WP: Judge's Report Shows Cheney Aide Is Accused Of Broad Deception

[kskiska]

The special prosecutor in the CIA leak case alleged that Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff was engaged in a broader web of deception than was previously known and repeatedly lied to conceal that he had been a key source for reporters about undercover operative Valerie Plame, according to court records released yesterday.

The records also show that by August 2004, early in his investigation of the disclosure of Plame's identity, Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald had concluded that he did not have much of a case against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby for illegally leaking classified information. Instead, Fitzgerald was focused on charging Cheney's top aide with perjury and making false statements, and knew he needed to question reporters to prove it.

The court records show that Libby denied to a grand jury that he ever mentioned Plame or her CIA job to then-White House press secretary Ari Fleischer or then-New York Times reporter Judith Miller in separate conversations he had with each of them in early July 2003. The records also suggest that Libby did not disclose to investigators that he first spoke to Miller about Plame in June 2003, and that prosecutors learned of the nature of the conversation only when Miller finally testified late in the fall of 2005.

All three specific allegations are contained in previously redacted sections of a U.S. Court of Appeals opinion that were released yesterday. The opinion analyzed Fitzgerald's secret evidence to determine whether his case warranted ordering reporters to testify about their confidential conversations with sources.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/03/AR2006020302095.html

[pinto]

1. I'm glad to see this follow up in WaPo. While most of the country is

probably sketchy on the details of this case and will only see a sound bite mention somewhere down the line, DC powers that be read WaPo, it does mean something to them. Watergate was a quiet story that took a long time to evolve, and it's minor compared to this Administration's activities. But it didn't go away.

[BlueIris]

18. Thanks for the reality check. Watergate IS minor by comparison.

People who don't see that aren't paying attention. If they bothered to honestly consider the gravity and scope of the Admin's actions, their minds would boggle. And that's just THIS set of crimes. Wilkes/Cunningham, anyone?

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Put that down as one more thing I shall never do:

I shall never play a game of poker with Patrick Fitzgerald.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. WP: (court) Documents Reveal New Details of Libby Conversations

Documents Reveal New Details of Libby Conversations
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 3, 2006


Court documents released today provide new details about the testimony that Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff gave to a grand jury investigating his conversations with reporters and administration officials about a CIA operative.

The documents say I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby denied in his testimony ever mentioning CIA operative Valerie Plame to former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer or former New York Times reporter Judith Miller in separate conversations he had with them in July 2003, and further never disclosed talking to Miller about Plame in June 2003....

***

The information about Libby and other individuals' secret grand jury testimony is included in sections of a once-sealed federal court opinion, portions of which the court made public today....Miller testified last year that Libby first mentioned Plame to her in a conversation in late June 2003 when she visited his office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, and they discussed her again on July 8 and July 12.

Fleischer testified that at a lunch with Libby in July 2003, Libby relayed to him "on the q.t." that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA and sent him on the trip to Niger. Fleisher told the grand jury that he thought the lunch was "kinda weird" because Libby was normally "tight-lipped" and not so chummy that he would share such confidences with the press secretary.

The papers reveal that Libby said he never discussed Wilson's wife with Fleischer....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/03/AR2006020302095.html

[Pirate Smile]

4. NYT:New Details Revealed on C.I.A. Leak Case(Cheney told Libby;Libby lied)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 — Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff told prosecutors that Mr. Cheney had informed him "in an off sort of curiosity sort of fashion" in mid-June 2003 about the identity of the C.I.A. officer at the heart of the leak case, according to a formerly secret legal opinion, parts of which were made public on Friday.

The newly released pages were part of a legal opinion written in February 2005 by Judge David S. Tatel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. His opinion disclosed that the former chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., acknowledged to prosecutors that he had heard directly from Mr. Cheney about the Central Intelligence Agency officer, Valerie Wilson, more than a month before her identity was first publicly disclosed on July 14, 2003, by a newspaper columnist.

"Nevertheless," Judge Tatel wrote, "Libby maintains that he was learning about Wilson's wife's identity for the first time when he spoke with NBC Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert on July 10 or 11." Mr. Russert denied Mr. Libby's account. Ms. Wilson is married to Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former ambassador who has criticized the Bush administration's Iraq policy.

-snip-
Not all of the previously withheld material was released. Several pages, which apparently contained information about Mr. Fitzgerald's investigation of Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, remained under seal. Mr. Rove has not been charged, but remains under investigation although his lawyer has expressed confidence that Mr. Rove will be cleared.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/04/politics/04leak.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

[wicket]

5. Wow.

:wow: How are they going to weasel out of this??

[saltpoint]

6. Cheney is the biggest lizard in the swamp and he could not POSSIBLY

be oblivious to the goings-on with only Scooter in the know.

Not plausible, not believeable, not legal.

