CIA leak prosecutor (Fitz) asked (Miller) about any Cheney role

[jsamuel]

By Adam Entous

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal prosecutor questioned New York Times reporter Judith Miller about whether Vice President Dick Cheney himself was aware or authorized her discussions with his chief of staff, Lewis Libby, about a covert CIA operative, Miller said on Saturday.

Miller also disclosed for the first time that the notebook she used for an interview with Libby in July 2003 contained the name "Valerie Flame," a clear reference to Valerie Plame, the covert operative whose outing triggered a sweeping criminal investigation that has shaken the Bush administration.

Miller told federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who could bring indictments as early as next week, that she did not think Libby was the source of the "Valerie Flame" reference in her notebook but that she could not recall who gave her that information.

Plame's diplomat husband, Joseph Wilson, asserts that White House officials outed his wife, damaging her ability to work undercover, to discredit him for accusing the administration of twisting intelligence to justify the Iraq war in a New York Times opinion piece on July 6, 2003.

<more>
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2005-10-16T031841Z_01_EIC446318_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-LEAK.xml

[janx]

1. We're getting closer...

;-)

[blm]

2. I'm thinking it's also someone who NOONE in the media WANTS it to be -

Mary Matalin - who's been selling herself as America's sweetheart of politics for 15 years, now.

[janx]

3. I won't hazard a guess as to who it is...

but I think it's safe to say that this whole business involves the sale of the war and the media's complicity in doing so, yeah.

[JoFerret]

7. Fine. So long as the whole WHIG group

goes down with her (Condi and all)and it doesn't descend into a James Carville-in-bed-with-an-opponent media lark.

[blm]

35. Carville's been hit or miss the last 5 yrs, with more misses than hits

umfortunately for our side.

Think about what this guy must have known but kept under his hat for a few years.

Same thing with Mandy Grumwald who's married to Matt Cooper. They KNEW the REAL story and wouldn't get it into the public debate during an election year.

But, ALL LAST YEAR they let Joe Wilson get trashed as just a political operative for the Kerry campaign trying to hurt Bush.

[mistertrickster]

4. She couldn't "remember" who told her. Ever since Reagan used that

one in the Iran-Contra scandal, it's been the cop-out of choice for right-wing sleaze bags.

C'mon, Judy, you're a FUCKING REPORTER! A REPORTER FOR THE FUCKING NEW YORK TIMES!

And she "can't remember."

I wouldn't take that crap from my fourteen year old son, let alone a banner-story writer for the Times.

If true, she's hopelessly inept as a reporter. If not true, she's a lying sack of shit. I lean toward the latter.

Either way, she never deserves to work in her profession again.

[jsamuel]

5. Rove used the same excuse... "can't recall"

no one can seem to recall the top secret info that one who doesn't have the clearance should ever hear... right...

[Seabiscuit]

24. I don't think Fitzgerald fell for that cop-out either.

Miller may yet be charged with perjury.

[Neil Lisst]

26. Can anyone believe her when she says she doesn't remember?

It's a ridiculous assertion. Someone gives you a critical piece of info, and you can't remember who? Surely you could remember the list of possibilities.

We can eliminate everyone except WHO, Judy?

[NanceGreggs]

6. Judy should keep in mind the laws of Karma ...

... Reagan kept saying, "I can't remember," when asked questions about Iran-Contra fiasco -- he wound out not being able to REMEMBER ANYTHING!

[JoFerret]

8. Not sure there are laws as such

but yours is an excellent karmic observation.

[NanceGreggs]

10. I DO believe in Karma ...

... The problem being that it only kicks in after many years - one must be patient.

Some Karmic predictions for the future (may we all live long enough to see it happen):

The entire Bush Family goes bankrupt after trying to buy back every known copy of Jenna/Barb video entitled, "Crazy White House Sex Antics - Volume XXIV".

Barbara Bush ('Big Momma') goes senile, winds up in a state-run, hell-hole asylum where she's told every day that she was under-privileged when she got there, so she should be grateful things are now working out well for her.

An emaciated Karl Rove, after a twenty-year stint in the slammer, sitting on a D.C. street corner with a tin cup that reads: "Will out a covert CIA operative for food."

A penniless Paul Wolfowitz trying to get a bank loan of $100 with the plea: "I'm telling you, this loan is going to pay for itself!"

The entirety of the GWB presidency being struck from American history books, because school boards have deemed it 'too depressing to be revisited'.

