Journalist at center of leak probe criticizes Time boss

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/17/cooper.sources/

Journalist at center of leak probe criticizes Time boss

Reporter says probe cooperation could hamper newsgathering

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Time magazine reporter said Sunday his boss' decision to turn over his notes and e-mails to a grand jury could impair the magazine's ability to gather information.

The grand jury is investigating how the identity of a covert CIA operative was made public.
"That's possible, as a fallout from this decision," Time reporter Matthew Cooper told CNN's "Reliable Sources."

The situation that led Time Editor-in-Chief Norman Pearlstine to hand over the information was "kind of an anomalous case, to say the least," Cooper said.

But he said it could nonetheless hinder Time correspondents' ability to persuade potential sources -- those seeking a guarantee of their identities would not be divulged -- to talk.

<</SNIP>>

[central scrutinizer]

1. OK - one more time, slowly

Rove was not a whistle blower. He was hiding behind the scenes trying to use the press to silence a real whistle blower. Can't you tell the difference?? Apparently, your boss can and I believe that most sources and real whistleblowers will be able to tell the difference, as well.

[Donailin]

19. I know, doesn't it make you crazy? And someone please point this out to

Bob Woodward. I'm sick to death of his defense of Judith Miller. The media is there to get to the truth, not enable the spreading of lies.


I'm so effing sick of it.

[sidpleasant]

23. Speaking truth to Bob Woodward

A old friend was walking past the White House on Thursday evening when Woodward came out the visitors' gate. My quick - witted pal said to Woodward "just finish sucking Bush's dick?" Woodward gave him a tight smile and walked away without saying anything.

[SquireJons]

25. Thank you for posting that

I thought I was the only one who saw Woodward as a turncoat. His book "Plan of Attack" would have made Joseph Goebbels very happy. Personally, I gave up on him long ago. I wonder what happened? Could it just be all the money he has now, or was it something else that turned him to 'the dark side?'

[Media_Lies_Daily]

27. Check out Mr. Bob's background...he's ALWAYS been suspect....

...and he's working at a newspaper that's ALWAYS been suspect. Read both of these sites if you haven't done so already...they are quite good:

Bob Woodward
<http://www.webcom.com/ctka/pr196-woodward.html>

QUOTE:

The staunchly conservative Bob Woodward grew up in Wheaton, Illinois. A good student at Yale, he was ultimately one of fifteen seniors "tapped" for one of that university's secret societies, Book and Snake, a cut below the more infamous Skull and Bones, but the top of the second-tier fraternities. Woodward had his first journalistic experience working for the Banner, a Yale publication. In his 1965 yearbook he was referred to as a "Banner mogul." Havill writes,

Certainly, with the CIA encouraged to recruit on the Yale campus, particularly among history majors and secret societies, it is more than reasonable to assume Bob may have been one of those approached by the agency, or by a military intelligence unit, especially after four years of naval ROTC training. Although it would answer a lot of questions that have been raised about Bob Woodward, at this point one can only speculate as to whether he was offered the chance to become a "double-wallet guy," as CIA agents who have two identities are dubbed. It would certainly be understandable if he decided not to adhere to the straight and accepted the submerged patriotic glamour and extra funds that such a relationship would provide. It would also explain the comments of Pulitzer Prize-winning author J. Anthony Lukas, when he wrote in 1989 that Bob Woodward was "temperamentally secretive, loathe to volunteer information about himself," or the Washingtonian's remarks in 1987: "He is secretive about everything." As Esquire magazine put it, summing up in its 1992 article on Bob, "What is he hiding?"

=================================

Operation Mockingbird: CIA Media Manipulation
<http://www.prisonplanet.com/analysis_louise_01_03_03_mockingbird.html>

QUOTE:

Starting in the early days of the Cold War (late 40's), the CIA began a secret project called Operation Mockingbird, with the intent of buying influence behind the scenes at major media outlets and putting reporters on the CIA payroll, which has proven to be a stunning ongoing success. The CIA effort to recruit American news organizations and journalists to become spies and disseminators of propaganda, was headed up by Frank Wisner, Allen Dulles, Richard Helms, and Philip Graham (publisher of The Washington Post). Wisner had taken Graham under his wing to direct the program code-named Operation Mockingbird and both have presumably committed suicide.

Media assets will eventually include ABC, NBC, CBS, Time, Newsweek, Associated Press, United Press International (UPI), Reuters, Hearst Newspapers, Scripps-Howard, Copley News Service, etc. and 400 journalists, who have secretly carried out assignments according to documents on file at CIA headquarters, from intelligence-gathering to serving as go-betweens. The CIA had infiltrated the nation's businesses, media, and universities with tens of thousands of on-call operatives by the 1950's. CIA Director Dulles had staffed the CIA almost exclusively with Ivy League graduates, especially from Yale with figures like George Herbert Walker Bush from the "Skull and Crossbones" Society.

