Jan 25 2007
Fitzgerald’s Folly III
I am still stunned Fitzgerald is trying this case, because it is clear EVERYONE was talking to the press about Wilson and the CIA had basically never made any effort to tell anyone not discuss Wilson and Valerie. Read to the end where today’s witness saw the VP direct Libby to call reporters (Andrea Mitchell and ‘someone’ Martin), and learn how Libby says absolutely NOTHING about Plame. Nada. At the peak of the firestorm the supposed coordinated attack on Wilson fails to materialize. Learn how this same witness was with Libby as he contacted Matt Cooper, Bill Kessler and Newsweek, and never once mentioned Valerie Plame. How do we know these reporters (other than Cooper) never talked Plame? These reporters are not part of the indictment! The linchpin of the case is whether there was a coordinated effort to get Wilson – testimony by Cathy Martin, OVP Press Contact indicates the answer to that part of the indictment is clearly ‘no’.
F introduces Kristof’s column.
11:34
M describes Kristof’s column.
F introduces but not for truth.
F Could you describe what your reaction was. [displayed it on the screen] Blow up second half of page.
F reads the “wholesale deceit” article Is it fair to say it was viewed as a negative article.
M It’s fair to say it WOULD be viewed as such, but I don’t know that it was
F How much attention paid to this
M Not that much
As we have all suspected, the Office of Vice President was NOT running a fire drill to find out who Wilson was from the May 6th Kristof article (note the claims about forged documents).
So why did Grossman initiate his investigation of his pal Wilson? The next installments of the story were not until June 12th and 13th when Pincus and Kristof did another round on the mysterious ex-ambassador. But this is too late for the Grossman timeline of events (in my mind). Bob Woodward met with Armitage on June 13th, the day of Kristof’s second article. But the INR memo, which is was the conclusion of Grossman’s investigation into the mysterious Ambassador, was first produced on June 10th. So how is it Cathy Martin testifies there was no real response to the first Kristof article? How is it Grossman kicks off an investigation that no one seems interested in? Curious. Because Martin clearly dates one of her telephone calls with Harlow and Libby AFTER the second round of articles, which is AFTER Grossman’s investigation is COMPLETED. Check this part of her testimony (as paraphrased by the blogger at Firedog Lake):
F Trying to get her to reconstruct the two Harlow conversations. Do you recall those conversations. Describe the conversations you had.
H First [conversation] was pleasant [emphasizes] I had never spoken to him before, talked about press reports, I was asking him, “we didn’t send him.” so I was saying to him, you must have sent him, who is this guy, what are you saying to the press, they’re not taking my word for it. I remember him being, I didn’t know who he [Wilson] was either, but apparently his name is Joe Wilson he was a charge in Baghdad, and his wife works over here. I understand charge to be diplomat who works overseas. Had been a charge, former is my recollection of what that meant. Has notes, but the notes don’t have a precise date. Asked to see VP and shortly thereafter [he Harlow] told him [VP] and Scooter was there as well, told them what I had learned. It was the same day. I remember going into VP’s office Scooter was there which was pretty normal. He told me Ambassador’s name and apparently he was a charge and his wife works at CIA. Don’t remember any specific response.
F Other convesation
M Calling Harlow to find out who was continuing to call on this story. BC story continuing to be written, we OVP still in as having sent him or traveling at behest of. Press stopped calling our office, this became truth, I think I called NSC first and then called Harlow, I can’t specifically connect all this. Harlow was a little less friendly told me who was calling him, Mitchell and David Martin were working on story. Week of July 7.
Definitely the second conversation was after June 12-13th, after the second round of articles. The first call is sometime after May 6th (the first Kristof article). But if the first article did not generate much of a response, as she says, could it have also been after the Pincus article?
Can’t help but notice Andrea Mitchell has now entered the timeline. She clearly was trying to hunt down Wilson’s identity BEFORE it was made public. Also, note much of this is happening well after Armitage spilled the beans to Woodward on June 10th. All of these second rounds of effort are in early July. Right before Wilson goes public.