Cheney winds up in a cameo character role on the "Jerry Seinfeld 25th Anniversay Show" and the media is bombarded with e-mails asking, "Who was that guy? Did he used to be somebody?"

Donald Rumsfeld gets caught in a compromising position with an eight-year-old Iraqi boy and is sentenced to life in Abu Ghraib prison.

Condi Rice looses both feet in a bizarre accident in Mississippi after yet another hurricane, and goes insane when she has to give up her $500,000,000,000,000 shoe collection."

Any other Karmic predictions? I, for one, would LOVE to see them, so post away!

[AndyTiedye]

14. May They Meet their Karma in the Hague!

I hope you're not tired of looking at these pictures,
they sure make me feel better:

[kestrel91316]

15. "Yes, Virginia, there IS a Karma Fairy!"

[Virginian]

16. Thank you, I was hoping there was. n/t

[TaleWgnDg]

9. See, hear, speak . . . no evil . . . !!

.

Miller says she can't recall source of Plame info

Bernard Hibbitts, Jurist News, Sunday, October 16, 2005, at 9:35 AM ET

(JURIST News) New York Times reporter Judith Miller (JURIST news archive) wrote in an extensive article published on the Times website Saturday that although the special prosecutor investigating the leak of the identity of CIA analyst Valerie Plame (JURIST news archive) pressed her during grand jury testimony on details about her meetings with Dick Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby in the weeks leading up to the leak, she "didn't think" she got the name from him, and said she couldn't recall who she heard the name from, although a misspelled version of the name and an alias appeared in her notebooks. Miller reported that Libby himself had been very careful in handling classified information, and was interested in insulating the Vice-President from accusations leveled by Plame's husband, US ambassador Joseph Wilson, that the administration had mishandled Iraq intelligence in the run-up to war. Miller was released from a federal prison in Virginia in late September after spending 85 days there on a judge's contempt order for refusing to reveal the source of her information related to the Plame affair. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation of the leak is said to coming to its conclusion; top White House political advisor Karl Rove testified for a fourth time (JURIST report) before the grand jury on Friday. AP has more.

. . . more at . . . http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2005/10/miller-says-she-cant-recall-source-of.php
.

.

harharharhar------> Judith Miller "didn't think" she got the name from (Scooter Libby), and said she couldn't recall who she heard the name from, although a misspelled version of the name and an alias appeared in her notebooks. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/16/national/16miller.html



And, as the New York Times distances itself from Miller . . .

.

[Mz Pip]

11. 85 days in jail

letters back and forth between lawyers and at the end of the day, she "can't remember."

This stinks worse than spoiled cat food.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[NanceGreggs]

12. Only STINKIER!!!! !!!!!! !!!!! !!!!!! !!!! n/t

x(

[mmonk]

13. A forgetful mind can

obstruct justice. Book her.

[The Roux Comes First]

17. Think Big

At risk of being repetitious, I believe it is absolutely essential in our attempts to restore even a semblance of representative democracy that we not let the pursuit of accountability stop at Rove or Libby - or even Cheney. Where does the buck stop in the executive office?

* either explicitly knew of the attempts to blow up Wilson to cover his ass (I strongly believe this is the case) or chose not to know. In the latter case he in effect delegated his authority but had no basis for delegating his responsibility for the actions of the thugs and vermin he is so warm and cozy with (i.e. his natural kin).

* is absolutely and unequivocally an indictable party in this crime.

Repeat after me: impeachment, impeachment, impeachment!!

[The Roux Comes First]

18. Think Big

At risk of being repetitious, I believe it is absolutely essential in our attempts to restore even a semblance of representative democracy that we not let the pursuit of accountability stop at Rove or Libby - or even Cheney. Where does the buck stop in the executive office?

* either explicitly knew of the attempts to blow up Wilson to cover his ass (I strongly believe this is the case) or chose not to know. In the latter case he in effect delegated his authority but had no basis for delegating his responsibility for the actions of the thugs and vermin he is so warm and cozy with (i.e. his natural kin).

* is absolutely and unequivocally an indictable party in this crime.

Repeat after me: impeachment, impeachment, impeachment!!

[kskiska]

19. Cheney May Be Entangled in CIA Leak Investigation, People Say

Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- A special counsel is focusing on whether Vice President Dick Cheney played a role in leaking a covert CIA agent's name, according to people familiar with the probe that already threatens top White House aides Karl Rove and Lewis Libby.

