Sep 13 2006
Armitage Is Not Being Truthful
I had been waiting to see what would fall out of the Armitage interveiws with DC reporters because it was clear Armitage or Novak were not being completely truthful. Armitage has been quoted as saying “his wife works at the CIA” or something vague to that effect. But Novak’s article exposing Val’s role in the Niger caper had much more detail in it. Novak had said he got the info from his ‘source’ so clearly there was more said by someone to Novak. And it looked like Rove was just a confirming source with the “I heard that too” comment. So I was wondering what was up. Now Novak is now coming out gunning for Armitage (H/T Drugde}:
Novak, attempting to set the reocrd straight writes: “First, Armitage did not, as he now indicates, merely pass on something he had heard and that he ‘thought’ might be so. Rather, he identified to me the CIA division where Mrs. Wilson worked, and said flatly that she recommended the mission to Niger by her husband, former Amb. Joseph Wilson. Second, Armitage did not slip me this information as idle chitchat, as he now suggests. He made clear he considered it especially suited for my column.”
Novak slams Armitage for holding back all this time.
Armitage’s silence for “two and one-half years caused intense pain for his colleagues in government and enabled partisan Democrats in Congress to falsely accuse Rove of being my primary source,” Novak explains.
“When Armitage now says he was mute because of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s request, that does not explain his silent three months between his claimed first realization that he was the source and Fitzgerald’s appointment on Dec. 30. Armitage’s tardy self-disclosure is tainted because it is deceptive.”
In fact lots of things are not being explained. For instance, why was Marc Grossman the first one to get the memo outing Valerie from Carl Ford, but then the memo is modified and later sent to Colin Powell as if in response to a request for information one month later? I hate to say this, but I get the feeling the anti-Bush forces in State went all the way to Armitage and he kept silent because he was seeing the result he wanted in the press. I think Armitage may have played along with the Wilsons in this partisan dirty trick effort (President’s are not the only ones in government with powers to torque and effect elections).
Recall Wilson talked to people in the State Department about President Bush’s speech – he admits as much. My guess is he was coordinating the final stages of a plan to spill forged dirt on Bush (using forged Niger documents). And I would bet he did this with allies who felt they all would get high level jobs in the Kerry administration. Right now we need a real investigation into the Wilsons. Fitz-Magoo lost his way from the start. None of this surprises me in the least. Misinformation leaks in DC are actually more common than factual leaks. But Armitage’s unwillingness to come forward and face scrutiny, and his lame attempt to misrepresent what happened are telling signs that something is just not right and people are doing what they can to keep it under wraps. That is not uncommon in DC either.
Update: Novak’s piece is here and has some damning contents. First, it is clear that Armitage avoided Novak quite deliberately all the time leading up to the incident with the Wilsons. But what can only be seen as a set up is the convenient timing of the leak to Novak:
Then, without explanation, in June 2003, Armitage’s office said the deputy secretary would see me. This was two weeks before Joe Wilson surfaced himself as author of a 2002 report for the CIA debunking Iraqi interest in buying uranium in Africa.
This now makes it clear that Armitage was definitely trying to out Valerie Wilson to the media, probably in coordination with Joe’s dear friend and Armitage subordinate Marc Grossman. Let’s try out this scenarion. Armitage meets with Woodward June 13, one day after a mysterious memo from Carl Ford to Marc Grossman is entered into the record (files). The memo outlines who sent Joe Wilson to Niger. The problem is, this memo had to have been REQUESTED much earlier (look at all the reviews and signs-offs on the cover sheet). The only story out at the time that would fit the timeline is the Kristof story – the Pincus story would come out right before the Woodward meeting, but to late to be the impetus of the memo.
Having a meeting with Woodward that is conveniently one day after the Pincus story allows either party to innocently bring up the subject and allow Armitage the opportunity to tell all about Valerie and her job at the CIA – which we know happened. But then something goes wrong. Woodward decides not to write about the information. It was minor information to a minor story back then. So a month goes by and the story is not getting much news. Plan B is caputed in Wilson’s own words about the time Armitage is offering to meet with Novak. Here is my take on the audio taped Q&A session at the June 14, 2003 EPIC meeting with Ray McGovern and Joe Wilson (link to audio available):
K – here is the big nugget: Starting just around 12:30 into this 15 minute segment Wilson points out the administration was careful to only talk about uranium with respect to Africa initially. he says that until the story turned to Niger, and then the Niger angle was denied by State, it was difficult to make the case that the march to war was built on lies. Wilson admits, in his own words, that to attack Bush’s policies required the story to be about Niger and not Africa. Why? Well, because the forgery angle only applies to Niger, and the broader Africa angle has more substantiating intel and history.