Throw Mr. Dick Cheney in the slammer right now.

Git 'em, Fitz.

[BlueIris]

20. Oh, he'll git 'em. My Fitzy will NOT let Dick escape.

Enjoy infamy, Mr. Cheney.

[tblue37]

43. Wasn't Cheney violating a law, or at least an oath, when he divulged

information about an undercover CIA operative to Libby?

[janx]

45. Not sure--Cheney and Libby both had clearance for classified

information, probably. But if Cheney in any way encouraged Libby to leak that classified information to the press, there will indeed be ramifications for both.

[DoYouEverWonder]

55. The clearance issue won't matter

in an obstruction of justice case.

Nor will it matter in regards to Bush and Cheney because both of them lied to Fitzgerald about having any involvement in the matter. Once again, it's not the crime, it's the cover-up.

[spindrifter]

7. Where was it Ch*ney

was quoted as saying he was feeling fine today? Maybe that is changing.

[Pirate Smile]

8. More - here is where Ari Fleischer comes into the story.

"The release of new material represented an important First Amendment ruling for the right of public access to court records, said Theodore J. Boutros Jr., a lawyer for The Journal. "We're pleased that the court recognized that grand jury secrecy is not absolute and that there's an important public interest in the public being able to scrutinize the basis for a judicial decision."

The newly disclosed information provides new details about other events, like a previously reported lunch on July 7, 2003, in which Mr. Libby told Ari Fleischer, then the White House press secretary, about Ms. Wilson.

In his opinion, Judge Tatel said that Mr. Fleischer said that Mr. Libby had told him that Ms. Wilson sent had her husband on a trip to Africa to examine intelligence reports indicating that Iraq had sought to buy uranium ore from Niger.

Judge Tatel wrote that Mr. Fleischer had described the lunch to prosecutors as having been "kind of weird" and had noted that Mr. Libby typically "operated in a very closed-lip fashion." Judge Tatel added: "Fleischer recalled that Libby 'added something along the lines of, you know, this is hush hush, nobody knows about this. This is on the q.t.' "

[stop the bleeding]

9. ROVE & Darth CHENEY are done - this is f**king great - thank you

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 — Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff told prosecutors that Mr. Cheney had informed him "in an off sort of curiosity sort of fashion" in mid-June 2003 about the identity of the C.I.A. officer at the heart of the leak case, according to a formerly secret legal opinion, parts of which were made public on Friday.

"in an off sort of curiosity sort of fashion" - WTF???

~snip~

By that point, the newly disclosed pages showed, Mr. Fitzgerald had centered his inquiry on possible perjury charges against Mr. Libby, although that was not publicly known at the time. Mr. Fitzgerald had abandoned a prosecution based on a federal law that makes it a crime to disclose the identity of a covert officer at the C.I.A. Such charges, Judge Tatel wrote, were "currently off the table for lack of evidence."

Are they still off? or are they back on the table

~snip

Not all of the previously withheld material was released. Several pages, which apparently contained information about Mr. Fitzgerald's investigation of Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, remained under seal. Mr. Rove has not been charged, but remains under investigation although his lawyer has expressed confidence that Mr. Rove will be cleared.


Rove!!!!! LOL!

~snip~


The newly disclosed information provides new details about other events, like a previously reported lunch on July 7, 2003, in which Mr. Libby told Ari Fleischer, then the White House press secretary, about Ms. Wilson.


In his opinion, Judge Tatel said that Mr. Fleischer said that Mr. Libby had told him that Ms. Wilson sent had her husband on a trip to Africa to examine intelligence reports indicating that Iraq had sought to buy uranium ore from Niger.

Judge Tatel wrote that Mr. Fleischer had described the lunch to prosecutors as having been "kind of weird" and had noted that Mr. Libby typically "operated in a very closed-lip fashion." Judge Tatel added: "Fleischer recalled that Libby 'added something along the lines of, you know, this is hush hush, nobody knows about this. This is on the q.t.' "

I knew Ari was crucial it always struck me as odd that he retired so suddenly around this time. Almost like he is cut from a different piece of cloth than these crooks, don't get me wrong I don't think he clean but not dirty like these crooks

[Patsy Stone]

11. Yes

I've been waiting for Ari to show up...

:thumbsup: for Cheney and Rove going down!

K&R

[TacticalPeek]

12. He announced his resignation May 19 which perplexed Gen. JC Christian(Pat)

Wednesday, May 21, 2003


Clenis™ impersonates Ari Fleischer

I'm sure many of you were as surprised as I was to see Ari Fleisher resign. Why would anyone want to leave the employ of a great man like Our Leader? It's bothered me since it was announced.

This afternoon, while I was watching "Ben Hur"--I have an extensive collection of gladiator movies--it occurred to me that perhaps it wasn't really Mr. Fleischer who had resigned after all. Maybe it was an impostor. That made sense. Satan surely wants to break Our Leader's team apart.

