NYT: F.B.I. Is Still Seeking Source of Forged Uranium Reports

[Rose Siding]

snip>
A counterespionage official said Wednesday that the inquiry into the documents, which were intended to show that Iraq was seeking uranium for a nuclear weapons program, had yielded some intriguing but unproved theories. One is the possibility that associates of Ahmad Chalabi, the former Iraqi exile who was a leading champion of the American campaign to topple Saddam Hussein, had a hand in the forgery. A second hypothesis, described by some officials as more likely, is that the documents were forged at Niger's embassy in Rome, in a moneymaking scheme. The official said the matter was being investigated as a counterintelligence case, not a criminal one.
....
The continuing inquiry into the source of the forged documents has been conducted separately from the investigation by the special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald into the leak case, which has to do with whether Bush administration officials committed crimes related to disclosing the identity of Mr. Wilson's wife, an undercover C.I.A. officer.

Law enforcement officials say they do not believe that the two issues are related. The documents were among the sources of President Bush's claim in a 16-word passage of his State of the Union speech in 2003, later retracted, that Iraq was seeking to obtain uranium from Africa.

The question of who forged the documents remains of intense interest on Capitol Hill, where Senators Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, and John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia, have received classified briefings on the status of the F.B.I. inquiry. The two are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the intelligence committee.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/28/politics/28niger.html

[maddezmom]

1. interesting comments from law enforcement

Law enforcement officials say they do not believe that the two issues are related. The documents were among the sources of President Bush's claim in a 16-word passage of his State of the Union speech in 2003, later retracted, that Iraq was seeking to obtain uranium from Africa.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

they are related, IMO and the key to cheney's involvement

[Rose Siding]

2. Yeah, I didn't like that either

Could just be strategic leaks, designed to CONFUSE me :)

[maddezmom]

3. but I like this: leaving Mr. Rove in legal limbo for now

~snip~
Yet, in apparently leaving Mr. Rove in legal limbo for now, Mr. Fitzgerald has left him and Mr. Bush to twist in the uncertainty of a case that has delved deep into the innermost workings of the White House and provided Democrats an opportunity to attack the administration's honesty and the way it justified the war to the American people.

Mr. Rove has had to step back from many of his public duties, including appearing at fund-raisers, and he is likely to have to keep a low profile as long as the investigation continues. It could also leave him distracted, depriving the White House of his full attention at a time when Mr. Bush is struggling to regain his political footing after months in which the bloody insurgency in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and the failed Supreme Court nomination of Harriet E. Miers have left the administration stumbling.

An indictment of Mr. Libby, who is seen by many people in the White House as Mr. Cheney's alter ego, would also keep a focus on the way in which the administration built its case that Saddam Hussein was a threat who had to be dealt with. Any trial of Mr. Libby would likely shine a spotlight in particular on Mr. Cheney and his prewar role.

more:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/28/politics/28leak.html?ei=5089&en=fa5d0965c972461e&ex=1288152000&adxnnl=1&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1130483248-C7Wv2US5xWkAkHr2Z4sPUA

[Hekate]

4. Rove and Bush: Slowly twisting in the wind...

... nice change from spinning the truth...

Hekate

[bklyncowgirl]

5. Good to see that this is getting some attention

Slowly, slowly it is coming out.

[lanlady]

6. NYT - a day late and a dollar short

Doesn't anyone read Italian? I thought this info was in the SISMI report that Fitzgerald requested.

The Times keeps compounding its errors (they appeared to be wrong on its front page story about Libby learning Plame's name from Cheney).

[DiverDave]

7. The documents where amateurish in the extreme

the person who signed them was out of the govt., for what?, 10 years?

Look to the freeps, they have the brains to muck up things this bad.

[IndianaGreen]

8. Chalabi's name rears its ugly head again

A counterespionage official said Wednesday that the inquiry into the documents, which were intended to show that Iraq was seeking uranium for a nuclear weapons program, had yielded some intriguing but unproved theories. One is the possibility that associates of Ahmad Chalabi, the former Iraqi exile who was a leading champion of the American campaign to topple Saddam Hussein, had a hand in the forgery. A second hypothesis, described by some officials as more likely, is that the documents were forged at Niger's embassy in Rome, in a moneymaking scheme. The official said the matter was being investigated as a counterintelligence case, not a criminal one.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/28/politics/28niger.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1130498536-n2U/eI1ut8nlaCx6h6S1Fg

Remember that Judy Miller used Chalabi as her source for WMD stories.

[MetaTrope]

9. So what happened to those traceable laser printer watermarks?

Given all the ruckus about their unveiling a week or two ago...