[SquireJons]

28. Raises a lot of questions

Most prominently, why did he allow himself to be a major player in the demise of the Nixon administration if he was a CIA op? It would have been real easy to lean on him in that case. I am not convinced. To me, it seems more likely that with his rise in power and wealth, he simply forgot his honesty.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

29. I'm not sure that I understand your response....

...you do understand that Nixon was forced out of office and that Watergate was the PUBLIC reason for doing so, don't you? When General Al Haig took over as White House Chief of Staff, the nuclear codes "football" was assigned to someone else. Haig reported directly to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, not to anyone in the civilian chain of command. Additionally, the day that Haig took over acting for the military, a top secret teletype was sent to all major US commands to "disregard all orders from the Commander-in-Chief".

Woodward had been in the journalism business for 18 months, 12 months with a local Washington DC area journal, and 6 months with the Post, when his sources became the focal point of the Watergate story. How is it possible to gather sensitive sources of that nature in so short a time as a civilian? Answer: He had all the sources he needed within the intelligence community and the FBI based on his previous work in the military.

Later on, how was Woodward able to gain an hospital room interview with CIA Director William Casey when Casey's own family stated that Casey was beyond being able to talk?

And finally, how can any of us trust the "slam dunk" statement Woodward attributed to George Tenet when Woodward's only possible sources were the NeoCons at that meeting at the Crawford, Texas ranch?

Woodward has never been CIA, nor did I claim that he was. But he has the intelligence-world smell all over him. If I had to guess, I would say that he was either Naval Intelligence or Defense Intelligence out of the Pentagon. The CIA is not the only agency to conduct an "Operation Mockingbird" within the captive mainstream media.

I'm not at all sure what you meant by the following statements:

"Most prominently, why did he allow himself to be a major player in the demise of the Nixon administration if he was a CIA op? It would have been real easy to lean on him in that case."

The CIA was NOT Nixon's ally during Watergate.

[SquireJons]

31. Hmm....

No, I can't say that I do understand your post. I've been accused of being conspiracy minded on lots of occasions, but I have a hard time buying much of what you say. Do you have any reputable links for anything you said in the first paragraph?

Specifically, "When General Al Haig took over as White House Chief of Staff, the nuclear codes "football" was assigned to someone else."

Um, your point is what exactly? It is interesting that after H. R. Halderman, the next three COS's were Haig, Cheney and Rumsfeld, but put more meat on the bones and back it up.

"Haig reported directly to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, not to anyone in the civilian chain of command."

In which capacity? As Head of NATO Forces (under Ford and Carter), he would report directly to the Joint Chiefs, but as Secretary of State, or Presidential Chief of Staff, that is certainly false.

"the day that Haig took over acting for the military, a top secret teletype was sent to all major US commands to "disregard all orders from the Commander-in-Chief"."

Again... what? Took over acting for the military? What do you mean? We all know that Haig is a megalomaniac. But that doesn't mean anyone listened to him then any more than they did when he dubbed himself "in charge" when Reagan was shot. He is delusional. In any event, a link please.

If your going to make wild accusations, you must be willing and able to back them up.

Now, as far as the questions on Woodward's access to all these spooks, yes, those are all compelling questions, but again, why would any govt agency (ie. the intelligence agencies) bite the hand that feeds them? It doesn't make sense to me. I take the polatics that force Nixon to resign at reletive face value. I'm 44, so I still remember those times very well.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

33. Detailed response....

No, I can't say that I do understand your post. I've been accused of being conspiracy minded on lots of occasions, but I have a hard time buying much of what you say. Do you have any reputable links for anything you said in the first paragraph?

Specifically, "When General Al Haig took over as White House Chief of Staff, the nuclear codes "football" was assigned to someone else."

Yes, I do. One of my sources was a military officer assigned to Kissinger's staff at the time and worked in the White House Situation Room. I had a chance to talk with him when we were both assigned to Operation Gallant Knight in 1980. And no, I'm not going to reveal his name on this board...we were both in highly classified positions at the time.

Um, your point is what exactly? It is interesting that after H. R. Halderman, the next three COS's were Haig, Cheney and Rumsfeld, but put more meat on the bones and back it up.

"Haig reported directly to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, not to anyone in the civilian chain of command."

In which capacity? As Head of NATO Forces (under Ford and Carter), he would report directly to the Joint Chiefs, but as Secretary of State, or Presidential Chief of Staff, that is certainly false.

What does Cheney and Rumsfeld have to do with Nixon's final year in office? What point were you trying to make by inserting that into the dialogue?