M Week of July 7 was a busy week. I had more contact with Scooter it was particularly busy bc no one was around and there was a lot going on in the press. My staff would do a search for stories that reference VP and they would cut and paste into word document to see what media was saying. Cutting and pasting, electronically cut and paste.
F Ordinarily see ewspaper articles cut out of newspapers in VP office
M Not that often
M Sometime during that week we began monitoring TV, mostly monitoring print, normally just print. TV transcripts take longer to put up, so we weren’t looking for TV. That week we started keeping track of TV. Some point had a conversation VP told me to keep track of this story, the commentators that were continuing to write on this story, and talk about us. Just myself, VP and Scooter. Occurred on Tuesday or Wednesday of that week. There’s a document I’ve seen that helped me place the date of that.
Note how the VP’s staff starts monitoring news in earnest in July – not May, which is when Grossman should have started his investigation (supposedly for Libby). You don’t finish something in memo form, with signature cycle review, on June 10th (date of first INR memo with the conclusions) unless you start it at least two weeks in advance. In may all there was in the media was one kooky Kristof article. Nowhere near the level of something that would start to garner the interest of the Federal government (it just doesn’t move that fast).
Second problem for Fitzgerald, Libby talks to reporters Andrea Mitchell and Martin (Bruce Martin, NBC?), but apparently he failed to leak Plame’s identity about Valerie.
F You mentioned you had a conversation with Harlow. Can you describe what you did following that phone call.
M Going to VP to give an update, it was an unscheduled visit, talked to VP and Scooter, I wasn’t getting any calls directly, Mitchell and Martin doing pieces for Evening News. Discussed with them should we try to talk to them and make sure they don’t repeat the things we think are false. Should we make sure we’re part of the story. General consensus was “yes” and Scooter would call them back. And Libby would call them back. VP made the decision to have Scooter call them back. Went into VP ante-office, Scooter has a little office there. Scooter called one of the reporters, I was there for the portion of one of the calls. I believe this was July 8. I left, I had a lot of phone calls I still needed to return. I was still not certain about NIE and was a little uncomfortable talking about the NIE and I was aggravated that Scooter that I was calling reporters and I wasn’t.
So much for the WH coordinated effort at payback. So we have a witness to Scooter’s discussions to reporters, at the direction of the VP noe less, and at the pinnacle of the media firestorm, and he fails to mention Wilson’s wife? What kind of attack was this? Possibly more later, but there are SO MANY wholes in Fitzgerald’s case already it is stunning. Clearly Plame was not mentioned, or else these reporters would be part of the indictment.
To paraphrase Tolstoy “all show trials look the alike.”
Some day ahead? Affirmative action will go the way of the do-do bird. And, women’s chances to “reach higher than what dumb blondes call the glass ceiling,” will depend on skills. OR? If she marries Murdoch. And, is younger than him. The idea that she outlasts the company’s owner stays strong. But to get to “that” position, your legs open, first.
Is it sad that it’s come to this?
Libby’s been dangling out there for years, now. And, he hasn’t received any sympathy from the judge. Just as the Duke Lacrosse players found out. There’s something really bad and smelly about the judges who preside at trial. The faults not limited to the 9th. (And, even on the 9th, one sane guy got seated. So he gets to write very readable opinions, that aren’t accepted by the majority.)
I wonder why college tuitions remain so high. And, I wonder why lawyers make so much money.
But I do notice a very rich Martha Stewart decided to pull her wallet off the table. (I also know she was done in because she hired a guy from her country club. Not someone very familiar with trying anything in front of juries. Let alone “low-lifes” that aren’t a part of the country club mentality.) BUT SHE TOOK HER WALLET OFF THE TABLE.
And, to save his, Ken Lay met a “lucky ending,” that took him out before he had to go to jail. He died on the 4th of July. When brand new interns show up at hospitals. And, hospitals run on a limited number of personnel who supervisor. That’s the story of the 4th of July, to those unfortuate to get very sick on that weekend. What can you do?
