Bush has yet to address difficult questions on CIA leak

[maddezmom]

Bush has yet to address difficult questions on CIA leak
By Richard W. Stevenson The New York Times

MONDAY, JULY 25, 2005


WASHINGTON His former secretary of state, most of his closest aides and a parade of other senior officials have testified to a grand jury. His political strategist has emerged as a central figure in the case, as has his vice president's chief of staff. His spokesman has taken a pounding for making statements about the matter that now appear to have been inaccurate.

For all that, it is still not clear what the investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity will mean for President George W. Bush. So far the disclosures about the involvement of the political strategist, Karl Rove, among others, have not exacted any substantial political price from the administration. And nobody has suggested that the investigation directly implicates the president. Yet Bush has yet to address some uncomfortable questions that he may not be able to evade indefinitely.

For starters, did Bush know in the fall of 2003, when he was telling the public that no one wanted to get to the bottom of the case more than he did, that Rove, his longtime strategist, senior adviser and alter ego, and I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, had touched on the CIA officer's identity in conversations with journalists before the officer's name became public? If not, when did they tell him, and what would the delay say in particular about his relationship with Rove, whose career and Bush's have been intertwined for decades?

Then there is the broader issue of whether Bush was aware of any effort by his aides to use the CIA officer's identity to undermine the standing of her husband, a former diplomat who had publicly accused the administration of twisting its prewar intelligence about Iraq's nuclear program.

more:http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/24/news/bush.php

[msongs]

1. he has "yet to address critical questions" on ANYTHING in 4+ years nt

[NMDemDist2]

3. ROFL, welll there is that......... n/t

[lateo]

5. Exactly...

Hand picked audienced, hand picked reporters, and hand picked questions...

If only Bill Clinton could have had it so easy...

[Oldtimeralso]

7. Bottom of things

B*sh acts like he has gotten to the bottom of many things
pill & booze bottles!

[sam sarrha]

8. click on the Katherine Van Wormer link at the bottom of this page

it explains it all... very well.

[WhiteTara]

32. link please

thanks

[WhiteTara]

31. don't forget down to the last line of coke

welcome to DU oldtimeralso :hi:

[Demeter]

35. Bush Doesn't DO Questions

Doesn't ask them either. Impervious.

[barb162]

40. he addressed gay marriage, tax cuts for his rich buddies, etc

stuff that is extremely important to him

[bullimiami]

2. Like what did YOU know and WHEN.

because he knew and right from the beginning.

of course, they all did.

[lovuian]

4. Why does Can't talk about investigation sound like taking the 5th

Cause it sure signs like taking the 5th to me!!!

[rodeodance]

6. good headline for nytimes.

[maddezmom]

15. thought so, too

:D

[goforit]

9. LOL!!!!..................Or I dunno or I don't remember or I don't recall

This should be an automatic sentence of 50+ years!!!

[deminks]

Many, many questions,

like

When is he going to testify under oath?
Did he know that the Niger reference in the SOTU was a lie before or after he read it?
Who forged the Niger documents?
Why was the Italian intelligence officer murdered?
Did he ok the attack on Wilsons, or are KKKarl Rove and KKKaren Hughes making these intelligence decisions for the country now?
What does Negroponte really do?
Is there a tape recording device in your office(s)?

What did Judy Miller know, and when did Chalabi/Cheney tell her?

Have you ever felt anything in your life? What are you?

Ok, the last one may be out of line, but why not?

[Nothing Without Hope]

16. All excellent questions. And no, I don't think he feels anything like us -

he's a sociopath. He feels fear and triumph, but not guilt and not love. No conscience.

[Solly Mack]

10. He's hoping it will just go away

those people figure if they don't mention it, it didn't happen

[leftchick]

11. Will bush** have to testify before the GJ???

so far he has only given testimony to Fitzgerald. I would love to see him take the hot seat in front of the grand jury!

<snip>

The special prosecutor in the case, Patrick Fitzgerald, has kept a tight curtain of secrecy around his investigation. But he spent more than an hour in the Oval Office on June 24, 2004, interviewing Bush about the case. Bush was not under oath, but he had his lawyer for the case, James Sharp, with him. Neither the White House nor the Justice Department has said what Bush was asked about, but the mere fact of the meeting suggests that there was some information Fitzgerald felt he could get only from Bush.