Well, I went straight to the net and downloaded pictures taken during the announcement, but I couldn't find anything that suggested that it wasn't really him. Then I remembered that I had read at the Free Republic that the Clenis™ had a birthmark. According to freeper poster "Rosie Joe," it's a very tiny birthmark shaped like Che Guevara. I immediately enlarged one of the pictures fifty times actual size and checked it out. It's there, right on the fake Ari's forehead. I've published the photo and the enlargement below.





Thanks again to Eschaton commentor Jennifer for letting me use the Clenis™.
posted by Gen. JC Christian, Patriot | 12:16 AM
Report to the General (0)

http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2003/05/clenis153-impersonates-ari-fleischer.html


:)

[0007]

27. Funny, fucking halarious

Che Guevara, OMFG!

[AntiFascist]

19. Great news...

I wonder if it is more likely now that Cheney might resign before the midterm elections?

[janx]

44. Doubtful. He'll go down swinging...or flailing. n/t

[BR_Parkway]

23. A beautiful thing to wake up to, kicking for the morning crew while the

coffee settles in enough to actually read that deeply and see what else is there!

[janx]

35. Agreed. I'm on my second cup, staring at the screen

in disbelief.

[Beausoir]

29. Fleisher sings! Beautiful.

[DoYouEverWonder]

33. Another reason why we are lucky Fitzgerald

is in charge.

He plays by the rules and when the time is appropriate he lays his cards on the table for all to see. He did the same thing with the US vs Usama bin Laden trial. All of the documents from that trial have been available on line for years. You don't need to keep secrets when you are telling the truth.

[happydreams]

56. AAAAR Matey!! Tweren't near as hard to take as it is to keep!!

The Oval office that is.

[mzmolly]

13. I think Fleischer resigned for a reason which we are not privy to?

He's squealing like the pig he is, perhaps?

The truth is coming out, and that is grand!

[phoebe]

14. Fleischer's brother was an "expert" in Iraq after Bremer left

so he won't squeal too loudly..and yes Ari resigned in July - interesting timing IMO..

snip

http://www.spinshield.org/Bullet_SubFeedback.asp?Bullet_ID=101

Still, given Mr. Bremer's economic focus, you might at least have expected his top aide for private-sector development to be an expert on privatization and liberalization in such countries as Russia or Argentina. But the job initially went to Thomas Foley, a Connecticut businessman and Republican fund-raiser with no obviously relevant expertise. In March, Michael Fleischer, a New Jersey businessman, took over. Yes, he's Ari Fleischer's brother. Mr. Fleischer told The Chicago Tribune that part of his job was educating Iraqi businessmen: "The only paradigm they know is cronyism. We are teaching them that there is an alternative system with built-in checks and built-in review."

Let's say the obvious. By making Iraq a playground for right-wing economic theorists, an employment agency for friends and family, and a source of lucrative contracts for corporate donors, the administration did terrorist recruiters a very big favor.


Nice quote from Michael Fleischer by the way about cronyism - what an asswipe..

[mzmolly]

15. Yikes!

So much for that theory.

[EFerrari]

21. I can't believe these guys:

"The only paradigm they know is cronyism. We are teaching them that there is an alternative system with built-in checks and built-in review."

:rofl:

[sundancekid]

30. ah, right ... they hate us for our freedoms AND OUR cronyism too!

[wordpix2]

37. "the only paradigm they know is cronyism" LOL, sounds familiar

[stop the bleeding]

48. thank you - I didn't think that Ari was super clean - I just think that he

did not want to part of outing a CIA agent and called it quits right there. I think he is a crook, but this poker hand that the Veep's Office was playing was a little too rich for his blood.

Thansk again on the info on the Fleischer's

[DoYouEverWonder]

34. Notice no one is raising any funds

for Ari's defense?

[mzmolly]

53. I hadn't noticed, but tis an interesting point.

:freak:

[DoYouEverWonder]

54. The ones that they protect like Libby

are the ones that aren't talking.

Everyone else is on their own and some with a sliver of integrity are probably cooperating with Fitzgerald. Ari was never really one of the boys anyway.

[stop the bleeding]

57. agreed - he isn't squeaky clean but he no where like the others n/t

[alittlelark]

10. Impeach, Indict, imprison.

[lovuian]

16. Whoah Fitz has got them...

when does the trial begin... 2007 after the elections... thats not going to help America...

[wordpix2]

39. 07 court case will help new Demo pres get elected, though

[janx]

42. A Dem president will probably be elected regardless.

Outing Plame was a treasonous act--those responsible must be held accountable.

[ClayZ]

17. IMPEACH INDICT IMPRISON.. it cant happen soon enough!

Get the crooks out of the Whitehouse!