The special counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, has questioned current and former officials of President George W. Bush's administration about whether Cheney was involved in an effort to discredit the agent's husband, Iraq war critic and former U.S. diplomat Joseph Wilson, according to the people.

Fitzgerald has questioned Cheney's communications adviser Catherine Martin and former spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise and ex-White House aide Jim Wilkinson about the vice president's knowledge of the anti-Wilson campaign and his dealings on it with Libby, his chief of staff, the people said. The information came from multiple sources, who requested anonymity because of the secrecy and political sensitivity of the investigation.

New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who has now testified twice before a federal grand jury probing the case after spending 85 days in jail for refusing to cooperate with Fitzgerald, wrote in yesterday's New York Times that Fitzgerald asked her whether the vice president ``had known what his chief aide,'' Libby, ``was doing and saying'' regarding Wilson, a critic of the war in Iraq.

more…
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aSuj1d8CcYAk&refer=top_world_news

[tuvor]

20. Some say... n/t

[fearnobush]

21. If this case is whitewashed - the Wilsons may sue Bush and Chaney

"In an interview yesterday, Wilson said that once the criminal questions are settled, he and his wife may file a civil lawsuit against Bush, Cheney and others seeking damages for the alleged harm done to Plame's career.

If they do so, the current state of the law makes it likely that the suit will be allowed to proceed -- and Bush and Cheney will face questioning under oath -- while they are in office. The reason for that is a unanimous 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that Paula Jones' sexual harassment suit against then-President Bill Clinton could go forward immediately, a decision that was hailed by conservatives at the time."

[sendero]

33. More Karma..

.... the Republicans, in their zeal to discredit Clinton any way they could, opened the door to the idea of being able to file a civil suit against a sitting president.

The chickens are coming home to roost. How's that idea working out for ya now, sleazebags?

[pacalo]

22. Remember how Judge Tatel was swayed by Fitzgerald's

"voluminous classified filings" & then agreed that Miller's contempt of court charge was warranted?

The following seems to be a good indication that Cheney may have been heavily implicated in those pages read by Judge Tatel:

One lawyer intimately involved in the case, who like the others demanded anonymity, said one reason Fitzgerald was willing to send Miller to jail to compel testimony was because he was pursuing evidence the vice president may have been aware of the specifics of the anti-Wilson strategy.

A refresher about Judge Tatel's decision to charge Miller with contempt:

Judge Tatel’s opinion has eight blank pages in the middle of it where he discusses the secret information the prosecutor has supplied only to the judges to convince them that the testimony he is demanding is worth sending reporters to jail to get. The gravity of the suspected crime is presumably very well developed in those redacted pages. Later, Tatel refers to “(h)aving carefully scrutinized (the prosecutor’s) voluminous classified filings.”

Some of us have theorized that the prosecutor may have given up the leak case in favor of a perjury case, but Tatel still refers to it simply as a case “which involves the alleged exposure of a covert agent.” Tatel wrote a 41-page opinion in which he seemed eager to make new law -- a federal reporters’ shield law -- but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to do it in this particular case. In his final paragraph, he says he “might have” let Cooper and Miller off the hook “(w)ere the leak at issue in this case less harmful to national security.”

http://talkleft.com/new_archives/011383.html

[skullj]

23. Like a Big 'Ol Dawg Thats Been Snipped, and Shamed.

The poor Bushies, once so proud and arrogant, and now its like they just got back from a trip to the pound. Now the big bark has been replaced by a squeal over what the vet cut off.

[Roy]

25. So. Bush and cheney will have their own "Paula Jones" moment.

Named Joe and Valerie Wilson, thanks to precedent set by the witch hunting coup attempt by rabid republicans.

" In an interview yesterday, Wilson said that once the criminal questions are settled, he and his wife may file a civil lawsuit against Bush, Cheney and others seeking damages for the alleged harm done to Plame's career.
If they do so, the current state of the law makes it likely that the suit will be allowed to proceed -- and Bush and Cheney will face questioning under oath -- while they are in office. The reason for that is a unanimous 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that Paula Jones' sexual harassment suit against then-President Bill Clinton could go forward immediately, a decision that was hailed by conservatives at the time."

There is no one so nervous and petrified as a republican under oath. These guys may contemplate suicide rather than going on the stand under oath.
I still remember Victoria Toensing, frightened and visibly shaking when asked about a rumor the Dems were talking about investigating her during one of her Clinton bashing TV appearances.