[WhiteTara]

33. I hope so!

It would be wonderful for him to have to walk over to the justice building with his lawyer(s) in tow, his little squinty eyed face all screwed up with fear. Now that would really make my day!

[cliss]

37. He will, but guess who will be sitting next to him?

Cheney, of course. Recall, about 2 years ago with the 9/11 commission. Towards the end, Bush was required to testify. He showed up, but Cheney insisted on going with him. I believe the old buzzard actually sat NEXT TO HIM. Just like we always joked about here.

Bush actually is a puppet. So unbelievable. In all my life, I've never seen anything quite like this.

They don't let that man wander very long without a chaperone.

[tblue37]

42. Cheney is to Bush

what Katie Holmes' Scientology chaperone is to her.

[Al-CIAda]

12. hahahahaha...

..."he was telling the public that no one wanted to get to the bottom of the case more than he did"

Yeah, sure, George 'OJ' Bush.

The man is at LEAST an accessory after the fact. He has at the least aided felonious criminal activity by his covering up and obstruction of justice.

[Massachusetts]

13. "Bush has yet to address difficult questions on CIA leak"

The Court Jester entertains ONLY!

[MasonJar]

14. Bush, Powell and the memo about the Wilsons, marked top

secret, were all on Air Force One on the way to Africa. Who would have asked for Powell to bring the evidence besides George "bring 'em on" Bush?

[catmandu57]

17. Well you know, answering questions is hard work

especially if the crashcart kid is not allowed anywhere near the hearing room and if he's thoroughly frisked for electronic devises beforehand.
I'd say the odds of lil georgie* voluntarily answsering anything is less than zero.

[kestrel91316]

39. * is God's Anointed One, he doesn't have to do anything he ............

doesn't want to.

[truthpusher]

18. (Sunday NYT) Who told Bush what in leak case, and when was he told?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/07/24/MNGCEDSPUC1.DTL

Who told Bush what in leak case, and when was he told?
------------------------
Fallout from Rove's involvement yet to be fully measured
------------------------
- Richard W. Stevenson, New York Times
Sunday, July 24, 2005
------------------------
Washington --

(snip)

For starters, did Bush know in the fall of 2003, when he was telling the public that no one wanted to get to the bottom of the case more than he did, that Rove, his longtime strategist, senior adviser and alter ego; and Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, had touched on the CIA officer's identity in conversations with journalists before the officer's name became public? If not, when did they tell him, and what would the delay say in particular about his relationship with Rove, whose career and Bush's have been intertwined for decades?

(snip)

Allan Lichtman, a presidential historian at American University in Washington, said the lesson of recent history, for example in the Iran-Contra case under President Ronald Reagan, is that presidents tend to know more than it might first appear about what is going on within the White House.

"My presumption in presidential politics is that the president always knows," Lichtman said. "But there are degrees of knowing. Reagan said, keep the contras together body and soul. Did he know exactly what Oliver North was doing? No, it doesn't mean he knew what every subordinate is doing."

(snip)

By September 2003, as a criminal investigation was getting under way, McClellan was telling reporters that Rove had nothing to do with the leak, saying he had checked with Rove about the topic.

Around the same time, the president was saying he had no idea who might have been responsible. Asked by a reporter on Oct. 6, 2003, whether the leak was retaliation for Wilson's criticism, Bush replied: "I don't know who leaked the information, for starters. So it's hard for me to answer that question until I find out the truth."

(snip)

complete story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/07/24/MNGCEDSPUC1.DTL

[Kagemusha]

19. So Bush's defense is, don't ask, don't tell?

Cute.. real cute..

[LiberalVoice]

20. Bush has no defense...

He now knows who leaked the info...so was it in retaliation?

[The Walrus]

21. Lies

When you tell so many lies so often, it will eventually catch up with you - no matter how sneaky your handlers are.

[DoYouEverWonder]

28. Even when you claim your handler

is god himself.