Do you recall that Haig was a 2-star general when he was assigned the role of White House Chief of Staff? He had already been working for Kissinger since 1969, there was no Vice President because Agnew had already resigned, and Ford had not yet been appointed as the new Vice President. Nixon was cut out of the command loop, and Haig reported to the JCS. In his role, Haig bridged the gap between the outgoing Nixon and the incoming Ford.

Haig's reward for his work in the White House was a 2-star promotion to 4-star general and command of NATO from 1974-1979. To be awarded this command, Haig was promoted over about twenty higher-ranking officers. As you might guess, that caused quite a bit of turmoil among the higher echelons of the Army, and that turmoil is well-documented.

"the day that Haig took over acting for the military, a top secret teletype was sent to all major US commands to "disregard all orders from the Commander-in-Chief"."

Again... what? Took over acting for the military? What do you mean?

Surely you're not that naive. What do you think I mean by "acting for the military"?

In regards to the message, a friend of mine was part of a Navy listening post on Guam in 1973 and pulled the message noted above from his teletype. He told me about the teletype message one day before we graduated from Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island in 1977.

We all know that Haig is a megalomaniac. But that doesn't mean anyone listened to him then any more than they did when he dubbed himself "in charge" when Reagan was shot. He is delusional. In any event, a link please.

Haig wasn't a megalomanic in 1973-1974. He was a shrewd, crafty senior military officer who knew the inner workings of the Executive Branch as well as anyone during that period of time. He also commanded a great deal of respect not only for his senior rank but also because of the high-powered relationships he built in DC, Europe, and Asia.

A West Point grad in 1947, he served in Korea from 1950-1951. From 1951-1954 he was assigned to duties in Europe. From 1954-1960, he was assigned to the 5412 Group in the White House and got to know Nixon very well. He was assigned to various roles in DC from 1960 until 1967 when he received orders to Vietnam. By 1969, Haig was back in DC and part of Kissinger's staff. By 1973-1974, Haig was a player and part of the inner circle...and everyone knew it.

By the time Haig was Secretary of State for Bush I in 1981-1982, he exhibited delusional behavior for all the world to see the day that Reagan was shot.

If your going to make wild accusations, you must be willing and able to back them up.

LOL. "Wild accusations"? If you think what I've discussed is a "wild accusation", then you really don't know U. S. history very well.

Now, as far as the questions on Woodward's access to all these spooks, yes, those are all compelling questions, but again, why would any govt agency (ie. the intelligence agencies) bite the hand that feeds them? It doesn't make sense to me. I take the polatics that force Nixon to resign at reletive face value. I'm 44, so I still remember those times very well.

"Why would any govt agency (ie. the intelligence agencies) bite the hand that feeds them?" Nixon had gone too far and the powers behind the presidency decided that he had to be removed from office. He had threatened the use of nuclear weapons in a closed committee meeting against at least one other foreign power. He had also threatened the CIA with revealing all that he knew about "that whole Bay of Pigs thing", a statement that was believed by one of Nixon's top staffers to be code for the JFK assassination. In short, many of the people close to Nixon believed that he was very close to a nervous breakdown.

I was 23 in 1974 and still in college. I watched every minute of the Watergate hearings because I knew what was at stake. I have also done extensive research of the time period between 1958 and 1974...a time period which had a profound effect on our nation's history.

In closing, I submit that you don't know nearly as much as you think you do. If you're currently 44, you were only 13 when Nixon resigned in 1974, and I doubt very much that you had as much interest in Watergate as I did.

[SquireJons]

36. That's all very interesting

But except for Haigs military record, completely unverifiable, so I could not actually use any of this information in a discussion with anyone else. However, I get a lot of information like that so I'll just put it in my back pocket and watch.

Thanks.

[Donailin]

32. R U serious?

you're making that up, right?

I listened to him on Diane Rheem the other day and she asked him a question: Did you give any of the money that you have made from either book related to Deep Throat or from the movie profits to Mark Felt?

He literally babbled for five minutes without anwering the question until Diane asked again forcefully, "But DID YOU give him any money from all the profits you've made?"

"No." and then he went on to justify how it wasn't his place to.

uh-huh. Can we say guilt complex? I think that's his problem in a nutshell. I think he didn't want Mark Felt to ever admit he was deep throat so as to relieve him of that guilt. As it is, Mr Felt will get one million dollars for a book deal: I don't know how that will work since Mr. Felt has no recollection of the events, and hasn't, according to Mr. Woodward, for over ten years.

[Chi]

34. Woodward just told Jon Stewart about your friend's comment 8)

I take it your friend is a big guy.
8)

[grasswire]

37. Woodward mentioned that on TDS

Did you see that? Woodward told that story. Was it a friend of yours?