Nobody’s accusing Ken Lay of suicide. Because THEY CAN’T! But, in essence, he too, “took his wallet off the table.”
And, in the long run this will cost lawyers MORE. Rather than less. While a few people blogging on the Internet are now getting famous for their ability to cover this case. I stop and read Clarice Feldman every chance I can get. And, not just here; but at Just One Minute, you see the sea-change that’s happened. Where strangers go for their news to the Internet.
Am I worried that Reggie Walton will throw the case? Oddly enough, NOT. He’s tried to husband it through so that the “day in court,” begins. And, if we’re very lucky, after the case ends, people will wonder why Fitzgerald kept persuing his paychecks. In a manner similar to Nifong. And, Ronnie Earle. (Israel, too, plays games with its lawyers. Where lawyers defy the politicians who win elections, with smear campaigns.)
We’re getting a slew of them now!
While Dryfuss got protected by ONE MAN: Emile Zola. See? It’s 2007. And, I know there’s history behind my remark. The french aren’t necessarily ahead because they hate Jews. It happens to be unattractive.
For that reason I think Reggie Walton will surprise. (Well. One way or the other, fer shur. But I’m counting on it being positive.)
So far? Fitzgerald’s presenting the media version. Where we aren’t supposed to see the railroad tracks.
And, some day, if this issue gets conquered at law schools. Because students refuse to swallow bilge and Taney crap; you’ll see what can happen, when your family name shows up as the BAD EXAMPLE. (Taney? Go to the Supreme Court. Look around. You’ll see paintings of everybody that’s served as Chief. Except Taney’s picture is not there. Maybe, it’s in the bathroom, so men can aim at it when they pee? Taney isn’t exactly a hero after Lincoln got through with him. And, through with the ninconpoops who were gonna force slavery all over the growing country. And, they were gonna force the senate to pass laws that there would be no such thing as a runaway slave, that wouldn’t be returned to “owner.”
Reggie Walton must be aware that it was the DEMOCRAPS who kept blacks under siege after the Civil War. It’s the southern democraps, from Strom Thurmond to Kleagle Bobby Byrd, who refused to let civil rights legislation pass.
So don’t go off the deep end thinking democraps have their hands deep in Walton’s pockets. You might be surprised.
I sure am hoping for good news. I could use a little. After watching what were such hopeful opportunities being killed by lesbians and freaks.
Nobody knows if “house” doesn’t get torn down. Or if it becomes a “fixer-upper.” It could be fixed. But not by the crowd’s that made MAINSTREAM angry.
Remember the dancing Ito s during the OJ trial? The Fitz clown posse deserves their own dance group, the Fitzie Follies… Indict, indict, even if I’m not right…
Plame Game – “Mr. Wilson, line two, your lawyer, he wants to get an advance” – Part II…
Been waiting for this:
“Former vice presidential aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby was eager to make public that the CIA, not Vice President Dick Cheney, sent an ex- ambassador to check on Iraq’s efforts to obtain nuclear material, …
AJ, It’s important to add that all this damning information is coming from the Prosecution’s witnesses. The case Fitzmas is putting on should be thrown out of court. But it will be so much more interesting waching what else is going to come out!
Ahhhhh!! My eyes! My eyes!! Everything has an underline… oh… LOL.
Great reporting AJ. We knew this was going to be interesting, but did we have to spend $2.5 million taxpayer dollars to find out? At the end of the trial, is Libby going to turn around and sue the Wilson’s, Fitzy, and reporters for conspiracy? Or is this just going to be a nevermind…nothing to see here…move on?
From Kristof’s 2003 article:
“I’m told by a person involved in the Niger caper that more than a year ago the vice president’s office asked for an investigation of the uranium deal”
It’s clear that this assertion by Kristof is untrue, and its basis could only have come from Wilson or his wife.