[AtomicKitten]

22. effin-hell, my mind continues to be blown

The audacity of this administration is unreal. I have had this gut feeling that Patrick Fitzgerald is pulling a string and isn't letting go, and this administration is starting to unravel.

[wordpix2]

41. it's true, the revelations each day are blowing my mind, too

[H2O Man]

24. It is important

for DUers to keep in mind that Mr. Fitzgerald has far more information than the media has access to, or that the general public suspects.

Things are good.

[calimary]

46. Oh yeah! Things are good.

I'm with the DUer up above who vows never to play poker with Patrick Fitzgerald.

My late dad and his business partner used to have a slogan for their retail store: "Those Two Crazy Irishmen Have Done It Again!" Now, we have a THIRD "Crazy Irishman."

Sigh...

I LOVE "Crazy Irishmen"...

:loveya:

on edit - :hi: H2O Man!

[stop the bleeding]

49. agreed we are only seeing the "tip of the proverbial iceberg" n/t

[BR_Parkway]

25. One of the more interesting comments released was the judges decision

that at that time, no basis for divulging classified info:

"According to Tatel's summary of the evidence that Fitzgerald presented in the court's chambers in August 2004, the prosecutor had at least a good circumstantial case on perjury but charging Libby with intentionally leaking classified information was "currently off the table," though it could be "viable" if he gained new evidence.

In Fitz's response to Libby's lawyer, he added a footnote that specifically says "hey, we got new evidence" - Fitz is pushing Libby hard for a plea deal, keeps letting more info out that says, we've got you by the gonads, it's only going to get worse. Don't forget, he's the prosecutor who's routinely gotten pleas and cooperating testimony from the Mafia.

http://rawstory.com/other/pdfs/RawStoryFitzLetter.pdf

(B) and (C): We do not agree that if there were any documents indicating that Ms. Wilson's employment was not classified during the relevant times that any such documents would constitute Brady material in a case where Mr. Libby is not charged with a violation of statutes prohibiting the disclosure of classified information.3

3 I note that Ms. Wilson's employment status was classified but has since been declassified so that we may now confirm such status. In any event, we are not aware of any documents in our possession stating that Ms. Wilson's affiliation with the CIA was not classified at the relevant times.

[H2O Man]

26. A significant reason

that Libby's legal team wanted more time was to be able to access the impact that the on-going investigation will have. If, for example, Mr. Rove accepts the deal Mr. Fitzgerald has offered, one can expect Libby will make a deal, too. Libby's attorneys are talented. The media keeps reporting the top gun has a reputation for refusing deals and going to trial .... yet in his "big" cases, he makes deals before trial at a 50% rate. He isn't looking out for VP Cheney .... he is only looking for the very best outcome for his own client, Scooter.

Yesterday I said Rove brought checkers to a chess game with Fitzgerald. Maybe we would do well to use chess as the model here. Fitzgerald has got the board set up pretty good right now.

[stop the bleeding]

50. Yes - the "currently off the table," issue is worth keeping an eye on

as highlighted in post from last night up thread. Language is everything in these statements. :popcorn:

[0007]

28. This article is just the buffer for the real heavy duty stuff about

to come down.

junior will soon have a dick-less VP.

[janx]

40. There certainly has been a flurry of

declassified information recently.

[0007]

52. You're right janx - Lies, Deception, and Secrecy is their game plan

When the government acts in secrecy, free speech is thwarted, and Domocracy is undermined. The mood of the government has become the mood of vigilantism, which might be expressed as, "We are good, we are the best in the world. Our enemy is evil, we mustn't tie our hands within the law, the Constitution, democratic procedures, or the ordinary rules of denscency."

[seemslikeadream]

31. Is it Techtonic Plates Time?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4002813

[emulatorloo]

32. kicking - EOM

:kick:

[wordpix2]

36. did you see latest video of Libby smiling with lawyer? Either he was on

prozac or some other mellow-making drug or he is completely confident he'll be acquitted.

[wordpix2]

38. it looks like Fitz is focused on Cheney, too:

snip:
Tatel's opinion also includes previously unknown details about testimony by Libby and other officials. For example, Libby acknowledged to investigators that Cheney told him in mid-June 2003 about Plame's CIA role and said she helped send her husband on a mission to Niger to determine whether Iraq was seeking nuclear material from the African nation.

That was soon after a Washington Post article on Wilson's Niger trip appeared. Libby emphasized in his testimony that Cheney only said it "in an off sort of curiosity sort of fashion."

[stop the bleeding]

51. Yep - post # 9 has all the juicy parts highlighted for your pleasure n/t

[calimary]

47. Kickez-vous!

VERY sweet thing to wake up to on a cool, foggy So Cal Saturday morning!

:toast:


:party:


:headbang: