Dan Bartlett. Bartlett was reading documents and began “venting” that reporters kept repeating Wilson’s claim that Vice President Dick Cheney sent Wilson on a fact-finding trip to Niger.

“His wife sent him,” Fleischer recalled Bartlett saying. “She works at the CIA.”

Fleischer said he relayed that information to reporters from Time magazine and NBC. A reporter from Newsweek magazine was also there but may have walked away, he said. The reporters paid no attention to the comment, he testified.”

No…it was Dickerson from Time that was reporting on the African trip. Cooper was back in Washington DC with Libby, Cheney, Martin. Dickerson says today that he wasn’t given such specific information…but I’m wondering if the other reporter(s) in their group have corroborated that Ari did say it. Perhaps Fitz is simply saving Dickerson from saying something on the stand that may end up in a perjury charge later. It would seem careless if Fitz didn’t have backup on Ari’s testimony. Of course, he wouldn’t put Dickerson on the stand if he thought HIS recollections were critical.

But Dickerson wasn’t called by the Defense either, I believe. Dickerson said that neither side interviewed him. Maybe there’s something that taints his testimony in some way? Is he a heavy drinker? Maybe he wasn’t close to the group the whole time?

It’s odd.

It’s not just the timing of the Ari-Libby lunch… There’s no reason why Libby would consider it to be “hush-hush” if he heard it from Russert.

And all the reporters knew it…in fact, it was just the talk of the Washington cocktail-party circuit!

How would it be helpful? We aren’t at a parent teachers conference. We are blogging online. You can address me as Neil. You can address Marcy Wheeler as EmptyWheel. Consider it a nickname like, well, Scooter.

Tweety may be having some health problems, he has saliva dripping down his chin.

umm…John, that’s not saliva.

I want to call into question the date when the Niger forgeries became of interest to the WH, it doesn’t seem to make sense. I can’t help but think that both Wilson’s were known to the WH investigative team for the upcoming wars. There is enough question that the operations of the Italians under Berlosconi, the Niger contacts and French involvement, Iraq and Iran WMD, uranium, forgeries….. The Wilson’s have a lot of independent connections to these events. There is much to call into question the WH fear that, one of the Wilson’s may know independently who created those forgeries, and other embarrassments.
Do remember the insistence of an important official denying knowing Mr. W, and there being video of them together about an important inter related event. Wilson’s op ed is Jan 2002. WH was asleep with a poor memory for over a year since his trip, so they didn’t know all about what he did via their channels. they had control over all the information coming in, and going out. no, they didn’t know the Wilson’s at all.

they are okay with destroying a working CIA operative and entire organization in Middle East
they are okay with invading Iraq and staying there, informing the Iranian’s we are coming for them.
they are okay with killing Iranian’s inside Iraq, and probably elsewhere. 500K dead later. lots of profits for defense and oil, lots of missing millions in payoffs.
you throw away the careers of two people that have been of immense service to the intelligence network for the area in which you concentrate now…..

seems like it started on day 1. almost a priority?