Drudge has a link about Walton “pushing” Libby to testify.
Since I don’t know the rules, all I can say is that it takes the prosecutor’s job of “proving his case,” up a notch. HERE’S THE QUOTE from Breitbart’s article: District Judge Reggie Walton warned, “I will not permit the defense to argue the memory defense at closing if Mr. Libby does not testify.”
It seems to me IF Libby has to go to APPEAL, something Martha Stewart walked away from doing; what’s at stake, here, is a JUDGE’S GAME. he wants Libby to testify. And, that’s why he’s forbidden the testimony from MEMORY EXPERTS.
Seems Reggie Walton understands, though, that this trial will make it into the law books, no matter what happens.
And, it also seems obvious that judges STINK TO THE HIGH HEAVENS. Since their role in the courtroom was to have a referee for the defendent. As both lawyers are “adversarial.” And, now, it seems the judge, too, can force the case by just withholding JUSTICE.
Now, Martin says she can’t remember if the date she told Libby about Wilson’s wife was June or July, then you can understand why this bench conference took place.
Fitzgerald is being allowed to proceed down these RAILROAD tracks!
I’ll tell ya something, this is WORSE THAN MURDER! Another Black Judge, with rope, out to lynch a Jew.
Besides, Libby was talking about PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE. An attempt by the media, to destroy the White House’s credibility. In full view of the American public. When Libby said “HE HEARD IT FROM REPORTERS,” it should have been like that song said, “I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE.” It was PUBLIC. It was discussed by Wilson and Plame. Because the CIA is involved in this setup.
And, you think Nifong’s case got its leverage because the New York Times was “halping” him win an election?
Where’s the outrage?
Judges are like priests. Once you know priests stick their pricks in the asses of ten year old alter boys, you see what happens “at the top” … when the cardinals protect their own. But what leaves the churches are the people. In droves. You’d think there would be more brains involved both at the Vatican. And, at law schools. But obviously that just isn’t so. And, the media? They all look like Wolf Blitzer to me. And, he looks like an ignorant bully.
This is going on in broad daylight! It never seemed fair that Walton would tell Wells “no memory expert.” And, now you see why the rumor flew that Walton said (in Bench conference, out of earshot of the jurors, unless they’re cheating and reading this stuff here, too.) That Libby “has to testify,” or commit suicide.
Excuse me. Walton withheld justice from the defendent. Because judges STINK. They’re politically appointed. And, they’re turning trials into theater. Theater of the absurd.
SUICIDE! And, I’m not just talking turkey.
Today, in the NY Post, Ralph Peters puts together the charge of why Turkey WILL fail! (Yes, you can thank the HOUSE OF SAUD. But before you do that, you’d notice that the Turks themselves, are fully engaged in the loss of all Ataturk brought. The whole article is sublime.)
But it’s in the wind up, that I saw it.
I could never really explain why the OJ jurors contaminated all the gains that were won by Martin Luther King’s dream. And, how Civil Rights was born across this country. Finally stamping out the old south’s ways of treating blacks to their lynching mentality.
I guess I always felt if you gave people opportunities, they’d rise to the occasion. (Hillary, though, is an example of how women fair poorly. Because allow the garbage to rise.) And, the costs only come later; when other women, could be they’d be more talented, will fail. Affirmative action leaves a bad taste. But what else does it do?
And, it’s in Ralph Peters socker-roo, that I saw it spelled out, not just for turkeys, but for blacks, in America, as well. Here’s that last paragraph. Look BROADLY. Then, read the whole thing. Drudge provides the link to the NEW YORK POST. CAROL HERMAN
” Turkey’s educated elite is in much the same position as Germany’s elite during Hitler’s rise to power. Imagining that the Islamists would sputter out, progressive Turks failed to act. Now Turkish civilization – so great for so many centuries – is unraveling the way Germany’s did in the 1930s. Turkish intellectuals made the classic error of underestimating the common man’s capacity for hatred and lust for blind revenge.
