In Plame Leak, Long Shadows

[Halliburton]

<snip>
By Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, July 17, 2005; Page A01

Karl Rove had a secret.

In public, he was masterminding President Bush's reelection and brushing off suggestions he had played any part in an unfolding drama: the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame. In private, the senior White House adviser was meeting, on five occasions, with federal prosecutors to tell what he knew about the matter.
<snip>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/16/AR2005071601364.html

[Cush]

1. five times? I thought it was three?

[Rose Siding]

11. Even Frank Rich, in tomorrow's piece is still citing 3 times

...But no one knows what this e-mail means unless it's set against the avalanche of other evidence, most of it secret, including what Mr. Rove said in three appearances before the grand jury.

http://nytimes.com/2005/07/17/opinion/17rich.html?hp

GREAT piece, btw

[UpInArms]

12. he's been questioned 5 times - before the GJ only 3 times

Lawyers who have sat in on the prosecutors' interviews said Fitzgerald cast a wide net, adopting a broad view of the case. Some witnesses were asked only about the initial disclosure, others about possible misstatements during the investigative phase. Some were brought in several times. Rove, for example, was grilled by FBI agents twice in formal meetings and asked to respond to questions in informal settings, and appeared three times before the grand jury -- all between October 2003 and October 2004, said a person familiar with his testimony.

[IndianaGreen]

2. This article discusses the criminal mind-set in Bush's White House

The more Wilson pushed, the more the White House was determined to push back against a man they regarded as an irresponsible provocateur.

The real issue is that Bush & Co. had lied to the Congress and the American people about Saddam and WMD. Bush wanted his war and no one was going to spoil it for him!

1,800 GIs died for NOTHING!

[Cha]

4. That is the "real issue"! And it's

not going to get LOST!

"The real issue is that Bush & Co. had lied to the Congress and the American people about Saddam and WMD. Bush wanted his war and no one was going to spoil it for him!"

[Tellurian]

21. Right On!

But just to clarify your last statement...

Our soldiers died for BUSH's desire to gain control of Iraqi oil fields!

Every Mom and Pop, brother and sister should be clear on this by now.

[Cha]

3. Is this true or is it more

hype?

"It all started in the early days of 2002 with Joseph C. Wilson IV, a flamboyant ex-diplomat who had left government for a more lucrative life of business consulting."

What does "flamboyant" mean in relation to Wilson?

Cracks me up..also, the rovemob was saying that Wilson was a "Democrat"..of all things to be!

[Jim Sagle]

7. That was a lie...like everything else the Bush gang has EVER said.

[lovuian]

5. I can't wait for Fitzgerald to take all the top Journalists

and show they were all part of the Wilson Smear Rove Machine!!!

The News Media is going to be shown taking part of this whole big LIE!!!

[IndianaGreen]

6. The news media played a key role in selling the war to the public

We just never suspected to what depths was the media prepared to go in order to sell the war and punish Bush's enemies.

[halobeam]

16. I just watched Moore's F-9/11 for the second time, last night.

The role the media plays REALLY stood out more for me the second time around. It's all so CLEAR the role they played. They should most definetely be held into account, on a very serious level.

[UpInArms]

8. also from your link

As for the Bush administration, the investigation has exposed how an administration that publicly deplores leaking has engaged aggressively in the practice to advance its goals.

[Pirate Smile]

13. Exactly! They have been saying "no comment" but they are leaking

everything Rove has told the GJ, etc.

Scotty gets up and says they won't comment on a ongoing investigation while there is a leak a mile wide coming from the WH to try to spin the stories their way.

LIARS!

[99Pancakes]

9. I believe Rover Boy has more than ONE secret

I wouldn't be surprised if someone digs up more poop on Rove. He lies, he cheats, he steals--what do you expect?

[Bumblebee]

10. I know Pincus sort of mentioned it before

but is this the first time his Plame encounter with the WH ("senior administration official"; probably Libby again) prior to Novak's column is mentioned in the "mainstream" press:

A day later, Cheney's top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, told Cooper he had heard the same thing about Plame, and a senior administration official flagged the role of Wilson's wife, almost in passing, to The Washington Post's Walter Pincus.

[KoKo]

14. This article leaves out so much in the way of the true connections and

implications of the whole Plame/WMD/NIGER Report. It reads almost like a fairy tale to me but the wicked witch is just a misguided little old lady living in the woods and the children she preyed on had ambitions of their own. At least to me it seemed like it was written to people who know nothing and this article is only going to give them gossip mixed in with a few real facts and a tidbit or two of revelations from more "un-named Senior White House Officials and Lawyers familiar with the case." How the hell do we know that any of their sources aren't spreading more disinformation? :shrug:

Look at how Ambassador Wilson is desribed in the beginning of the article: :eyes:

"It all started in the early days of 2002 with Joseph C. Wilson IV, a flamboyant ex-diplomat who had left government for a more lucrative life of business consulting. Wilson was a veteran of the diplomatic wars of Iraq and Africa, so it seemed logical to some in the CIA, including his wife, Plame, to send him on a secret mission to Niger. Wilson's task was to determine if Iraqis had tried to purchase yellowcake uranium from Africa to build nuclear weapons."

[grytpype]

15. EVERYONE RECOMMEND!

This is the big enchilada.

I think Bush will be under significant pressure to resign by the end of October. Because there will be indictments of just about his entire senior staff. How can he survive that?

[rodeodance]

17. "Then, they went a step further.'

The more Wilson pushed, the more the White House was determined to push back against a man they regarded as an irresponsible provocateur.


It is clear that Rove has long known about Valerie Plame -- shown with her husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, in a photo taken for Vanity Fair magazine -- and about Wilson's belief that President Bush


Up until this point, Wilson had worked mostly behind the scenes, but on July 6, he penned an op-ed in the New York Times, writing, "Some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons programs was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat." A story detailing the allegation also appeared that day inside The Post as Wilson appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press."

The White House response was swift. There is a simple rule in politics: Kill a story before it kills you. The Bush team spread word to reporters that Wilson was a Democrat, a supporter of Bush's political opponents who was sent on an inconclusive mission that people in power knew nothing of.

Then, they went a step further.................

[kestrel91316]

18. My prediction:

his entire senior staff may get indicted, but they WILL NOT RESIGN, nor will they be fired by Bush. They will stay on their jobs (innocent until proven guilty, you know) until and unless they are CONVICTED. And of course, this will be fine with Bush. He will certainly not resign, and Congress will NEVER impeach him. I can see this coming.

[daleo]

19. Eventual pardons all around.

Bush will laugh at the whole country when he does this.

[bcbarrett]

20. How can you tell someone in Junior's Admin is lying?

His/her lips are moving...

I think the scandal goes deeper and higher than Rove. It's hard for me to fathom Judith Miller willingly going to prison for contempt to protect a source who has been exposed. It doesn't make sense so there's a larger target higher up in the food chain. There's only a couple of people higher up in the Administration so it may go all the way up to Cheney, who does have a habit of talking out of school. It's unlikely junior leaked it himself because he rarely speaks directly to the press.

Rove may just be the sacrificial lamb being offered to shut everyone up and protect the bigger guy closer to the top. After all he did his job by making sure junior got re-elected and even after this scandal he can make millions lobbying provided he doesn't end up in jail, which of course junior will make sure he never sees the inside of a Bureau of Prisons facility.

It makes sense when you look at it like a game of chess; junior is sacrificing a bishop to save his queen.