Good morning, again, from the media room of the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington, D.C.! Jane, Pach, and I had a pleasant morning cup of tea/coffee with the legendary Arianna Huffington, through whose assistance we are here in the first place. (Thanks!!) Ms. H. is in town for the day and couldn't pass up the opportunity to watch her longtime bete noire Tim Russert on the witness stand. She also shared with us the latest on her evolving relationship with Joe Klein, which perhaps she (or Jane?) will share later.
The accumulated forces of justice are gathering in the courtroom, so I expect we'll be under way soon. The media room is packed in anticipation of Russert's testimony. As always, before boarding the ride, you must not only be this tall (can you see how high I'm holding my hand?), you must read the ground rules…
NOTES: (1) This is not an official transcript — just a very loose paraphrase, at best — so don't treat it as one. Even exchanges that look like verbatim dialogue are just the gist of each question and each answer, with any key phrases or pauses included as best I can. (2) My own notes will be in parentheses and/or italics. (3) I'll tell you the time at the end of each update; expect about 15-20 minutes before the next one. The hamsters that run the servers will appreciate it if you don't refresh excessively in the meantime. (4) I didn't write the book on the Valerie Plame outing — but you should buy it, if you haven't already. If you're wondering who this "Swopa" character is, my previous writings on Plamemania can be found here.
Walton opens by discussing the issue of handing over to the defense the previously withheld affidavits filed on behalf of Tim Russert before an agreement was reached on providing his testimony to the grand jury. He thinks that the privacy issues that justified keeping them secret before are no longer applicable, so — even though he doesn't think there's anything notable in the affidavits — he's ruling that Fitzgerald has to hand them over to the defense. Fitzgerald doesn't protest much; he agrees to redact the portions he thinks still should be protected by grand jury secrecy rules, and he'll submit the redacted affidavits at the first break in testimony.
Walton also returns to a couple of articles (Articles 412 and 413) where he'd limited how much of them the prosecution could present to the jury as evidence. (This was brought up at the end of my last post last night.) Walton now sees the point of what Fitzgerald was arguing, so he's going to let them use more of the articles than he would previously. The defense objects, arguing that the prosecution hasn't established a foundation for providing the articles. Walton politely brushes this
Now they're bringing the jury in. It's 9:40.
We're now back in March 2004, with the replay of Scooter Libby's second grand jury appearance. When we left off last time, they were about to talk about Libby's July 12, 2003 phone call to Judith Miller.
Fitzgerald finishes the odd (and as-yet-unexplained) line of questioning of how many phones Libby has from which he can call, then gets Scooter to reiterate that, according to him, he did not discuss Joe Wilson's wife with Miller during their meeting on July 8th — only insta-declassified language from the National Intelligence Estimate justifying White House claims that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium from Niger. Fitz exhaustively walks Libby through his previously described steps of getting authorization to leak this information, since he was leery of giving out previously classified information. And that this was the first time he had passed this information along to a reporter.
Now Fitz pulls out a note to Scooter from Cathie Martin about his conversation with the NYT's David Sanger on July 2nd. (Uh-oh, Scooter.)
Sanger's name is misspelled on the memo, which causes chuckles in the media room, especially in the vicinity of the NY Times' representative.
Now Fitz has segued — I must have missed something — to when Scooter asked the VP about sharing information from Robert Novak's column outing Valerie Plame with reporters. Does he remember when, after the Novak column came out, you discussed this with the VP?
L: No.
F: But you do remember that you might haved discussed with the VP before the Novak column
L: Yes, might have discussed it on July 12.
F: Do you know if you spoke to the Wall Street Journal about the NIE before July 18th (when it was officially declassified)?
L: No, I didn't.
F: Do you know who did?
L: Secretary Wolfowitz did.
(Long discussion of WSJ article)
F: Did you send Wolfowitz any information for this article?
L: No.
F: Did you send him the redacted version of the NIE, or talking points, you showed to Judith Miller?
L: No.
(More discussion
F: The editorial says the information did not come from the White House, correct?
L: Yes.
F: The information came from Wolfowitz, with the approval of the White House, correct?
L: No (interrupts self) He told me he was going to give them information, yes, sir.
(F. brings up VP meeting with conservative columnists on July 17th or so — more efforts to get message out on uranium)
F: Was there discussion about Wilson?
L: We passed out already-declassified portions of NIE
F: What was your view of Wilson at this time?
L: That his argument had been refuted, for anyone who would look at the facts. (walks through WH spiel on this again)
F: Did you think that Wilson was making an honest portrayal of the facts?
L: In July 6 op-ed, he said he was open to correction, at this point I thought he should have seen that he was incorrect.
F: Do you think it was appropriate for him to go on that mission in 2002?
L: It's not for me to say.
It's 10:07.
F: You had joked about why CIA had to send an ambassador when we had one already
L: Just thought it wouldn't get additional information, though perhaps Wilson knew some people current ambassador didn't
F: Did you think he was selected because of nepotism
L: He seemed qualified to do the job (implies wife's role was irrelevant to him, since Wilson was qualified)
F: Did you think it was nepotism when Cheney told you about wife at CIA
L: No
F: Did you think it was abnormal to send Wilson
L: I didn't think it would be useful
F: Did you think there was an issue if he was or wasn't on the CIA payroll?
L: Seemed unusual for him not to be paid
F: Do you think that affected the weight CIA put on his advice
L: Maybe, but not definitively
F: What was VP's view
L: That Wilson was qualified to go to Niger, but probably wouldn't be helpful in learning about WMD
F: Did VP believe it was nepotism
L: I believe at times he had suspicions
F: Why do you say that?
L: He made brief comments about it
F: When?
L: (pause) in late July, early September
F: Why discuss it then?
L: People would come through, talk about issue in news
F: Why not discuss it earlier?
L: Just don't recall any discussions then, aside from what's in my notes
F: (asks several questions reiterating that L. doesn't remember any discussion at point X, Y, and Z in this time)
L: Think after Kristof, he expressed some unease about how Niger trip came about, and then after Wilson op-ed
F How soon after?
L: Don't recall
F: (shows Libby the copy of Wilson op-ed with Cheney's handwriting) Do you feel VP did this on July 6th
L: Probably, but VP was in Wyoming at the time, so I wouldn't have seen it when I walked into the office on Monday
F: Would it be in a stack of clippings, or just one or two
L: Just one or two
F: He writes, "Did CIA ever do anything like this?" Did he ask you this?
L: I think so, once.
F: When?
L: Don't know.
F: Ask you "send an ambassador to answer a question"?
L: Don't think so.
F: Ask you "did wife send him on a junket"?
L: Remember him not asking, but musing about it
F: When?
L: After Novak column
F: Would he have gone back after Novak column a week later to write concerns on Wilson op-ed?