As for the spectacularly virulent and dishonest anti-Americanism in the Turkish media – we need never have a “Who lost Turkey?” debate: The Turks lost it for themselves. Instead of maturing into the Western culture of responsibility, Turks succumbed to the Arab world’s culture of blame.
Having looked down on Arabs for centuries, Turks are now becoming functional Arabs, reclining into fantasies of greatness as surreal as a Sufi mystic’s hashish dreams. Ataturk’s revolutionary vision for a modern Turkish state – betrayed by his own corrupt successors – is fading into the reality of yet another retarded Muslim satrapy.
An even more accurate parallel case than 1930s Germany is today’s Pakistan. Turkey is on the way to becoming another extremist-poisoned garrison state held together solely by its military.
On my last visit, I got a madman’s lecture from a Turkish customs officer on the resurrection of the Ottoman Empire. But instead of returning to that empire’s undeniable glories, 21st- century Turkey appears determined to replay the miserable Ottoman twilight.
I wish we could save Turkey. But we can’t. That’s up to the Turks. “
Mr. Strata-
What is it that you cannot understand about this case? The issue – and the only issue – is the disparity between I. Lewis Libby’s statements to the FBI and under oath to a Grand Jury that he first learned of Verlie Plame WIlson’s identity from reporters.
We now have testimony from a CIA briefer (that both Cheney and Libby believed when he briefed them on Nat’l Security matters), a member of the VP office team (and now a WH employee) and Scooter Libby’s own handwritten notes making plain that he first learned of Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity from the Vice President.
The CIA briefer was called out of a meeting with the Director of the CIA to talk to Libby on the telephone; the WH staffer told both Libby and Cheney that Plame’s identity was classified; Libby’s handwritten notes confirm that he did NOT learn Plame’s identity from the persons he swore under oath told him.
This is not a witch hunt – this is shooting fish in a barrel. Libby is going to be convicted – you can take that to the bank.
Soothsayer,
Check your dates and make sure they line up with the Judith Miller meetings and the details given by Grossman. He claimed to have completed his study for Libby on Plame by June 10th, before the Pincus and Kristof articles. That briefer claims no one was interested during this time and it only blossomed after the MTP meeting by Rice in JULY! The discussions with the briefers are in late June or July. Timelines are very important. Clearly this meeting was not the first time Libby discussed Plame. But it was the point when the OVP launched into action – not when Grossman said it did (in May)
All that matters is whether Libby knew – from any source – before he talked to journalists – Miller, Cooper, etc. Do you seriously think Fitzgerald is so stupid he didn’t have a detailed time-line on the wall of the war room when deciding whether or not to indict.
Libby is screwed. The only – ONLY – chance he has is for jurors to believe that he forgot about ALL the government insiders who told him about Plame, and only remembered his discussions with journalists.
College tuitions are high because of all the federal, lottery, grant and loan money which is available. Once again proving that the old economic law, the price will be what the trade will bear. is still alive and working as usual. As fast as tuition costs go up, the government throws more money in the pot and the greedy administrators set about absorbing it as fast as they can get their hands on it. As a result, today’s college grads find themselves working as indentured servants for years to pay off the “governmewnt guaranteed loans” and other so called benefits our benevolent government gave them. Ever hear, Beware of anyone who says,”I’m from the government and I’m here to help your.? “
Bill Clinton lied under oath. And, got a pass from the People. Ken Starr went too far.
Different president, here. And, he’s being treated to the full press attempt at taking an elected president OUT. That’s what’s at stake, here.
And, that’s why, to dampen Fitzgerald’s fire, WOODWARD tossed in the fact that he had “earlier knowledge.” And, not through Libby.
Libby says the “grapevine” was alive with rumor.
And, this is true.
Only blind Fitz-magoo decided he needed to indict. And, Libby’s claim, WHICH WAS NOT MADE UNDER OATH, but to journalists …
GOES TO THE HEART OF THIS SET UP! Wilson and Plame corralled journalists to attempt to snare the White House.
And, Libby, on defense, said THAT PLAME’S ROLE WAS KNOWN BY THE JOURNALISTS. It was not exposed by the Vice President.
As a matter of fact Plame’s role goes back to the french. And, Clinton’s administration. With other trips her husband took.
While the “only” case Fitzgerald can make is a small one. So he’s in the courtroom, now, slamming the door on the FACTS.
Does Walton have enough rope to lynch the Jew? And, is the atmosphere for lynching beneficial, here? Because I think affirmative action has outlived its welcome in this country.
Can Libby be railroaded?
Did innocent black men get hung down south? Seems there are plenty of revenge fantasies among blacks that exist in spite of the harms they will do TO blacks. When you can’t be trusted to sit on a jury and be fair, what does that do to the fabric of the LAW? By the way, Martha Stewart wasn’t convicted by blacks. But by idiot whites, who also voted for hillary. Doesn’t make this a majority view across America.
Just that the donks seems to want their swamp. They can’t grow to be a bigger or better party. They can only hope to win by cheating. And, keeping people away from the polls. (I don’t think this will work out well for them. Just as I don’t think Algore invented the internet.) Just a bunch of losers. Desperately attacking.
If the donks weren’t desperate you’d have seen them less hostile than the demeanor that shows.
Funny, I keep thinking if this keeps up, Cheney has a better chance at getting the GOP nomination; because angry Americans are going to want MORE of this White House, not less. Come 2008.
But we’ve got to wait for FATE to show up. Just guessing isn’t a very accurate indicator of anything at all. Though I think people who can read, will be reading about this case, the way Kennedy’s assassination led to about ten years worth of books. To compensate for the official line of a “one bullet theory.” The lie didn’t sell.
Carol – are you off your medication? What in the world are you talking about?
Libby testified before a Grand Jury and lied under oath. The same lie he had given to federal investigators – that he first learned of Plame’s identity from journalists. We now know – from his own handwritten notes – that that was not true.
Can Libby be railroaded? Did innocent black men get hung down south?
You are equating lynching of rural illiterate blacks with the kid glove handling that I. Lewis Libby – prep-school wonder and millionaire – with a defense fund in exscess of $5,000,000.00 has received? OMG – gimme a toke of whatever you’re smoking!
As for whining about “donks” – Scooter Libby is being tried by a Republican-appointed prosecutor working in a Republican Justice Department created by a Republican Administration.
I believe, Soothsayer, you are making at least one assumption here…and that is..that anyone has made a definitive statement about Plame’s covert status at the agency one way or another.
The further mistake here would be in suggesting that the WH and it’s staff talking amoungst themselves about Wilson or his wife is somehow a crime or evidence of a crime. That seems to be an underlying theme in some of the assessments that suggest a “conspiracy”.
There are further assumptions made by some that the reason for all this activity at the WH was to “coverup” because what Wilson said was “true”..ie..WH knew that Wilson had debunked the entire WMD intelligence prior to the war and that this was known at the WH and that they were lieing about it. (ie..yet another “crime”). This fueled all sorts of speculation …including in part..the “Rove” conspiricy and the never ending Fitzmas and Frogmarch parties focused on him. From there, it would open the door into questions within the WH about who knew what when about the fact that there was no intelligence to support the war in Iraq on WMD and it would bring down the entire Gov!! (a liberals wet dream)
There is no charge, nor is it illegal for the VP or anybody else in the WH to be discussing some narcasistic idiots ravings in the press accusing them of things like..oh..lieing to send our nation to war…and responding to such statements….in the press.
That’s not a conspiricy. Nor is it illegal. And what difference exactly would it have made if Libby had said what he said at a different time? Does that somehow change “anything”? Would it have been a crime if he was the first to have said it? (see Armitage). I mean…I’m just not getting the motive reasonsing behind Libby’s current defense. He didn’t need to “protect’ anybody..because nothing that has been done or said..was “illegal” nor does there appear to be any evidence that anybody knew or thought that there was. Perhaps..it was just meida fallout. But then..that’s WHY they were doing what they were doing (ie..rebutting Wilson’s claims to reporters) to start with. (which “IS” the consipricy theory..ie that the WH was lieing about the intelligence they got)
They were actively discussing “Wilson”…and Wilson’s press claims that the WH was “lieing” about the intelligence reports that he, Wilson, had given them that debunked the entire WMD nuclear claims, and consequently the reason for going to war in Iraq. — Wilson has made any number of claims…some relating just to yellowcake, and others inferring he was sent to deterimine the authenticity of “forged documents” , up to the larger question..of the accuracy of our intelligence to whether or not Iraq had WMD at all. It was in this area, and because of these claims, that Wilson’s “wife”—someone who worked at the very agency who claimed unequivocally in their intelligence estimates that Iraq HAD WMD, etc., someone who worked in the very dept of the agency related to Iraq and WMD, and someone who was directly part of the process that sent Wilson to Niger, etc. — became a part of this story. That’s why “Wilson’s wife” was part of this…. because the CIA itself, including her own division reports, were a direct rebuttal to what Wilson claimed as well as inferred in the media. (which was NOT just that the WH was “lieing”, but that the “yellowcake” issue was somehow the “key” piece of intelligence regarding assessments that Saddam had a nuclear program or was seeking a nuclear weapon… and that Wilson was sent to be the definitive answer to “that” question..and that he, J Wilson, had debunked the entire thing and that the WH knew this. Therefore, the WH “lied” and used knowingly false intelligence to go to war in Iraq. Bush lied..and thousands died. T
That’s the biggest “lie” out of this entire story. Libby is on trial for making inconsistant statements to the grand jury about when and to whom he spoke with. (none of which means..what they discussed was untrue or illegal). Wilson does have a wife who works at the CIA in the WMD division. She was in fact invovled in the process of how he was chosen to be the one they sent to niger. The VP had not seen Wilson’s report because Wilson did NOT file a written report or do analysis for the CIA. He was debriefed and the final analysis of others within the CIA was that his reporting was helpful but was inconclusive on the larger issue of whether or not Iraq did in fact try to aquire yellowcake. Because they had no further clarification they could give on the issue, no further products were ever made from it. Let me repeat that…”no further intelligence products were ever made from Wilson’s debriefing and the analysis that followed (by the people who actually get paid to do such things…not Wilson)” Wilson never wrote a report. Nor was Wilson ever shown any “documents” nor asked to “debunk them”. Nor was the VPs office given a report from Wilson that contianed a CIA or other intelligence assessement about his trip to Niger and “what he found”.
I’ve always thought some of the following questions can be throught provoking on the subject if you bother to find the answers to them:
Did CIA believe that the forged documents about a possible yellowcake sale were the most compelling evidence we had that Saddam had or was persuing WMD programs related to nukes?
Was nuclear the only WMD that intelligence community believed Saddam was persuing?
Was Wilson sent to Niger to answer the question on whether or not Iraq had WMD?
Did Wilson write a report that “answered the question” on Iraq WMD and determined the documents to be forgeries?
Was that report, Wilson’s written report and analysis, then circulated and given to the VP?
In the intelligience estimate on Iraq, was yellowcake used by any of the intelligence agencies as the reasonsing behind why they believed Saddam had a nuclear weapons (or any other WMD) program? Was it the CIA position on Iraq (ie..where Wilson’s wife worked and where Wilson supposedly delivered his information directly to)…in regards to the WMD or nuclear question..or anyother WMD question or threat assesments against the US…that Iraq had no WMD or nuclear program …citing Wilson’s report as defintive analysis on the “question”?
Why can’t Libby just do what everybody else did and say…well..I could be mistaken about when I knew this? Or didn’t he?
That seemed to work for every other person in this trial who testified did it not?