Wilson also clearly states that people on the inside (CIA and others against the war in Iraq) could easily make the case if they could have been given voice. Which is what Joe Wilson would be doing in a few short days in the NY Times Op-Ed pages.
Wilson says it is how the Niger information was handled in the government that is critical to focus on. He claims the rumor (or RUMINT) was emphasized while the debunking (determining there were forgeries) was set aside. Howeverm we now know the forgeries were actually lost or hidden from site during this period by Val’s group in the CIA. So yes, it is important to focus on this aspect of the story. But back in 2003, what Wilson (and Ray McGovern) wanted to convey was the fact the forgeries were outright dismissed!
He goes on to say the story will have legs only if the press can make a profit, and to do that they need to make a scandal out of this issue. The guy is apparently telegraphing exactly what his little band of rogue agents planned. He is trying to lead the press and media to follow him in order to make a splash. He says “it would be great†if the press did make a scandal of this issue and he notes people are talking about the “I†word (impeachment).
Emphasis mine:Note how Wilson clearly knows ahead of time State will deny the allegation? So what if Plan B was to make more news. First by having Wilson go public (which he also says he will be doing at this event) and also by trying to leak the Valerie angle to another reporter. This time they ensare Novak. The problem for Armitage is the scheduling of the meeting pre-dates Wilson’s Op-Ed. The Op-Ed needs to be out so the subject can be ‘innocently’ brought up. Also around this time, for no apparent reason, a second copy of the memo outlining Valerie’s role is dropped into the record – this time rewritten slightly but addressed to Powell (who could have simply been shown the previous version). These coincidental memos are part of the alibi it seems, though Wilson admits talking to the State Department about this whole mess prior to all the anonymous articles blasting Bush for knowingly using forged intel to take us to war.
Tom Maguire notes other inconsistencies (which Novak probably noticed too which is why he is taking Armitage to task) that beg some questions. TM notes that Armitage told Novak Valerie worked in CPD while the memo that is supposed to be his alibi says no such thing. There are also simultaneous leaks to Andrea Mitchell from the CIA (Valerie?) at the same time as Novak’s meeting with Armitage. And how about the ‘random’ meeting between a Wilson friend and Novak on the same day as the Armitage meeting were Novak mentions Val’s CPD job (is this Grossman?).
The timing of all these events is too coincidental. It looks more like a coordinated media blitz the CIA likes to run as disinformation all the time. The fact Plame is suing Armitage now strikes me more as plausibel deniability than a real attempt to get Armitage. Who knows. But one thing is for sure – Fitzgerald sure as hell has no idea what happened!!
Plame Game – “Is this thing on?”…
The Joe and Valerie Plame Shame take Armitage off their Christmas list.
UPDATE: Novak can’t let dead horses lie. Via Drudge:
“”When Richard Armitage finally acknowledged last week he was my source three years ago in revealing Valeri…
Maybe there needs to be a counter-investigation into the original referral and whether there was a conspiracy between Wilson, CIA insiders, and Fitz to bring down the administration. Now that would be something worth following.
While Novak is talking, he can tell us who approached him on the street asking questions, then went straight to Wilson.
Or, as an alternative, was Armitage defending President Bush and Secretary Powell?
Powell and Armitage knew what the original reports from CIA on that trip said. Therefore, they knew that the allegations in the New York Times op-ed by Joseph Wilson were categorically false.
So Armitage goes to a friendly source (Novak) and lays out the facts. Novak runs them – and then the Dems turn that around with claims by Wilson that Valerie Plame was outed in retaliation. Their claims got picked up and were around the world before the truth could even get out of bed.
There is still no evidence to show that Armitage was not cooperative with the FBI. And, if Fitzgerald did ask Armitage to not publically discuss the case, then it indicates that Fitzgerald was trying to close off an avenue by which Armitage could have resolved it earleir. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d certainly be very disinclined to go against a request from a special prosecutor. It certainly leads me to wonder if Fitzgerald was planning a witch-hunt from day one.