L: Don't know
F: If he had these concerns before Novak column, he would not have mentioned them to you even as you discussed Wilson?
L: Discussed Wilson during that week, it's just the part about the wife I don't recall discussing during that week (chuckling in media room).
F: You didn't hear anything about Wilson's wife until Russert conversation, when you were surprised to learn it.
L: Right.
(F. walks through L. testimony about calling Russert to complain about Andrea Mitchell comments, then Chris Matthews. Pulls out OVP memo of some kind.)
F: Do you recall when you saw this?
It's 10:27.
(F. notes document is stamped "seen by VP," has written note that reports of Wilson's trip have been distorted by the press and Wilson.)
F: Did you feel Wilson was distorting his own report?
L: (hedges, I missed exactly how)
F: Did anyone speak up and say, "The story here isn't Wilson, it's just the trip"?
L: Don't recall.
(F. pulls out draft of WH uranium talking points)
L: I did not write this, someone else wrote it as talking points for me
F: In talking to who?
L: No one in particular, just generic
F: Did you use this?
L: Don't think I did (carps about mistaken name in document — Hadley where it should say Tenet)
In tape, the grand jury takes a break. Walton stops tape, and Fitz says it's time for a real break, too.
It's 10:36. New thread when we return.
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Fitz!!
FITZMAS !!!
And a shout out to Pach, Jane and Swopa, and Ms. Huffington the Fearless. Should be an interesting day, nah?
Super Swopa!
We have waited so long for this.
Pour the coffee/tea/HOT choc. and fasten seat belts. It should be a fun day.
THANK YOU TEAM FDL for all that you are doing for the cause of Truth, Justice, and The American Way!
Arianna, thanks so much for all your support of Jane, FDL, and America.
Gonna be a fun day of liveblogging. Go FDL and Godspeed.
When the server load gets high, as it DEFINITELY will later, you may wanna join some of us at a live-chat on another server, over at
http://gabbly.com/firedoglake.com
It’s a fun kinda chat-app. Rayne introduced it a few days back. Sometimes we get harrassed by hackers, in which case we retreat to a private redoubt. Others of us know how to get its URL to you without publishing it here.
C U over in chat-land, if you wanna join us. Remember, it’ll take some of the heavy load off the FDL servers while Timmeh is walking over hot FitzCoals later…
Heh, Ariana vs. Jokeline is looking to become even more fun than Ariana vs. Timmeh. But as I said at the end of the last thread (EPU’d??), we must all root for Timmeh this morning, because he is on the side of the angels today. So let us put aside, for today, our collective wish to see Timmeh humiliated, and pray for the jury to be struck with his veracity, reliability and clarity.
Pray hard.
New visitors to FDL liveblog of Libby Trial, please read
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Peterr wrote:
A few reminders to the regulars and words of welcome to newcomers. .
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Thanx
litigatormom @ 9
Yes Ma’am. Mumble, mumble, and bless Timmy too.
Well litigatormom@9, I think the very fact that Timmeh will have to say what he said to the GJ or be indicted himself for perjury is humiliating enough for me.
/Schadenfreude LOL
Timmy would do well to remember that Lassie will not be in the courtroom to save him.
For some theme music to accompany these fine efforts, I’d suggest pandora, using one of the songs suggested in Christy’s thread the other day to define a radio station.
Good Day to ya, Swopa!
Loved your video clip with Jane yestidie!
Flex those flying fingers, & off ya go! We’ll be sittin’ right by yer elbow.
Pach, Jane. Looking fwd to your pearls of wisdom. This is going to be a banner day. Hope Timmeh brought some xtra tissues, poor babe… ;->
twolf1 @ 10
As always, size matters.
Jane, just look at the camera when you do the TV spot!
Balrog @ 13
I was about to take a spoonful of cereal when I read this. Good thing it wasn’t out of the bowl yet or I would spilled all over. Gad, that was funny!!
Balrog @ 13
Sorry! This just HAD to be repeated! 707!
Waiting to watch Scooter’s nose grow…
Pinocchio hehe
neil @ 16
Very high “pith/byte ratio” — excellent :)
Boy, I would give ANYTHING for cameras in the courtroom today!!!!
excuse me Mr. Russert, would you mind stepping over to the security kiosk for a moment . . .
The cross of Timmeh should be verrrrrry interesting.
How can Wells impeach his
credibilitytestimony without making the whole of the establishment look bad.Is this going to be an instance of the defense resting quickly?
EPU’d
(mod- feel free to delete if this is not okay to post in trial thread)
Christy,
Haven’t been reading comments lately, so I don’t know if anyone else caught this, but fdl got a positive nod at Romanesko letters apropos of this thread’s subject.
http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=12237
Another good read is on the first page of letters, from ex-Faux-er Charlie Reina venting about the Obama madrassa thang and verifying everything we’ve always known about Faux.
twolf1 — thanks for posting the Road Rules!! Bit slow here this morning.
Cannot wait for slow-roasted Pumpkin. Mmm-mmm.
Arianna’s smackdown of Joe Klein had many Hamsher-esq qualities. Loved it!
Boo yah! The Libby annotated news articles are coming in. Can I hope that the LATimes will fianlly follow-up on their piece on the Libby “notebook” from last summer now?
Meet the Press in Hell
Russert: Mr. Christ, what do you say to accusations that you’re opposed to fighting a battle to bring about the end of all life on Earth because you’re an Anti-Semite?
Jesus: Well, first of all, I’d like to point out that I myself am Jewish—
Ann Coulter: Yeah! Just like George Soros. Another Jew who somehow figured out a way to avoid crucifixion.
Jesus: I WAS crucified! (DISPLAYS WOUNDS IN HANDS)
Michelle Malkin: Why don’t people ask him more specific questions about the nails in his hands and feet? There are legitimate questions about whether or not they were self-inflicted wounds.
Russert: What do you mean self-inflicted? Are you suggesting Mr. Christ crucified himself on purpose?
Michelle Malkin: Did you read the book by Barabbas and the Golgotha Veterans for Truth? Some of the thieves who were actually crucified have made allegations that these were self-inflicted wounds. more
Balrog @ 13
(Lassie enters in a tizzy)
“What’s that, Lassie? You mean Timmeh’s fallen into the Well Where He Must Tell the Truth?“
(Lassie paws the floor and nods her head sagely)
“Quick, we’ve got to get him outta there before he implicates the entire West Wing!!”
I’m looking forward to another day of following the trial — should be interesting today, if they ever finish the GJ testimony and get to Timmeh! I hope work doesn’t interfere. :)
Thanks again to everyone involved for all you’re doing. And thanks to Arianna for making this all possible. (My daughter’s name is Ariana, but with one “n.” And she’s also a redhead!)
At least Bush’s father was smart enough to issue pardons before the Iran-Contra trial started. George W. Bush is even dumber than anyone realized. Truly amazing.
Christy,
Just out of curiosity, how big is the media room and how many people are fitting into it?
History in the making, in the courtroom and on the blogs!
I’m just beginning to realize what a bunch of qualified folks these “pups” are, sincere apologies for not doing my homework on that matter, and my humble thanks for the chance to participate in the dialogue.
Maybe that’s what makes it so historic, that an everyday guy like myself and the other posters can interact in real time with the REAL experts, on issues that spring forth from this moment-by-moment malaise.
Great work,guys, and I’m SOOO jealous,( avery rare emotion for me), I wish I could be there with you in court (just in case, I type REAL fast, but you’d need a typo interpreter to make it legible.)
Swopa, you’re doing a great job, and Jane and Pach, your perspectives are wholehearterdly appreciated by those of us looking in.
S.O.S. from MA @ 30
ROFLMAO!!
Hey Marcy,
Just started reading your book, and it’s got me hooked just on the prologue.
The cover artwork is fantastic as well, has that “All the Presidents men” meets modern day treason intrigue look to it.
Fine job!
Hiya RevDeb.
I left a little note to ya downstairs, in re your lunchtime book-fetching plans. ;->
http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..ent-494385
Christy Hardin Smith @
28
now, that’s good news! heading for the car… keep up the good work!
Come now, come now. Let Timmeh have Lassie or whoever else he needs to convince the jury that Libby is a lying sack of shit.
Tweety has been having fun on Softballs with the fact that Libby called Timmeh to complain about him. I get the sense that he hates Timmeh as much as Timmeh hates him.
But today, Timmeh is our friend. Let us send him supportive vibes.
AZ Matt at 33 — It’s a decent sized room — well, actually two rooms, there’s a connected smallish room for spillover space. There are a series of rows of long, thin tables — like you get for a seminar set-up, and just about every space has been filled at one point or another with someone and their laptop. On the day of Opening Statements, it was a zoo — between the print and teevee folks and our small contingent of blogger types, but the level of attendance has varied depending on the witness of the day. I’d say on Opening Statements day we had a more than full room — maybe 35-40 people? (and that’s really a guesstimate, not including the very full media rows in the courtroom themselves, which was where I was after jury selection concluded). There is also a separate teevee media room where they can keep track of camera and equipment and talk back and forth with the production crew at the station and such.
Thanks Christy.
I do hope Fitz will allude to the fact that Cheney considers Timmeh to be a doormat.
Props to Arianna for shade-throwing on Joe Klein.
gary @
36
Thank you gary.
I too love the cover–did you figure out that the newsprint is Dick’s annotated copy of Wilson’s op-ed?
It was done by a guy named Josh Michels, in SF.
Heard Schuster last night say that the talk among the lawyeres is that the White House is damned lucky that they got Fitz prosecuting the case and that he’s a “conservative prosecutor”- other prosecutors have said “with that evidence I’d have filed conspiracy charges against the lot of em”!
Clusterfuck protected again by the power of the presidency.
litigatermom @ 39
Lassie’s credibility is beyond reproach.
What the matter, girl? Ruff, ruff.
You mean Scooter’s lying through his teeth? Ruff.
We’d better go get a grown up and see if we can save Brewster Jennings. Ruff, ruff, ruff.
It’s too late, girl? ruff.
And all the conservative publications like national review are publishing lies and deceptions to minimize the damamge caused by the administration and to obfuscate the truth. Ruff.
Let’s go get Patrick Fitzgerald. RUFF.
He believes that the truth is the engine of the justice system. ruff, ruff.
He’ll know what to do.
Niemptywheel @
43
Nice Marcy!
And the figure? She looks kinda familiar as well…..
“Fitzgerald doesn’t protest much; he agrees to redact the portions he thinks still should be protected by grand jury secrecy rules, and he’ll submit the redacted affidavits at the first break in testimony.”
Why didn’t the judge start this yesterday, at the end of the day, so Fitz’s crew had time to do this overnight?
Or is redacting an affadavit something of a quick edit job? Hard to imagine that would be the case but since IANAN, I can only speculate.
JEP at 34
you are wise beyond your years, grasshopper.
welcome to the circle.
don’t forget to check yer popcorn supply daily & replenish as necessary. ;->
Jane! Since the firedogworks have yet to begin, I feel I can express my appreciation for your “fashion sense” – Nice Chapeau! Very… French. And – is that a cape you are wearing in the video? Lovely – and daring as well!
Thank you so much for everything
Has anyone suggested the Fire Walk with Me defense yet? My money’s on Wells to show the entirety of Twin Peaks, and base the memory defense on blackouts while Thcooter was possessed by the evil spirit Bob.
JEP at 46 — My guess is that Fitz’s crew anticipated this as a possibility and already had a draft redact in the bank for today, just in case. They did motions on this last night, so they had to know this was a possibility, at the least.
> Why didn’t the judge start this yesterday,
> at the end of the day, so Fitz’s crew had
> time to do this overnight?
The in-court firedogger’s opinons yesterday were that Walton’s reflex was to favor the defense, but that they expected after he thought it over a bit he would agree with Fitzgerald. Which appears to be what happened.
Cranky
Out of curiosity, how was Sanger’s name misspelled? Was it ‘Snanger’? Check out this wikipedia edit where that typo was introduced along with some strange information.
Adie,
I got your message and have been talking up the book at church and to the book store people when I asked them to order it.
Direct link to Media Matters scathing article on the media, NY Times, Post et al.
Scooter Libby and the media debacle
neil k. @ 52
The “E” in David E. Sanger is for Ethelbert???? OMG!
FRom the AP writer. This was at HuffPo this morning.
We will see.
Badwater 32
sh-h-h-h
leave the boy be…. ;->
IIRC, Nina Totenberg on NPR this a.m. said that Russert is expected to testify that no such conversation ever took place. period. Libby had testified to the GJ that Russert and he had had a conversation wherein Russert told Libby about Valerie Plame.
Do I have this right?
We’re getting a little closer to the frog march…
JEP @ 46
Fitz had several versions ready in anticipation of traditional procedure or the judge’s decision based upon his/their arguments.
Leave no stone unturned…
RevDeb 54
Somehow I just KNEW that!
{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}
may i make one suggestion to the esteemed contributors who are doing such a marvelous job of documenting this courtroom drama: would you mind including at the top of every trial posting, some kind of masthead that defines the cast of characters who will be participating each day? while most of us should easily recognize who is who by last name alone, it might help for those of us who have been on short hiatus and are trying to make quick sense of the rapid-fire coverage.
just a suggestion.
GREAT JOB!
“F; Was there discussion about Wilson?
L: We passed out already-declassified portions of NIE”
Another obfuscation that seems to be left untouched when it might have been pushed…
If Libby had added a “No” to the beginning of his answer, it would be complete.
But his avoidance seems to me as if, in his mental chess game, he was instinctively dodging the threat of being charged with perjury: if he answered “yes” the question, he’s literally making an indirect confession, but answering “no” meant he might very well be challenged with contradicting testimony. Had Fitz pushed for a “yes” or “no” we might have another perjury charge.
And thanks, Christy for the clarification on the redacting, I couldn’t imagine how such a task could have been accomplished before the next break.
rwcole at 7:09 am
Are you saying that Fitz is ending the investigation after Scooter’s trial?
Christy.
Thanks for description of media room.
All this background stuff is fascinating and much appreciated.
We pups luv all the niblets.
For what it’s worth, C-Span is running a subscript regarding what is apparently in the GJ tapes yet to be played — namely that Libby will claim that the Wilson Smear was jointly planned by Bush, Cheney and Libby.
Reading it, my eyes popped and I had choaking sensations.
Sara @ 67
My eyes popped when I read your post. And they can’t get these guys on conspiracy charges?
hackworth at 59 — pretty much, although I believe there was a call from Libby to Russert to bitch about Matthews. But Russert has maintained that no discussion of Wilson or his wife took place, period. Should be an interesting day or two of testimony.
Sara @ 67: Libby will claim that the Wilson Smear was jointly planned by Bush, Cheney and Libby.
Let’s all pray hard for this to be true! (Because it obviously is…)
I believe what C-Span may be talking about is the joint decision to selectively release only those portions of the NIE which were favorable to the WH, to rebut the substantive allegations of Wilson’s arguments. If there is more than that, it WILL definitely be some news. And proving a conspiracy generally takes some taped conversations between the participants and/or one or more members of the conspiracy flipping on the others — because you need evidence of mindset and, to get it, you have to have some proof — notes, tapes, testimony — that there was a “meeting of the minds” to do whatever it was that was the object of the conspiracy.
SharonRB @ 68
They still can get these guys on conspiracy charges.
I think Fitzgerald is using the Libby trial to stir up all kinds of new information via testimony, etc. And the trial is giving Scooter more and more incentive to cooperate.
presque vu @ 50
HA!
The “E” in David E. Sanger is for Ethelbert???? OMG!
Ethelbert is an Old English given name that was popular cerca 1200 AD or so. IIRC, Ethelbert was a king or at least a high muckety muck in English aristocracy. The name Ethel for a man connotated strength or power in that era.
Someone had a knowledge of English history and nobility when giving Sanger this name as a child. Pretension, ostenticity or perhaps a dry wit may have been involved.
Woodhall Hollow @
56
I’m not at all sure that’s true. Someone may have been messing with the article.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOL…..lliburton/
Given what we know about VP Cheney’s direct financial ties to Haliburton, isn’t it clear that he has committed a fraud against the United States for the purpose of illegal financial gain, in accordance with the following statute? Couldn’t the same be said of any US official who knowingly made false statements to advance the cause of war, while owning shares of companies that stood to gain substantially from that war? Cheney was acting specifically on behalf of the Contractor, Haliburton, to ensure no-bid contracts were awarded, based on knowingly fraudulent information generated by his own Office Of Special Plans. It might also be construed that any official who had a relationship to the Carlyle Group was also lying on their behalf – for their own financial benefit.
Section 1031. Major fraud against the United States
(a) Whoever knowingly executes, or attempts to execute, any scheme or artifice with the intent -
(1) to defraud the United States; or
(2) to obtain money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, in any procurement of property or services as a prime contractor with the United States or as a subcontractor or supplier on a contract in which there is a prime contract with the United States, if the value of the contract, subcontract, or any constituent part thereof, for such property or services is $1,000,000 or more shall, subject to the applicability of subsection (c) of this section, be fined not more than $1,000,000, or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
(1) the gross loss to the Government or the gross gain to a defendant is $500,000 or greater; or
(2) the offense involves a conscious or reckless risk of serious personal injury.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/….._1031.html
The financial links between those who lied, and those who benefitted as a direct result of the lies (primarily in the oil and military industries) are clear. The evidence that the President’s speech knowingly included a lie about the Niger Yellow Cake is proveable in a court of law under oath.
That the Vice President knew for a fact that the claim was based on a forgery in advance of the President’s speech is a given. That he instructed others to ensure that the sentence made it into the speech is also a given. What did the Vice President know, and when did he know it?
Everytime the Vice President knowingly lied to the American People to advance the cause of war, he committed a crime against the United States which both directly harmed other US citizens and directly enriched himself.
Indict Dick Cheney for Fraud.
Adie;
I’m a grandfather…
I find it so unbelievable that all these media men and women were so gung ho on going to war that the fact that an agent was or was not outed, means nothing to them.
I guess we can safely say that not one of them have children overseas.
> Are you saying that Fitz is ending the
> investigation after Scooter’s trial?
Fitzgerald has maintained absolutely perfect “neither confirm nor deny” [1] security on this investigation/process. No one knows, either way, what is going to happen. There is no outward sign of a continuing investigation, and Fitzgerald himself said it was ‘pretty much wrapped up’. Against that is his statement that Libby ‘threw sand in his eyes’ and his history in past investigations of rolling up from the bottom (see Gov. Ryan).
This question is a roersch blot on which everyone can project their own hopes and fears.
Cranky
[1] The Air Force’s phrase concerning the location of nuclear weapons.
Sara @ 67
When did he say that? At the very end, when he went back for the fifth time?
Closing down our best source of covert intelligence on WMD in the Middle East by making its covert status public – during a time of war – is akin to revealing troop movements and positions to the enemy – during a time of war.
It’s TREASON on it’s face.
Doing so for POLITICAL reasons is IMPEACHABLE.
BUSH, CHENEY, ROVE & LIBBY all knew that Plame was a covert agent – and a key enemy if their lies were to succeed. Everyone in the WHIG knew. They all conspired to prevent the truth about WMD from being made public
When referring to Wilson, each of them at one time or another referred to him as “a Democrat.”
That’s POLITICAL.
That’s ILLEGAL.
Fitzgerald finishes the odd (and as-yet-unexplained) line of questioning of how many phones Libby has from which he can call…
For multiple simultaneous phone conversations when you don’t want to conference call.
Bring it on, Fitzgerald.
while we wait -
rwcole -
looking for most recent POTUS JAR by state – doesn’t look like SurveyUSA has done an update in some time – ya got anything ? thnx!
Ace;
I’ve been blogging profusely here and elsewhere that a Cheney impeachment would be the most cost-effective way to sort all this out, just lump everything into the VP’s office, because since the very beginning most of us knew that is the nexus of evil in the Bush gang was the VP.
A Cheney impeachment would act as an umbrella for almost ALL the guilty parties to fit under. Its hard to imagine anyone on the short list who wasn’t directly answering to Cheney.
I do so enjoy these blog events, but instead of lining up all the minor players and spending millions step-by-step just to prove Cheney’s the guilty manager, why not cut to the chase and put old deadeye Dick in the hotseat.
Or is he immune?
watching from the sidelines. Go, team!
Wolfowitz ( according to Former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O’Neil in Suskinds book “The Price of Loyalty (a must read) Wolfowitz and Cheney are the main architects of the catastrophe in Iraq). Wolfowitz(as well as Fleisher) walked out the back door now Fitz may march him back through the front door!
I do I do I do believe in Frog Marches!
L: Discussed Wilson during that week, it’s just the part about the wife I don’t recall discussing during that week (chuckling in media room).
Innocent by reason of insanity :)
ace @ 80
I hope you are right!
This CONSPIRACY is part of THIS CONSPIRACY:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/…..ug2005.htm
COUNT ONE
Conspiracy to communicate National Defense Information
This was the Franklin/AIPAC spy trial indictment. Franklin had a desk inside the WHIG during the planning for the invasion of iraQ. Franklin was the point man for classified material regarding iraN. He passed it on to agents of Israel.
They were already working on the IRAN segment of WWIII at the time they were planning the IRAQ invasion and creating the LIES to enable the PNAC strategy.
IT’S ALL THE SAME CONSPIRACY.
INDICT EVERY SIGNATORY OF THE PNAC FOR CONSPIRACY.
Rayne – here ya go;>
Where is that report about the effects of Plame’s outing on U.S. National Security. Has it ever been completed or released? Will the public ever know?
I do so enjoy these blog events, but instead of lining up all the minor players and spending millions step-by-step just to prove Cheney’s the guilty manager, why not cut to the chase and put old deadeye Dick in the hotseat.
Or is he immune?
Deadeyes: You’re out of line with that. Your question is out of line. Out of line. Go F**k Yourself!
No doubt this qualifies as a “dumb question” to some, but I’ll ask anyway: If the minutae of testimony in this trial clearly shows Libby to be part of a wider misinformation and coverup crime and Fitz refuses to issue indictments on that, is there a “citizen’s arrest” process on the Federal level whereby a criminal complaint can emanate from, uh, us?
Does anyone know why one of the wingnuts’ myths about Plame is that she was outed by Aldrich Ames? Ames started talking to the Soviets in 1985, and Plame was in officer training school in ‘85-86. If she was a brand new spy, how would she make it onto Ames’ list?
Just curious. I’ve been reading too much Clarice. God help me.
cbl — it didn’t work, sorry, try this – mail me.
rayne_today [at] yahoo [dot] com
At what point do we have enough evidence for Fitz to indict DeadEye on conspiracy? Christy, do you think you’ve seen enough yet?
The Twin Towers were a $15 billion Asbestos liability of Halliburtons as a direct result of then-CEO Cheney’s acquisition of Dresser and its liabilities.
That story about Halliburton acquiring the asbestos liabilities of Dresser Industries raises an interesting point…
Cheney KNEW that Dresser had the most massive liability issue on planet earth (he had to have known) yet decided to pay good money to bring Dresser’s problems under Halliburton’s tent.
This raises the question…who were the largest shareholders of Dresser – in need of a lifeboat to save their own personal bacon? Anyone named Bush? Anyone named Carlyle?
The deal went like this:
Cheney agrees for Halliburton to take on the Dresser asbestos liability.
It is determined that Bush and Cheney will be (s)elected, and that the PNAC plan will be implemented – using 9/11 as the essential pretext.
Ken Lay plays his role using his Enron smoke and mirrors tactics to create a faux energy crisis in California, causing the public to demand an energy-savvy administration be elected.
With the asbestos liability and other matters hanging in the balance, the election of 2000 simply had to be rigged in order for the plan to go in to effect.
Following the appointment of Bush and Cheney, the secret energy planning meeting established which oil companies would reap the rewards of the pending invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran.
The timing and the pretext were predetermined, and 9/11 was greenlighted for 9/11/2001. Cheney outsourced the implementation to Mossad, and ran the show from his bunker on D Day under the cover of preplanned drills simulating the exact attack that was proscribed, with NORAD as coconspirator. At least 50 administration officials and countless foreign agents were in on it.
Once the entire charade was concluded, the Administration generally, and Cheney specifically, had every reason in the world to blame Iraq.
The Afghanistan mission could not provide Halliburton with enough revenue to offset the massive asbestos liability claim. Iraq and Iran are essential wars in order to provide cover for the infusion of the billion of TAX DOLLARS necessary to both profit Halliburton for its actual work AND cover the massive asbestos liability claims.
Now you know why Halliburton was awarded the contracts without the need to bid for them. This was all prearranged.
NOTE: Private enterprise pushed its legal/financial obligations onto tax payers using war as the excuse.
The asbestos liability claims of Dresser Industries were ultimately paid by you and me, and our troops in the field, all to ensure that the investors in Dresser didn’t take the multibillion dollar loss.
Just one piece of a very large CONSPIRACY.
Vapors time, the media are worrying that the little girls will be devastated about the astronaut in diapers. Their role model, someone to look up to.
How about a woman who’s serving her country, risking her life and the lives of others to keep us all safe, being outed by her own government? How’s that for the little girls????????????
> If the minutae of testimony in this trial
> clearly shows Libby to be part of a wider
> misinformation and coverup crime and Fitz
> refuses to issue indictments on that, is there
> a “citizen’s arrest” process on the Federal
> level whereby a criminal complaint can emanate
> from, uh, us?
That is called “impeachment”. So far, your elected representatives have not seen anything that convinces them that impeachment is politically possible and/or conviction is legally possible.
Much as I would like to see Mr. Cheney squirming under oath, my thought as a citizen is that we already have one set of wreakers trying to subvert the principles of the Constitution – let’s not follow them down that road. As painful as that may be short-term.
Cranky
rwcole @ 44
I’m glad you brought that up, RW, and I’m glad Schuster brought it up. I’ve said a number of times that, although Fitz is absolutely scrupulous and a big improvement over Ken Starr, he may be too scrupulous for my blood. Like the other prosecutors, I would have much preferred to see him charged the lot with conspiracy, as I believe Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski would have.
JEP 77
I’m a grasshopper, with a medicare card.
{{{{{{peace}}}}}}
Christy Hardin Smith @
71
How about a cooperative Libby and 250 “misplaced” e-mails?
Prairie Sunshine @ 98
For Republican girls, their role models are the Bush twins.
Ace @97
Okay, now you’re really scaring me! Not that much of this is new, but seeing it all set forth in such a straightforward, logical manner makes it even scarier.
I can’t wait to read “Crossing the Rubicon.” I’m sure it will give me nightmares, though.
