Newsweek: The Cia Leak: Plame Was Still Covert

[Pirate Smile]

The Cia Leak: Plame Was Still Covert

Feb. 13, 2006 issue - Newly released court papers could put holes in the defense of Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, in the Valerie Plame leak case. Lawyers for Libby, and White House allies, have repeatedly questioned whether Plame, the wife of White House critic Joe Wilson, really had covert status when she was outed to the media in July 2003. But special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found that Plame had indeed done "covert work overseas" on counterproliferation matters in the past five years, and the CIA "was making specific efforts to conceal" her identity, according to newly released portions of a judge's opinion. (A CIA spokesman at the time is quoted as saying Plame was "unlikely" to take further trips overseas, though.) Fitzgerald concluded he could not charge Libby for violating a 1982 law banning the outing of a covert CIA agent; apparently he lacked proof Libby was aware of her covert status when he talked about her three times with New York Times reporter Judith Miller. Fitzgerald did consider charging Libby with violating the so-called Espionage Act, which prohibits the disclosure of "national defense information," the papers show; he ended up indicting Libby for lying about when and from whom he learned about Plame.

The new papers show Libby testified he was told about Plame by Cheney "in an off sort of curiosity sort of fashion" in mid-June—before he talked about her with Miller and Time magazine's Matt Cooper. Libby's trial has been put off until January 2007, keeping Cheney off the witness stand until after the elections. A spokeswoman for Libby's lawyers declined to comment on Plame's status.

—Michael Isikoff

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11179719/site/newsweek/

[JeffR]

1. Kick

:kick:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. B A S T A R D S. About as plain as I can spell it.

GOP politics are more important than international security.

[ldf]

5. and that is EXACTLY how this should be framed

the GOP, in their desperate attempts to cover their sorry cheating asses, put the good of their party and the size of their wallets before the national security of this country.

and mehlman acts as if he has no clue. (or rather he is trying to convince the american people that none of us are angry, therefore would not send an angry candidate to the whitehouse.)

mr. mehlman is going to find out just how much anger there is out here.

they can spin it however they want.

we ARE going to have our angry feelings addressed.

and if they think they can get away with stealing another election, they will be quite unpleasantly surprised. if they attempt it, all bets are off, and they will rue the day.

there will be a reckoning. as unpleasant as it will be for all of us, i am almost anxious for it to commence.

out of the ashes will rise a better, fairer, much more secure america. and it won't be led by those traitorous thugs.

:grr:

[Auntie Bush]

7. By any chance are you a little ticked off with this administration?

:shrug: I can read in between the lines. Gee, I must be as smart and insightful as our president!

[TomClash]

3. Oh what a surprise nt

[MagickMuffin]

4. Here's a Legal Question for someone to answer

Can Libby still be charge with espionage?
After his first trial can't he then be charged with espionage?

It is apparent he was outing Mrs. Wilson as a means to discredit Joe, and to threaten anyone else who spoke out against the war.

So, isn't that a crime?
Wouldn't that be considered treason?

This whole Iraq war had been in the planning stages before the coup of 2000. Although they didn't anticipate anyone exposing their scheme, especially after 9-11. After all 9-11 gave them the cover the needed/wanted to do whatever the Fook they wanted, so isn't their anyone out there who has the balls to convict these treasonous bastards out of our government?:grr:

[sattahipdeep]

6. Why would a lawyer like Scooter risk jail and ruining his career?

Valerie Plame was part of an undercover operation that still was operating at the time.

Uncovering her is the same as uncovering that entire team.

Maybe there is something else Miller should know about those aspen trees out west, something
Scooter Libby neglected to mention. Because their roots are connected they
dont just turn together, they often burn together from fire that can travel
out of sight and underground until it erupts into the light of day.

In July of 2001, Steve Engelberg, then an editor at The New York Times,
looked up to see Judy Miller standing at his desk. As Engelberg recalls, Miller
had just learned from a source about an intercepted communication between
two Al Qaeda members who were discussing how disappointed they were that
the United States had never attempted to retaliate for the bombing of the USS
Cole. Not to worry, one of them said, soon they were going to do something so
big that the U.S. would have to retaliate.

Miller was naturally excited about the scoop and wanted the Times to go with
the story. Engelberg, himself a veteran intelligence reporter, wasnt so
sure. There had been a lot of chatter about potential attacks; how did they
know this was anything other than big talk? Who were these guys? What
country were they in? How had we gotten the intercept? Miller didnt
have any answers and Engelberg didnt think they could publish without
more context. Miller agreed to try and find out more, but in the end the story
never ran.

Today, more than four years after 9/11, Engelberg, now managing editor of The
Oregonian in Portland, still thinks about that story. More than once
I've wondered what would have happened if we'd run the
piece? he says. A case can be made that it would have been
alarmist and I just couldnt justify it, but you cant help but think
maybe I made the wrong call.

http://www.cjr.org/issues/2005/5/judycode.asp

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2086155&mesg_id=2086155

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-bradley/why-bob-woodward-trashed-_b_10802.html

[calimary]

12. Why? Because up til then they had a blank check, and the arrogance

that goes with it. They were untouchable - beyond accountability, and they ran with it. I firmly believe that these BASTARDS simply came to assume that they'd get away with it, AGAIN, WHATEVER it was. Because they'd successfully cowed and bullied the media (what tiny fragments of it they don't already own or whose balls they don't have in a vise grip). Because they had so many of the "Mur'kuh-people" conditioned not to object but rather to lambaste those who'd question this as somehow siding with Saddam/Osama/al Qaeda or somehow unpatriotic and unamerican and treasonous. They just assumed they'd get away with this, too. THAT had been their template for several years running. NO ONE questioned. Well, too few who even got any attention or press coverage, anyway. NO ONE made any moves to hold them accountable, save for those who tried but had no power in the Senate or the House because they had no majority status. They simply assumed they'd get away with it.

Remember, Bill Clinton thought this way, too. He finally admitted that messed around with Monica simply because he could. And believe me, these assholes are operating under the same assumption. They do whatever they damned well please - because they've got the power and you don't, and because they can get away with it and you can't stop them.

I think that's what fueled libby's actions and attitude. Certainly nurtured and furthered by HIS boss, mr. go-fuck-yourself. Who, as I'm delighted to see, is starting to be unmasked as being rawther deeply implicated in this. But then again, didn't we know - or at least strongly suspect - that already?

[Jackpine Radical]

20. I bet Miller got it from Scooter & was trying to get it into the NYT

in preparation for what the WH was planning, maybe in order to ratchet up fear a little beforehand.

[sattahipdeep]

24. I believe you are right in this....

:hi:

[Jackpine Radical]

26. I guess we're deeper thinkers than those NYT people.

Or maybe just more paranoid. Anyway, DUers are always coming up with connections that the Muggles never see.

[leveymg]

32. If these 2 al-Qaeda operatives are who I think they are, the story

would have made all the difference in the world. Al-Midhar and al-Hazmi, maybe? They were in the U.S. at the time. From whom did Judy get that intercept? Was this one of the multiple warnings that Israel offered BushCo? Who else did Judy go to with this, and why was it ignored?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Joe Chi Minh]

35. The only answer to questions like that which fits them all

is that they are like very naughty, even bad children. They don't see the big picure, because they don't have an adult perspective. and are, consequently, easily carried away by the moment. It's a little solipsistic world of their own they inhabit.

[sattahipdeep]

39. It was quite a list "the family jewels"

wiretapping journalists, administering LSD to a CIA scientist
who later killed himself, attempting to assassinate Castro and
other foreign leaders. It ran to 700 pages.

http://www.slate.com/id/2135325/?nav=ais

[Joe Chi Minh]

41. Well, the "family", anyway.

[LynnTheDem]

8. Belligerant petty revenge for Wilson's daring to tell the TRUTH.

FUCK AMERICA, said bush & his cartel. Belligerant petty revenge was more important.

And LIKE HELL bush didn't know.

[Jackpine Radical]

27. I actually think it's more sinister than that.

Plame was doing WMD research. By exposing her they also got her cover company, Brewster Jennings, which was maybe getting too close to turning something up about efforts to plant WMD or was about to turn up something else the Bushies didn't want to see the light of day.

[Babel_17]

9. Other damage was done

"But special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found that Plame had indeed done "covert work overseas" on counterproliferation matters in the past five years, and the CIA "was making specific efforts to conceal" her identity, according to newly released portions of a judge's opinion. (A CIA spokesman at the time is quoted as saying Plame was "unlikely" to take further trips overseas, though.)"

This brings up the point that the damage done goes beyond any future usefulness of Ms. Plame.

The intelligence services of every nation she visited was given reason to look closely at everything she did and at all the associations of the front business she was working for. Those assets of ours were compromised and rendered much less effective by the leaks.

All the intelligence she gathered loses some of its potency once foreign intelligence services know we have it.

Proper outrage at the leaks can't be demonstrated by those in the CIA or in gov't because the proper expression of the outrage would involve giving clues, however oblique, as to what we had going.

Trying the leakers has a similar problem, it's tough to give someone with good lawyers a trial if the trial involves covert operations.

Libby's lawyers are already playing that card. They're going to force the administration to deny some documents.

And Libby's lawyers can damn well come close to extorting a pardon should push come to shove. Imagine if their list of witnesses includes half the cabinet and both Bush and Cheney. Criminies, they're going to use the state of his mind as part of their defense. Their defense of Libby is going to be broad.

That's why Fitz is only going after the lying, going after more would mean Libby's lawyers would have claim to seeking Top Secret documents and testimony from high ranking CIA peeps. Now you'd be talking security clearances for the judge and lawyers etc.

This will get ugly.

Imo Fitz knows that the ultimate justice of this case may only be had in the court of public opinion.

If his prosecution gets derailed it will at least result in we the people getting great chunks of the truth about what happened and who is morally guilty.

[Kagemusha]

10. I don't think he's playing this in the court of public opinion.

Not yet. It goes against his principles and the grand jury rules. And unlike Starr, he is a lot more touchable if he wantonly violates the rules. Gonzales could have his head on a pike and Fitz could do actual prison time. So, Fitz is very thorough.

[Babel_17]

18. Agreed

I was saying that imo Fitz knows that the administration could derail the Libby trial.

Due to Fitz's professionalism, if the administration does that they will be showing their true colors in an unmistakeable manner. They won't have the talking point that Fitz was a reckless/feckless prosecutor.

[Justice Is Comin]

31. Not really.

Just because Fitzgerald would have to turn over discovery if required for violation of outing a covert agent under the IIPA or charging him under violation of the Espionage Act for disclosing the national intelligence estimate, that doesn't mean the trial would be derailed.

It would just move from a public forum to a non public trial with sealed motions. It would likely result in stalling delays with motions and counter motions but when the trial is held, if twelve people on that jury convicted him of the charges, he would still be visiting his wife from prison. Whoever was subpoenaed from Cheney on down would have to testify.

Fitz has already put the scare into them by telling Wells that they would not receive testimony from other "administration officials." That was a shot between his legs. Fitzgerald knows how to get it done.

I'm not so sure Libby won't plea bargain before trial day. If he has any intelligence at all, he will.

[AndyTiedye]

16. Some Of Those Assets Would Have Been Tortured and Killed

The intelligence services of every nation she visited was given reason to look closely at everything she did and at all the associations of the front business she was working for. Those assets of ours were compromised and rendered much less effective by the leaks.

They would have been "rendered much less effective" with extreme prejudice in some cases, given the sort of countries they were stationed in.

[Babel_17]

19. Exactly

And the CIA has to mute its criticism because a detailed report of how damaging the leaks were could give up sensitive information.

Imo the CIA has given every wink and nod to the press that they can without violating security protocols.

It's maddening how our press refuses to draw the most elementary of conclusions.

They treat the information from within the CIA like it was the rhetoric of a democratic campaign manager the night before election day.

Regaining the whitehouse and congress is but part of what needs to be done.

Somehow we must reclaim the fourth estate from the corporate right wing.

[sattahipdeep]

22. Press refuses to draw the most elementary of conclusions?

"I'm sorry to tell you that the damage has been very severe to our capabilities to
carry out our mission," Goss said. "It is my aim, and it is my hope, that we will
witness a grand jury investigation with reporters present being asked to reveal who
is leaking this information."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/02/02/national/w150546S30.DTL

[dogday]

11. Our side had stated this constantly, however

the rethugs were saying that she wasn't. Why were they believed when we were spreading the truth?

[AndyTiedye]

17. why do you think?

[brentspeak]

13. Where's Sean ("Point out one single lie I've ever said!") Inanity?

Someone should tell him the news. It won't make any difference; he'll still find some way to lie about it.

[against all enemies]

14. A covert Secretary? How can this be?

Every right wing asshole says she was just a secretary.

[KnaveRupe]

30. Just a two-bit secretary...

...who abused the awesome power she wielded as a nobody in the CIA's secretarial pool to send her husband on an all-expenses paid junket to luxury accommodations in beautiful, cosmopolitan Niger (playground to the rich and famous of the third world), where he lounged around by the pool fabricating lies about "forged documents", and ignoring the fact that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were floating at the aqua-bar right in front of him drinking margaritas and buying Yellowcake from the bartender which they then stuffed in their speedos!!


Ah, the elegance of freeper logic! The contradictions are packed into their goofball assertions more tightly than clowns in a day-glo Yugo.

[chelsea0011]

15. Anti-American, lying, whoring, criminal scumbags. Jail anyone?

Any TV covering this today?

[reprobate]

21. The biggest thing in this article is here:

"Libby testified he was told about Plame by Cheney" and this means that the Vice President of the United States revealed top secret information about an undercover operative to someone who may have had the clearance, but certainly did NOT have a need to know.

Unless, and this is the only possible motive for Cheny, IMO, he intended Libby to tell this information to the media whores he had contact with. This is cause for impeachment of cheny I do believe.

[Sleepless In NY]

23. Can anyone explain why Plame & Wilson don't sue?

Wouldn't that be the appropriate action to take to bring the truth out, once and for all?

[electropop]

33. I think Wilson has discussed the possibility of a suit.

He may be waiting for more evidence to become available.

[stop the bleeding]

28. Cheney will be resigning for health reason's, Scooter acted with

his superior's knowledge and approval

[savemefromdumbya]

37. yes

[leesa]

25. Wow! Newsweek's really on top of things, eh? They finally figured out

Plame was covert. DUH.

[nolies32fouettes]

38. We knew she was covert, but maybe...

Well hopefully they'll shut up about the "how much harm did the leak really DO anyways?" bit.

[rememberauschwitz]

29. Any news about Fitz? n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

34. he is no presstitute-loving AG. TO the contrary, his offices never leak.

ALthough his team has done a weak job against Gov. Ryan, they have been hitting them out of the park with the rest of the corruption cases.

[savemefromdumbya]

36. Cheney knew she was covert (with all his little trips to the CIA)

Cheney leant on the CIA

[yellowcanine]

40. Sounds like an impeachable offense on Cheney's part. So we can

expect a referral from the prosecutor to the House of Representatives?