Novak A Little Miffed At Armitage…
So Mr. Armitage wasn’t telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth when he spilled the beans about himself being the source for Novak’s Plame story:
“When Richard Armitage finally acknowledged last week he was my source three ye…
This has Colin Powell’s fingerprints all over it.
“I hate to say this, but I get the feeling the anti-Bush forces in State went all the way to Armitage and he kept silent because he was seeing the result he wanted in the press. ”
I would tend to blame the State Department.
Conservatives have been slamming the military, CIA, FBI, and other police and intelligence agencies… forgetting that these guys tend to be conservative.
The State Department is different. The State Department tends to be left wing. People who lean to the Left go to be diplomats. They want to influence our foreign policy which they have been taught is wrong.
It is the State Department and their lawyers who have ruined many, many anti-terrorist investigations.
As for Powell? I definitely do see him as leaning conservative and not someone who would go out to get Democratic spin points, not at all.
As for Armitage defending Bush and Powell… he had absolutely no reason to specifically lay out who Wilson’s wife was. Maybe he was stupid… but, I don’t see him as a stupid man. “Foolish”, in the immoral sense of the word, but not stupid.
He does seem to be sticking out for himself right now… in a really sick and twisted way. He did let those people hang for two years… he let this whole, horrible investigation to continue. He appears to have no conscience. Even when finally against the wall he tries to get himself off. That says something. “What” that says, I do not know yet. Maybe he was just trying to prolong his own freedom? Maybe he thought it would all blow over and he could get off if he just waited?
Whatever the case is… this Armitage character is a psychopath and he probably has been guilty of far more then just this in his career.
I hope we do a full investigation of this guy, including forensic accounting… because nobody just “becomes” a remorseless criminal. They are one and have been one all along.
I think that the CIA was trying to bring down Bush and saw the State Department as the week link so decided to use them to do it.
Kathie:
Why would the CIA do that?
How many of the leaks which has hurt the Bush Administration actually came from the CIA?
That Wilson was hired by the CIA is true. That Valerie Plame is a snake and was hired and worked a career for the CIA is also true.
That they have some very loud and visible problem employees… is obviously true.
But outdoing the liberal State Department? The very guys who carry the banner “risk averse”.
For people outside all of that completely… whenever the CIA wants to do something, or a contractor, or whomever with whatever agency… it all ultimately goes to the State Department.
The State Department are the guys that say, “No, it might have diplomatic repurcussions” or “It might offend the country”. Like Lebanon or Syria or Sudan. We don’t want to offend those guys.
“The Bush administration is being accused by Democrats of lying about intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq. One of the key allegations involves the purported suppression of State Department dissent from the conclusion that Iraq was seeking to develop nuclear weapons. ”
http://www.nationalreview.com/mccarthy/mccarthy200512080830.asp
Pull—–Because they could and it worked. This leak started the” he lied” mantra.
Kathie…
The leak started the “he lied” mantra? I blame the Left for the “he lied” mantra, not the CIA, nor anyone else.
The only point of blame here for the CIA from me is that they hired and kept some scumbag like Plame in the first place. It is also despicable that they hired someone like Joe Wilson. It is further indicative of serious problems in our government when we allow such nutcases to go on an irresponsible media rampage like they have.
I can’t really blame “the CIA” for that, however, as much as I can blame society. Because they hire from our society. Our country is very divided right now. We have no center, no identity.
What the Democrats believe… are treasonous things. Yet, we consider them acceptable and merely “partisan”. So, we conservatives – by default, really – have become the patriotic party.
And it is Democrats, the Left, which our colleges churn out… who, in turn, are where the CIA… and the State Department… and many other groups… get their people.
For example, it was in the 60s considered possible that someone could be “patriotic” yet also support the Viet Cong, a savage Communist group. One could be considered “patriotic”, legitimate, not treasonous… and support the Khmer Rouge.
Any repentance there from that generation or the following ones?
Far from it from the masses, anyway. The line has only been further skewed. Today, it is considered “partisan” and legitimate to effectively support Al Qaeda, Saddam, the Baathists – any Islamo-Fascists – effectively… effectively. To be against them is also partisan. How is that?