This may carry through 2006 and maybe even the 2008 campaigns.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm selling my Pork Bellies and investing everything in popcorn.

:popcorn: :popcorn:

[lanlady]

27. I admire the Wilsons

They help to restore faith in my fellow Americans. Unlike the Victoria the Vicious and her rabid hubby Joe.

[MADem]

31. Hmmmm, VICTORIA WILSON

Maybe that horrid Miz Toensing was the one who delivered the name to Judy!! Hey, Judy, Scooter told me to tell you the name of Wilson's wife (Judy quickly scribbles VICTORIA WILSON)...her name is Valerie Plame? (Judy writes Valerie Flame).

[cassiepriam]

41. Someone has Wilson's back. He did not get this far all by himself?

Wonder who?

[MADem]

30. Will they televise the testimony from the White House Map Room???

[Roy]

37. Just like they did Clinton...

I would love to see Bush testifying under oath.

Here's a guy who was tortured trying to fake taking responsibility with only a camera looking at him.

[No Exit]

36. This article has some good news and some bad news

for all us peons out here who are not on the "inside":

The good news is:

"In an interview yesterday, Wilson said that once the criminal questions are settled, he and his wife may file a civil lawsuit against Bush, Cheney and others seeking damages for the alleged harm done to Plame's career.

If they do so, the current state of the law makes it likely that the suit will be allowed to proceed -- and Bush and Cheney will face questioning under oath -- while they are in office. The reason for that is a unanimous 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that Paula Jones' sexual harassment suit against then-President Bill Clinton could go forward immediately, a decision that was hailed by conservatives at the time."

Ha ha ha! The Clinton matter set a precedent that the repukes must now follow!

The bad news is:

"Fitzgerald's status differs in one potentially important respect from the independent counsels who investigated alleged wrongdoing during earlier administrations. They reported to a panel of appellate judges, while Fitzgerald reports to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who at least theoretically must approve any indictment."

One of Bush's soldiers is the gatekeeper? I don't like that...

[MADem]

38. Alberto MUST RECUSE HIMSELF

He was the Monkey's WH counsel...so the ball gets kicked down the food chain. JIM COMEY, the number two, appointed Fitz, but he just left Justice. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8853002/site/newsweek/

Sloppy reporting, that.

If they try to halt this train, like Nixon did with the Saturday Night Massacre, there will be outrage comparable to the "IMPEACH THE COX SACKER" rage that developed following that clumsy attempt to subvert the Constitution and justice. We know what happened to Nixon, if the fucking idiot history major Monkeyboy can't see that, well, it just may be time to REALLY march on Washington...

[No Exit]

40. You're right, fortunately...

Suppose there were no indictments, and no publicly shared report. IOW, suppose this story were just here today, and gone tomorrow.

Unfortunately for the evildoers, this story has even entered the MSM, where even the more oblivious Bush sheeple have at least heard of it. If the whole thing were to end up as "never mind, fuggedaboudit", all these bloggers would be outraged, and their readers would be outraged, and the outrage would spread--hopefully, enough to consume this rotten, criminal administration.

[MADem]

42. Fitz's offices are in Chicago, but a subordinate announced yesterday

...that any announcements following the culmination of his work would be made in DC, not Chicago. Reading the tea leaves, that tells me that the shit is going to fly--not that their are not good reporters in Chicago, but the national political reporters all have that Potomac Fever, and cluster around the Cap like bees to honey.

[0007]

28. Game, Set, Match.......tis amzing how bad Judith's memory is...

The link is either bad or reuters took it down.
<:shrug:>

[Zhade]

29. Twenty bucks says she wrote "Flame" instead of "Plame" on purpose.

To throw off the trail - "Oh, I thought he meant FLAME, not PLAME!"

[MADem]

32. Either that, or she was afraid to ask Mumbling Dick for the proper way

to spell the name!!!!

[SKKY]

34. I have no hope, because I can almost 100% guarantee you that...

...43 will pardon them all his last day in office.

[MADem]

39. He may not even wait until his last day

If he needs them badly enough, he can pardon them any damn time he wants. They usually wait till the end because they don't want to take shit for it, but desperate times could call for desperate measures.

Hey, whatever--at least the world would see this banana republic for what it truly is.

[savemefromdumbya]

43. Gannon floating around the WH

she did not think Libby was the source of the "Valerie Flame"