[Eloriel]

35. That's a damn good frame:

The media is there to get to the truth, not enable the spreading of lies. Most excellent.

[mom cat]

22. Cooper was played for a fool. Maybe he is one.at least on this.

[progressivebydesign]

2. Rove wasn't leaking ABOUT a crime.. his leak WAS the crime.

That's a difference that apparently Cooper can't figure out. It's the LEAK, stupid.

[Cha]

4. cooper sounds like a rovian

shill. I hope Fitzgerald nails his ass for lying.

[brentspeak]

3. "Time" is not exactly the great investigative magazine in the 1st place

No great loss if people are unwilling to speak to Time reporters.

[coldwatercyn]

5. Cooper

Should of thought about what Rove was saying, he knew it was wrong at the time Cooper should have been the whistle blower.

[calimary]

13. Welcome to DU!

Glad you're here! We need you to DU whatever you can...

Visualize IMPEACHMENT!
pass it on...

[Garbo 2004]

6. i.e. it would hamper the media's taking stenography from Buschco?

Cooper: you were shielding a liar and disinformation specialist, not a truth teller or whistleblower. Get the difference? So now you'll just have to get your Bushco talking points on the record I guess. :shrug:

[stepnw1f]

7. Wilson Was The "WHISTLEBLOWER"

not rove

[Alien8ed]

8. Cooper Trying To Play Fitzgerald...

...is like watching a particularly foolish puppy trying to catch a truck.

And, he will indeed catch it, too.

[calimary]

14. Welcome, Alien8ed!

Good to have you here with us!

[lovuian]

9. I smell Smoke!!! cough cough!!! Running for cover!!!

Cooper sour grapes gets ya know where hon!!! Putting the blame on your boss is kinda pathetic...

[Canuckistanian]

12. Not a great career move, there, Matt

Maybe he has a future investigating Texas Air National Guard memos...

[dArKeR]

10. I sure hope Cooper sees all of your comments!

It's not that far fetched either. I bet many many professional and Whore journalist read the DU!

[goforit]

11. Stop right there !! Time Inc. will be making $$$$$$$$$$ selling mags.

Time Inc. will be selling a ton of these magazines.

It will be a gold rush for them

[nolabels]

15. Like what is wimp bemoaning anyway........

Hey Mr. Cooper chump, your punk ass stayed out of jail didn't it?

Here Mat let me cry for you :cry:

[Pallas180]

17. Someone should ask Cooper, if a serial killer revealed to him where

he had buried bodies, would he keep that source secret too?

Even priests now turn in killers and rapists.

Cooper's idea of protecting criminals is protecting freedom of the press is deranged!

[nolabels]

20. If a few titles were removed from them "important sources"

that would basically be what he wanted to do. The world does get rather macabre if you ponder what this word or thing called "Official Title". It gives a single person on the assumption of them being or possessing a superior pluralistic moral knowledge (mostly an impossible feat in itself)often extraordinary judicial powers that are mostly above retribution from the law.

[Voltaire99]

16. Not to worry: Tom Cruise will still talk to Time.

And you know what? He's studied the issues.

[daleo]

18. What has Cooper been like other than this?

I mean, given the parameters of working for the corporate media, has he generally been a stenographer or has he maintained some integrity? I can't say I have any strong pre-Plame outing sense of him.

[low_phreaq]

21. The article is misleading about the law

I'm not sure if CNN just slipped up, or if it was intentional, but the article states: "The Intelligence Identities Protection Act makes it a federal crime, in some cases, to reveal the name of a covert U.S. operative."

In fact, the Act does not specifically mention revealing the name of a covert operative, but more broadly applies when somebody "intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent..."

The way the article is written misleads readers so they might think that Rove didn't break the law as long as he did not reveal Plame's name. It also lends legitimacy to Rove's irrelevant statement that he "did not identify Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, by name..."

It seems to me that identifying a spousal relationship, as Rove may have done, would fall under disclosing identifying information.

This is also inconsistent with an earlier CNN.com article that stated:
"According to the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, it is a federal crime to reveal the identity of a covert agent."
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/30/wilson.cia

[Toots]

24. could impair the magazine's ability to gather information.

It ain't information they have been gathering it is propaganda. So no loss IMO.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

26. Okay....Time reveals Cooper's notes to keep Cooper out of jail, and...

...Cooper gets ugly with his bosses at Time??

And then Cooper babbles something totally insane about Rove being a "whistle-blower"??

That guy doesn't belong in jail, he belongs in a nut-house.

[VegasWolf]

30. or Cooper woke up with a bloody horse's head on his pillow. nt