Are we still on a break? I don’t see a new thread.
ace said:
The Afghanistan mission could not provide Halliburton with enough revenue to offset the massive asbestos liability claim. Iraq and Iran are essential wars in order to provide cover for the infusion of the billion of TAX DOLLARS necessary to both profit Halliburton for its actual work AND cover the massive asbestos liability claims.
Would not any asbestos liability claims be moot once the asbestos towers were destroyed?
Speaking Cheney’s advice for f-ing oneself, wasn’t Leahy one of the targets of the anthrax scare?
I’ve always fantasized that was the event Cheney was planning on building into a terrorism fear-wave, not 9-11.
But when the towers fell, he was already conveniently cocked with a response to the anthrax scare, so it was quite a simple matter.
All of Bush’s political capitol was made in one big deposit on 9-11. If not for Bin Laden, Bush would have been the worst one-term president in history, but Bin Laden made him the worst two-term president in history.
Just food for thought. I’ll try to stay on thread henceforth.
Christy or Marcy, could one of you who are in the know talk about the obstruction of justice charge. Fitz has been all over the lying charge, but I’m not seeing much that points to obstruction. The mantra that “it’s not the crime but the coverup that gets ya” and the lying points to the coverup, right? But somewhere I read speculation that Fitz knows who committed the crime (outing a NOC), but because Scooter wouldn’t give them up, that’s why he is charged with obstruction. Somewhere there must have been someone who knows who is guilty of outing Valerie, but Fitz is holding him/her back else how would the prosecution know?
lina @ 95
He supposedly gave the Soviets the names of all of our NOCs. Clarice is arguing that since the Soviets knew (she thinks), Plame couldn’t be “outed” a second (or third, or fourth, etc) time. No one is seriously buying this.
Adie 101;
I guess we’re both proof that the blogs aren’t just inhabited by the kiddies.
ccmask @
78
Every once in awhile, I can’t help wondering how journalist David Bloom’s widow feels about all this whitehouse intrigue being revealed, the lying and all… Just makes me sick.
Hey, Christy, did you see this by Tom Maguire (linked by Jeralyn at TalkLeft)? He’s making fun of you.
With that as background, let’s have some ex post hilarity at the expense of Christy Hardin-Smith, a former prosecutor and current Bush-loather (so guess where her sympathies lie?).
In Ms. Hardin-Smith’s world Special Counsel Fitzgerald walks on water except on those occasions when he elects to spread his angel wings and fly. So let’s open the time vault and have Ms. Hardin-Smith tell us how Fitzgerald cracked the cover-up of the June 23 meeting:
The beauty of being a Federal Prosecutor with a mind like a steel trap and a loyal staff of lawyers and investigators is that you have all the means at your disposal to try and track down every single piece of evidence: every scrap of paper, every note, every receipt, every entry log every photo, everything you can get your hands on, before ever asking a question of anyone on the record in court.
……
Yeah, yeah, my daughters swoon for Orlando Bloom, so I am familiar with the sentiment.
Anyway, the defense has introduced an exhibit highlighting Fitzgerald’s monumentally insightful detective work, to wit, Libby’s calendar for June 23, 2003. Ms. Miller was scheduled for a half hour at 3:00.
Evidently Mr. Steel Trap was able to infer from that subtle clue that Libby had a meeting set up with Judy, and well done!
Too bad Mr. Steel Trap had not asked for Armitage’s calendar for June – he would have noticed Bob Woodward’s name, and maybe even asked a few useful questions.
Oh, well. The Evil Impulse has passed (I hope…). And lest you wonder – I was siding with Jeralyn Merritt against the “Judy Is Sooo Busted” meme even back in the day.
> He supposedly gave the Soviets the names of all
> of our NOCs. Clarice is arguing that since the
> Soviets knew (she thinks), Plame couldn’t be
> “outed” a second (or third, or fourth, etc)
> time. No one is seriously buying this.
Even if true (and who knows, but I doubt it) neither the Soviets nor the their Russian successors would have had any incentive to tell anyone about B-J/Plame’s activities. The Soviets because they played their nuclear spying cards very close to the vest, and the Russians because they were (and probably still are) even more concerned about nuclear proliferation than we are.
Cranky
hackworth @ 106
Congress passed legislation in 2001 before 9/11 which immunized asbestos manufacturers, installers, etc. from liability in a way which got Halliburton off the hook for their asbestos company acquisitions. First I’ve read this particular 9/11 theory, but such action would have been unnecessary.
SharonRB @
104
HOW IS THE WAR IN IRAQ TIED TO 9/11 AND HALLIBURTON’S ASBESTOS LIABILITY?
ASK DICK CHENEY THE QUESTION!
BUSH ORDERED THE LIE…
PEOPLE ARE DYING:
LEVELS OF ASBESTOS
A statement about discovery of asbestos at higher than safe levels in dust samples from lower Manhattan was changed to state that “samples confirm previous reports that ambient air quality meets OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standards and consequently is not a cause for public concern.”
Language in an EPA draft stating that asbestos levels in some areas were three times higher than national standards was changed to “slightly above the 1 percent trigger for defining asbestos material.”
This sentence was added to a Sept. 16 news release: “Our tests show that it is safe for New Yorkers to go back to work in New York’s financial district.” It replaced a statement that initial monitors failed to turn up dangerous samples.
A warning on the importance of safely handling ground zero cleanup, due to lead and asbestos exposure, was changed to say that some contaminants had been noted downtown but “the general public should be very reassured by initial sampling.”
http://www.commondreams.org/he…..823-03.htm
COLLEGE STUDENTS DYING FROM INHALED ASBESTOS:
http://www.bupipedream.com/pip…..hp?id=3259
ALL SO HALLIBURTON COULD REMOVE THE WTC ASBESTOS LIABILITY FROM ITS BOOKS:
The WTC was a $15 billion HALLIBURTON liability.
HALLIBURTON HAD ACQUIRED DRESSER TO SAVE THE BUSH FAMILY FROM THE LOSING POSITION IT WAS STUCK IN…all because of the pending Asbestos law suits:
GW included the issue in his State of the Union speech in 2005.
“To make our economy stronger and more competitive, America must reward, not punish, the efforts and dreams of entrepreneurs. Small business is the path of advancement, especially for women and minorities, so we must free small businesses from needless regulation and protect honest job-creators from junk lawsuits. (Applause.) Justice is distorted, and our economy is held back by irresponsible class-actions and frivolous asbestos claims — and I urge Congress to pass legal reforms this year.”
McCain Says Major Financiers Will Back His 2008 Bid
December 15, 2006
One of the most prominent on the list of finance committee co-chairmen is the head of the New York Stock Exchange, John Thain. Mr. Thain, whose title is CEO of NYSE Group, Inc., previously served as president and CEO of Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
A New Jersey-based investment banker deeply involved in fund-raising efforts for the 2004 Republican convention, Lewis Eisenberg, is signing on with Mr. McCain. Mr. Eisenberg is a former Goldman Sachs partner who served as chairman of the Port Authority board at the time of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
WHAT A COINCIDENCE!