BTW: Welcome to DU :hi:

[Zorbuddha]

34. So, YOU are The Walrus...

Welcome

[calimary]

22. Sounds more and more like Watergate every day...

What did the president know, and when did he know it?

I suspect, considering how bush and rove are soul brothers, that bush knew everything - and giggled with rove about it, immensely enjoying how devious they were. They've been joined at the hip pretty much since they both studied under the dreaded lee "dirty tricks" atwater. I'd suspect that bush knows EVERYTHING - and knew everything FROM THE GET-GO, mainly because by then, kkkarl felt so invincible that he blabbed. Just SO damned sure he'd be getting away with THIS one, too. His modus operendi throughout his career has been to do dirty to his opponents in such a way that he never leaves fingerprints. It's always worked. He's never had to pay. Why should that stop now?

Well, kkkarl dear, NOTHING lasts forever. Not even you.

[powwowdancer]

23. what's going on?

Why does this explosive story keep trying to lay down and die? Does bush wield that much power, that he's able to squelch it? Are the mainstream media, indeed, all media, so afraid of angering der führer that they'd rather not deal with it? I'll ask again, (I've asked on multiple occasions on other posts), and it's not rhetorical, how much will it take? How bad does bush have to screw the pooch? He's lied to get us to go to war, (remember the DSM? Few others do), Delay is more bent than Al Capone, we've de-evolved into a nation that looks the other way at torture, war crimes, and the rampant murder of civilians, Cheney says "fuck off!" to elected officials on the open floor of congress and not so much as an "I'm sorry" is forthcoming, any "inconvenient" national and/or international laws are brushed aside and ignored like pesky gnats, and now rove is able to commit multiple felonies which threaten national security without a day of reckoning. And Clinton can't get a knobber from some tubby little be-thonged intern/cigar-holder without the entire world knowing every single sordid little nasty detail about what where when and how in a 1000+ page document publshed by an implacable raving prosecutor? Where's Ken Starr's ilk when you need 'em? How much MORE than a smoking gun is needed?

:dem:
powwowdancer out

[pfitz59]

24. It's all R.I.C.O........

#1) Bribery....... if that doesn't work try,
#2) Blackmail...if that's not enough there are always.....
#3) Plane crashes and
#4) "Sucides"!
How many members of Congress have family members who are "lobbyists", "consultants" or "advisors"?
How many "closeted" advisors does Bush* have?
Where are the bodies buried?
The BFEE is one of the largest and longest-running criminal enterprises in history! It will take more than Plame-gate to bring them down!

[Demeter]

36. I Expect You Can Add Insider Trading To All That

after all, imagine having the CIA do your investment counselling. No surprises going to eat YOUR lunch (and no rivals going to beat you to the prize, either).

[truthpusher]

25. If the media tells people to care, they will...

...the Public at large has delegated the responsibility of deeming what is important to the Media - It's up to the media (.)

[0007]

26. Did you happen to notice where this story was located?

If not, it was on page A-10.....what does that tell you?

[DeepModem Mom]

27. During Watergate, the media made clear the Constitutional issues...

involved. You're right.

[ixion]

30. I can't tell you how much I agree that that question must be answered

There must be a limit. But what is it? How many thousands of people have to die, how many thousands more maimed, how many thousands more jailed for protesting, how many thousands more audited or profiled because of their politics?

How far will it go?

Frankly, I'm amazed it ever got this far. :wow:

[lyonn]

38. Best I can tell is they keep this sh-t rolling

so fast that no one can keep up with it all. The media is strictly "show time" where the likes of Matthews, Russert, Novak, are believing their own press clipping, they are the show, their guest are side issues only there to show the public how brilliant they (the talking heads) are. They show no class or smarts. But the paychecks are hefty, bought and paid for media.

People truly believe that there ARE WMD's in Iraq still, cox cable man told my husband this, and that Saddam was working with terrorist. Tells you what people hear on tv, not much. There is no god in heaven!

[DavidDvorkin]

29. What did the president shred, and when did he shred it?

That's the question some reporter, or perferably some senator, needs to ask.

[lovuian]

41. No Comment makes him look so Guilty!!! the longer the silence

the longer the list of wrongs he has done!!!