How can we not reach common ground on such clear cut issues?
I think we may someday reach such a consensus of “good and evil”… after, maybe, someone nukes us. Then, we will be polarized again, as we were during WWII. (Why they didn’t need something like that was they were not nearly as deeply divided as we are today. Pearl Harbor sufficed — as terrible as it was.)
Also, the leak started with Armitage and the State Department…
Anyway, that is it for me. I will let someone else defend these guys… granted, I have seen no one else do this.
Please do bear in mind, however, that what separates good from evil isn’t what side of the polling station you stand on… but it is what you say and do, personally. When these guys blame 9.11 on the CIA… when they say the CIA invented the crack epidemic in the US… they are being evil.
Maybe slander is not as a big of a deal when it is a big, mysterious organization. But that hits everyone working there when you paint with such a brush.
People will do that, but I don’t want it said to be “conservative” to play politics the way the Left does.
Anyway, no more defenses from me on this subject… people will believe whatever they want to.
I can hardly wait for the Libby trial to start !!
AJ, I think you need to copy all your posts and send them to Libby’s attorneys …..just in case they haven’t figured out as much as you have !!
AJ, you have been out front on this story from day one !!
Interesting story AJ. You may be right about Plame creating plausible deniability w/ Armitage’s joining the list of defendants, but it certainly creates the potential for schism w/in this unholy alliance. Is this the the starter’s pistol sounding off the beginning of the race to the prosecution for future mercy?
Grr, this was rather stupid of me… no wonder this has been a constant refrain here ( “the CIA sucks, the CIA is out to get Bush”):
AJ wrote:
“The timing of all these events is too coincidental. It looks more like a coordinated media blitz the CIA likes to run as disinformation all the time.”
AJ is saying the CIA is behind the whole Plamegate affair.
…
Duh.
Wow, that strikes me. As so much of the content of this site is so well centered.
No hard core conspiracy theories. And even this has only been hinted at.
Personally, I despise the “CIA did 9/11 crowd” and a large part of that is because they have contradictory evidence for what they are claiming. I am not about to chime into the “CIA did Plamegate”. .. and be a hypocrite.
I wish this claim had been more upfront. “I believe the evidence suggests the CIA was behind Plamegate” could be written somewhere. Instead of tucked down at the very bottom of one of these posts. If you believe something and it is right and you have evidence for it — say it. Otherwise question very strongly if it is not being said because… it is shameful. Wrong.
MAYBE, just MAYBE, one guy or two guys in the CIA is doing something. I doubt that. Could be a Sith Lord is hiding in there, manipulating current events!
Lol… anyway, had fun, good luck with the conspiracy theories… and please don’t condemn the Left too hard. You don’t have a right to.
Pull–If we got Nuked they will say we deserved it because we nuked Japan.
Joe Wilson started Bush lied in his op-ed. The left wing media picked it up because they liked it so much.
It does not matter whether you are right or left, what does matter is that you understand the relationship between cause and effect, and that you have a philosophy. A philosophy is something that you hold dear and are willing to act upon. The left has no national philosophy, they spout moral platitudes, none of which require any action and have no consequences. Hillary said once, yes her husband said Saddam had WMD and he should be gone but he never…. acted…. on it. She was proud of the fact. This was in the context of what Bush got us into. When I listed to the left they remind me of teenagers who look at the world through rose colored glasses but whose parents always picked up the pieces until they were driving too fast and the cops picked them up. Now they have a big dose of effect. Listen to the left and ask yourself ok, good idea, how does that work? I find no answer. Kathie
Pull,
I am not saying the CIA did this. I am saying rogue, lefty elements in the CIA and State conspired to help elect Kerry by spreading this misinformation in the press. Go read the EPIC posts and listen to the Wilson audio about his plans to do a media blitz. He was quite open back then about his plans.
AJ do you think that Armitage/Powell were willing conspirators or got in over their head?
Kathie,
Up until today I would have said they were played. Now I think Powell was played and Armitage was a willing player. Guess who would be a great choice in a Kerry Campaign for a cabinet position? Not Powell – but Armitage.
W-Girl,
All these posts are under the Plame Game category on the upper right hand column of the site!