It was Eisenberg who passed the $15 billion Asbestos Liability represented by the Twin Towers onto Larry Silverstein, the man who confessed publicly to having Building 7 “PULLED” by explosives – despite the fact that no plane struck it:
Rescuer 2: “Keep your eye on that building, it will be coming down soon.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr5TxKTMRx0
LISTEN to the firefighters and police:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnbpz9udYus
Listen to the owner:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYaUeGvYYxc
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Kathleen @ 92
It’s never been made public. The CIA has said that a formal report would not be done until after any litigation is complete, since the formal report would be subject to discovery. I would imagine that an INFORMAL report of some sort was done immediately. Given that the CIA has been run by Bush cronies since Tenet left, and given that Bush thinks he can insta-declassify anything he wants, we can assume that any assessment, formal or informal, will say something other than, “No harm, no foul,” because if that were the case, we’d have heard about it already.
JEP @ 64
I have to agree, notwithstanding the very high esteem I have for Fitzgerald’s examination skills. The Libby transcript is strewn with such non-responsive answers screaming for follow-up. (But then, as an appellate lawyer I know how easy it is to see them when sitting comfortably in my office reading a transcript, and as a former tiral-level litigator I know how hard it is to make those calls on the fly.) One other thing struck me, especially about the first GJ appearance by Libby: Fitz fell into the trap of asking a lot of “Do you recall …?” questions, in instances where he had the goods (documentation that showed that Libby had in fact engaged in a conversation on the subject of Wilson’s wife with particular persons on particular dates). The reason that is something of a trap is that “Do you recall …?” is a very soft question that supplies the witness with the dodge. The simple reply “No” is perfectly responsive and very hard to prove to be a lie. Whereas the straight up question, “Did you or did you not discuss Wilson’s wife with X on date Y?” calls for a statement as to the historical facts. Of course the witness can use the “I don’t recall” dodge — the perjurer’s friend — but the question doesn’t at least supply the dodge for the witness.
All that said, Fitzgerald’s overriding purpose in eliciting testimony before the grand jury was to get at the facts, not necessarily to set up a perjury prosecution. But I think it should have been quite evident to Fitzgerald before he started examining Libby that he had a slippery eel on his hands (and I think his questioning quite clearly shows that he did not believe Libby).
That’s all the armchairmondaymorninggeralingquarterbacking I’ll engage in. I am otherwise and overall quite awed by the lawyering on Fitz’s part.
He left AF2 for a plausible excuse… also to end run transparency and oversight…the key fact was that he used a cell phone w/Miller.
(yesterday)
Because Chalabi is more or less known a double agent, he’d be no stranger to roving wiretaps, and be familiar with how to steal frequencies/hide their use…
That is why Judith Muiller was such a danger, he could use her as eyes and ears into the Intelligence Community…
by way of roving wiretap…all he would need is a tech geek(dime a dozen) to hook him up…
Fitz established that Libby did disloce NIE yesterday…
he used a narrow designation in his question… ‘the text’ of the NIE…
today he will probably show Libby talked the same specific points on background in summary form across the board… touching back on points all along the line of winesses, the entire disclosure/timeline will touch multiple points again…
Remember anything said to Miller in presence of a cell phone compromised the Intelligence COmmunity re: CHalbi’s access to her…
the WIN{PAC reference did 3 things for Libby
1)Plausible context, a half lie inserted instead of a whole lie, goes along with the “misquoted/misremembered” line of defense…
2)WINPAC reference was a shot across the bow, as Amb.Wilson notes, to anyone else was thinking of whistleblowing, specifically in that named department…
3)it was an intimidation tactic, towards standing WINPAC members who were trying to resist the John Bolton Stovepipe that was horizontally coordinated lie campaign re:WMD
2day-
Walton is letting articles be used… Libby wants to run from the statements of record they made in their slim campaign vs. Wilson…keep it to what he says in court… no such luck.
The NIE in no way backed the Niger hoax, why does Libby keep reiterating these points by cherrypicking NIE out of context?
Fitz goes back 6 days before that on a Libby note to Martin re:Sangler-NYT
He talks Wilson with WSJ on the 2nd, and meets with Journalists on the 17th re: Wilson’s op-ed on the 6th, but tries to say he didn’t talk about the relevant Plame info until the 12th?
Fitz wrapped that lie all around Libby.
Wolfowitz leaked, with WH approval, according to Libby.
Subpoena his comb!
He says it didn’t come from Wh(YES) then he admits to talking with Wolfowitz”He told me to give them the information, yes, sir.”
“L:We passed out already declassified portions of the NIE”
that is his fallback, but the NIE never supports their claims…
Hadley is a reference in one evidence piece, Libby says the name should be Tenet… that seems like pretty important distinction, was such a way around procedure, was that simply flimsy oversight why Tenet okays the ’slam dunk’ statement(the background of valid INTEL, not the specific quote) after the fact?
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Remember one of the reasons the administration and the press were so cozy–and the main reason that they were able to get away with this bullshit–is because they had huge support from the public after 9/11. IMHO It appears that the press meekly followed the VP’s lead based on the President’s approval ratings.
Please remember Swopa’s reminder that “it’s not a transcript.”
pol at 112 — Jeebus — that’s a VERY old post. Maguire must be desperate to whine about something if he’s digging that far back in the archives.
L: Don’t think I did (carps about mistaken name in document — Hadley where it should say Tenet)
Hey, thanks Mr. Forgetful
Fresh thread from Swopa.
IANAL, but Fitz didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. If Fitz had gone for more right away, this trial wouldn’t be happening. The WH would still be bogging this down in CIPA (Classified Information Procedures Act) hearings. That would also require Fitz to tip his hand to Cheney and Bush. Fitz put the Governor of IL in jail for handing out false driver’s licenses. You might want to go back and read Fitz’a PC when the indictment came down.
neil @ 45
Oh why can’t I recommend? Buttons button where are the buttons?????
Sebastian @ 116: Fitzgerald’s overriding purpose in eliciting testimony before the grand jury was to get at the facts, not necessarily to set up a perjury prosecution
Thanks for the educated and insightful comment, I’m sure you’re more than welcome to add to the discussion any time at all.
CHS @ 119-
of course they’re desperate, their world is crumbling about them…
They’ve spentthe last couple years defending Scooter with stuff like ‘he’s too smart to lie”, and now there’s more and more evidence coming out that he did lie…
JEP @
110
kiddies at heart, but with a purpose, and a deep anger at the moment, and a resolve to take back our country? youbetcha!