1. Valerie Plame’s status matters not one bit with respect to the perjury and obstruction charges against I. Lewis Libby. However, it is the official position of the United States of America that Plame’s status was classified when Novak published his story.
Why do I say that?
1. Her employer, the Central Intelligence Agency, an agency of the Federal government that reports to the President, filed the criminal complaint with the Justice Department triggering the investigation by the Justice Department.
2. In the official press release of October 28, 2005, speaking on behalf of the government of the United States, and as an officer of the court, Patrick Fitzgerald stated: “Prior to July 14, 2004, Valerie Plame’s employment status was classified.” She was working NOC – “non-official cover” – which means that she was not protected by diplomatic immunity when traveling outside of the United States. Keep in mind, when a United States attorney makes a declaration, the government is legally bound by it unless it demurs. There has been no demurral from the government with respect to Fitzgerald’s representations.
Libby had ample opportunity to answer just that way. He could have said, “I don’t recall; I can’t remember; I’m not sure.” However, that response would not have deflected interest away from the office of the VP. Keep in mind, at the time Libby lied to the Feds the first time – John Ashcroft was still running the investigation, and Libby figured it wouldn’t go anywhere.
Instead, Libby maintained – and continued to maintain – that he first learned of Plame’s identity from reporters – in spice of the fact that a not in his own hand-writing contradicts his testimony.
Once he had lied to Federal investigators, he then lied – under oath – to the Grand Jury – thinking that the reporters would never reveal the true nature of the conversations. He figured wrong. He lied under oath in order to obstruct justice – and he got caught doing it. Just like Martha Stewart. If convicted, and I figure the odds are 95% he goes down – he will do a lot more time than Martha – unless somebody in the WH has the gonads to pardon him. And he shouldn’t hold his breath on that . . .
We have a new voice touting all sorts of implausibilities. Why am I not shocked.
If this person was a regular reader of this blog they would have commented on something.
I hold nothing against people or their opinions.
But I do have a certain bit of animus to fakes and liers.
I quite frankly have no use for them.
AJ and I do not have our opinions lining up like two columns supporting my front porch. I can deal with that.
I firmly recognize seminar posters when they appear. They have a stamp and a signature they have no way to deny.
Perhaps it is good they are so obvious.
Soothsayer,
Point well taken.
Libby is responsible for what he said…nobody else.
And you are exactly right…the issue is whatever discrepancies exist in regards to Libby’s statements. Nothing else.
The Grand Jury did not, and cannot determine guilt. (ie..he “lied” under oath). That’s what “this” trial is for. The Grand Jury found there was enough evidence of conflicting statements to indict Libby for whatever Fitz was bringing (perjury, obstruction) and send this to trial. He’s not yet been found guilty of anything.
Libby was in fact not the first person in the timeline of this and never was…and Fitz also “knew” this coming in (that Armitage was Novak’s source) and prior to making his press statements. And as I said before, given that there has been no charge in this case other than Libby for his own misrecollections…exactly what and how is the “VP’s office” …”implicated” in this and for what?
The place where the OVP got it’s focus in this entire event…was from Wilson himself. Wilson was the one who made the claim that he was sent to answer questions directly from OVP, that he did answer their “question” and that as far as he knew, that answer was given to the OVP. While others went even further in their own writings to suggest Chenny himself was responsible for sending him and recieved his reply, in rebuttles to those statements and questions (not just from Wilson but from an entire slew of criticism directed at OVP because of Wilson’s article), it was, I think, not unreasonable to assume that the OVP would want to find out WHO in the hell sent this ass clown!! And the answer was his wife’s division at the CIA came up with the idea for the mission and selecting him to go.
I think it’s entirely true that the OVP was absolutely committed to rebutting Wilson’s press statements and accusations of others. I’m just not getting that the OVP is somehow implicated in anything other than trying to rebutt Wilson’s media campaign…which they obviously were…and for which is not illegal in any shape or form that I am aware of.