Yes, Ames began his operations in 1985, but he was still in business when arrested in 1993. Since we really know very little about Valerie Plame Wilson’s work, (for instance was she ever involved with operations against the Soviet Union where Ames might have had reason to know about her NOC status and work?) we really cannot reasonably speculate whether Ames could have sold her identity to the Soviets. I suspect we can be certain CIA knows, as they influenced the decision to let Ames plea bargain his certain death sentence for life and a very thorough in depth de-briefing.
But “outing a NOC” means making identity public, it clearly is not the same thing as dealing in the dark alleyways of the spook world.
L: Discussed Wilson during that week, it’s just the part about the wife I don’t recall discussing during that week (chuckling in media room).
Seems they chuckle at every blatant lie. It’s like a truth geiger counter, when the mutual press snickers, you know Libby’s lying.
Again, my children were better liars than old Scoot, tossing that “just the part about the wife” qualifier on the end of the sentence was transparently desperate, and actually referred to the matter Libby was trying to avoid at all costs.
I bet Libby’s lawyers were rolling their eyes when they read this after the GJ testimony came out in print.
What ace@97 states makes a kind of logical sense. Money has never had any particular compunction against exploiting the cultural and legal loopholes with respect to harm and violence. Take the economies of tobacco, alcohol, asbestos, slavery, war, etc.
What we have in this administration is an example of the resentment of this kind of business against the rule of law. And the difficulty in correcting this trend and establishing precedent toward civility will be the compelling cultural investment in a war on terror and the special position war holds within the Constitution. But maybe brick by brick the new Congress will be able to show the money trail (like the story of 12 billion dollars in stacks of $100 bills disappearing in Iraq that Bremer told yesterday, for instance).
Otherwise the corporate global establishment will continue to keep its books off shore in a strategy to evade the jurisdiction of the Courts of the United States and accountability to the rule of law. Guantanamo is of course an effort to establish this right.
The circumstances offer a profund challenge.
Frank Probst @ 115
Alternatively, given the way the initial information about Valerie’s status was treated at 1600 PA Ave, the career folks at the CIA may have given a simple, verbal report “it hurt a lot, especially in the Middle East” and then told the WH to stuff it when they asked for details. “Details? You can’t handle the details!”
Kathleen@87
Do you think Wolfowitz (OSP) made the Mar 8, 2003 DIA ‘concurrence’ Memo happen?
This was the Memo that ‘confirmed’ the Feb CIA Analysis Memo that ’shape-shifted’ Wilson’s Report to SUPPORT the Uranium Claim that it actually DEBUNKED.
By getting DIA to ‘confirm’ the Feb CIA Analysis Memo, two weeks before the Invasion, Cheney had established a SECOND STREAM of Intell that (fraudulently) INDEPENDENTLY SUPPORTED the Uranium Claim to re-justify the 16-Words after the IAEA declared the original Intell for the 16-Words to be forgeries.
So, Cheney leaned on the CIA for the ’shape-shifting’ Analysis Memo, and then leaned on Wolfowitz to produce the DIA ‘confirmation’ Memo.
And off to War we went on the strength of the fraudulently DOCTORED and fraudulently ‘CONFIRMED’ re-interpretation of the Wilson Report.
It took Cheney a while to realize that the report he had DOCTORED at the CIA and had CONFIRMED at the DIA was Wilson’s Report, but when he did – his Talking Points narrow down to just one thing – Get Joe Wilson.
Why? Because Joe KNEW from the SOTU forward that BushCo was ‘twisting’ HIS intelligence to SELL THE WAR – Joe Wilson SAW TREASON AFOOT in the highest offices in the land!
He had to be smeared – they had no choice.
If she was outed by Ames circa ‘85 to ‘94, she could not have continued to work overseas for CIA. I don’t know where they (Clarice, et. al.) get their information.
Thanks once again FDL for a job well done. I hope your evenings at Plame House are restful you must be exhausted after a day of live blogging. Stay healthy we need to see the truth as it unfolds. Yesterday I got the chance to inform one of my employees why this nation has become a pariah in the eyes of the world. She wanted to know what pariah meant so I told her. She was shocked to think this could be so because we have ‘helped’ so many nations become free. Then I let her know in no uncertain terms what was really happening including the Libby trial. Thanks again for your outstanding coverage.
Ed*ard Teller @ 94
Yes! It’s called a Congressional Investigation, from whence Impeachments come!
Cranky Observer @ 99: Ever heard of justice? That same argument was used re Richard Nixon. He should have been prosecuted after leaving office.
lina @ 133
FreeRepublic.com
lina at 133 — Barbara Comstock?
I think we’ve all known it but my gut about who people are told me from the beginning that this was an “idea” that embodies this administration and that the pres needs to go down with the crew. It was a hatched plan by all of them and Cheney’s notes make that clear. Fitz will get them all…damn his patience and bless his patience.
They are all coming down. God I have been talking about this case for 3 years to my colleagues who are educated but just didn’t see it in the media. They didn’t follow my investigative leads and so no one will believe me until it finally hits the news that the administration is being charged with conspiracy. In my neck of the woods…cause I stuck my neck on that block WAY too early…vindication won’t take place until the charges for conspiracy come.
I pray…that vindication will come.
J. Thomason @
131
Indeed. And the challenge is only made worse by the fact that so many are sucked into that same lust for powe4r and greed tube — glorified by media (news, advertising, movies, etc.) and by Bush himself when, as a nation in shock his words of comfort were to “go out and shop.”
When we return to the idea (at least in more measure than we have in years) that virtue and value is in the work one does rather than the money one makes (especially the CEO’s), then I can see the US possibly getting back on track. Until then, sad to say, I can only see the US continuing the path it has since Reagan. We’ve claimed to bring “democracy” and “right” and “justice” to places where we previously supported despotic governments, allowed (nay, SUPPORTED) repression of the working classes and sought to discredit or kill those who opposed our efforts. The vast majority of these “efforts” were conducted on behalf of large corporations — i.e. “follow the money.”
I wonder what would happen if we stopped subsidizing the tax breaks for the corporations and the wealthy by not paying federal taxes one year. Hmmmm. Yeah, I know, I’m dreaming. (sigh)
I’d like to hear Wolfowitz testify as to who authorized him to leak NIE info.
I stil wonder why Armitage admitted to outing Plame. Does he have inoperable cancer or something?
Clearly those who were part of the effort to out Plame and discredit Wilson were banking on the idea that when authorized by the Prez or VP that it was declassified and that the official process didn’t have to be exercised so long as Dubya said it was declassified (insta-declassification). That will probably have to be tested in the Supreme Court.
9/11 asbestos telling New Yorkers it was safe to breathe =
incredibly horrible
W truly is the worst American president since Jefferson Davis and the worst dictator since forever.
Yet, the Congressional Dems know they couldn’t get him convicted in the Senate (see anti-Iraq War resolution anti-filibuster vote).