Cheney Authorized Leak Of CIA Report....Libby 'outed' Plame Same Day

[Roland99]

Cheney Authorized Leak Of CIA Report, Libby Says
Libby 'outed' Plame Same Day
http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0414nj3.htm

Vice President Dick Cheney directed his then-chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on July 12, 2003 to leak to the media portions of a then-highly classified CIA report that Cheney hoped would undermine the credibility of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, a critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, according to Libby's grand jury testimony in the CIA leak case and sources who have read the classified report.

...

The debriefing report made no mention of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, then a covert CIA officer, or any role she may have played in her husband's selection by the CIA to go to Niger, according to two people who have read the report.

The previously unreported grand jury testimony is significant because only hours after Cheney reportedly instructed Libby to disclose information from the CIA report, Libby divulged to then-New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Time magazine correspondent Matthew Cooper that Plame was a CIA officer, and that she been involved in selecting her husband for the Niger mission.

...

But the disclosure that Cheney instructed Libby to leak portions of a classified CIA report on Joseph Wilson adds to a growing body of information showing that at the time Plame was outed as a covert CIA officer the vice president was deeply involved in the White House effort to undermine her husband.

[saltpoint]

1. I'd sure like to see Uncle Dick shoveled out the door real soon.

I'm willing to wait for the proper channels and procedures and protocols, but the heart of it is right NOW would be just fine with me.

[otohara]

3. In Our Wettest of Dreams

that's not going to happen...unfortunately he'll be pardoned by *

[saltpoint]

6. If Mr. Fitzgerald's report is detailed enough to persuade a grand jury

that Dick Cheney is guilty of obstruction of justice and criminal conspiracy, it will too happen.

A vice president is unlikely to escape consequence from a special prosecutor's grand-jury-examined indictment for those specific high crimes.

Spiro Agnew could tell us about his experience.

I think Cheney's cooked.

[otohara]

12. But Still, Jr. Would Pardon Him

in a heartbeat...

[saltpoint]

15. I agree that Bush's reflex would be to pardon him, yes, but at the same

time it would be the final nail in the president's coffin.

Ford was riding a huge wave of popularity, but when he pardoned Nixon, that approval rating dropped like a rock.

An obscure governor from Georgia whipped him.

Bush could pardon him, I agree. But the political penalty for Bush would finish what's left of his presidency off.

[LSparkle]

21. And then the talk of impeachment would begin ...

If * pardoned PencilDick, it'd backfire on him. Talk about accountability ... Jerry Ford lost the '76 election because he pardoned the FirstDick; with Cheney gone, it'd be hard for DimSon to avoid some backlash for acting like such a dictator ("I absolve you").

[wtmusic]

11. assuming * doesn't go down with the ship nt

[saltpoint]

16. That could happen, too, wtmusic. We don't yet know what's in Patrick

Fitzgerald's notes.

And we don't know who he has cross-interviewed either.

It could very well be that Bush is in deeper than so-far reported.

[Canuckistanian]

29. But at least he'd be ousted and disgraced

Thus paving the way for a smooth and effective impeachment of the Chimpster.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

42. Didja ever notice that it's Republican politicians that need pardons?

/andyrooney

[wordpix]

4. Dickhead is guilty of a high crime in outing a CIA officer. This is treas

on. Libby is an accomplice.

[saltpoint]

7. Agree fully. Libby is a subordinate. No less guilty for his part, but

the vice president is expressly implicated at the moment and possibly he will be indicted in the coming days or weeks.

[Raine]

10. Not me!

chimp would replace him with Frist or someone else who intends to run in 2008 and then they would have incumbent status. We'd never get those asshole repukes out of the Whitehouse then.:-(

[saltpoint]

13. It would give the right appointee a leg up, but it could just as easily be

someone with no presidential ambitions whatsoever.

It could be Dennis Hastert, who is by no means my favorite Congressman, but who's likely unelectable as a presidential contender. It would be a custodial vice presidency.

Bush might not care to get caught in the crossfire of his own party's presidential aspirants.

[mazzarro]

37. You may want to factor the mis-administration's overflowing baggage

You are assuming that the administration will recover from all its disastrous decisions and undertakings - which I very much doubt. Whoever is appointed VP after Cheney will most likely become tarred as part of a bumbling administration and thus may be hardly electable is perceived as such. That will discourage must rethuglican hopefuls from taking up such offer.

[Thor_MN]

40. The White House is toxic at the moment

I can't imagine anyone who entertains an idea of being elected President wanting to be associated with the * adminstration. The only effective campaigns at this point are going to be about how the candidate is different from * and can sweep corruption out of D.C.

[Barrett808]

2. Murray Waas kicks so much ass. n/t

[Tool Fan]

5. Could Fibby and Dick have discussed outing Plame

as a part of the de-classifying of the CIA report?

If Plame wasn't mentioned anywhere in the declassified report, someone had to bring her into the conversation somehow. The ONLY reason to raise Plame in conversation would be specifically to discredit her husband's story, otherwise she's irrelevant to the de-classified CIA report. If it happened on the same day Cheney ordered the leak, it was most likely discussed as a part of that process, which would validate the idea that Plame was leaked as a revenge tactic, not some "accident", or whatever they're calling it now..

Geez, can it get any clearer?

[wordpix]

28. it's so preposterous that Fibby (LOL) immediately yaks it up with Miller

about Plame on same day as Cheney's order to declassify CIA report---meanwhile, Libby says nothing about Cheney ordering the Plame revelation to reporters. So absurdly unbelievable, it's clear he's lying---AGAIN! So now we have another lie and another obfuscation.

[mom cat]

8. Glad to ghie this its well deserved fifth reccomendation.

:kick:

[ginnyinWI]

9. This has got to be a nightmare week for chimp.

Cheney might have to resign, Rummy might be forced out. Without those two, he's just a cheerleader with nothing to promote, except maybe the assertion that he's America's messiah.

[saltpoint]

17. It really has been a nightmare week for Dubya. And you know who's to

blame?

THE LIBERAL MEDIA! THAT'S WHO!

And those snot-nose generals, too!

And that SOCIALIST WEASEL Harry Reid!

And HELEN THOMAS!

[Tool Fan]

14. "You've done a heck-of-a-job, Cheney."

:eyes:

[truthisfreedom]

18. what a great weekend present. woohoo! weather here is so spectacular i

could just die, and i met the most beautiful girl yesterday... what a great, great piece of news. i hope it completely wrecks the administration's weekend, and strikes mind-numbing fear in the hearts of ALL thugs.

[Raine]

20. Perfect timing for the weekend

shows like Meet the Press, This Week etc. :thumbsup: The downside is that it's Easter this Sunday so fewer people will watch those shows. :-(

[indypaul]

19. Let's not forget two other operatives

in this matter. Novak and Rove. Both of which
are involved up to their necks.

[boobooday]

22. This man is pulling the levers. And he is a sociopath.

He is the instigator of all the hell America has gone through these past 5+ years.

[johnnydrama]

24. dumb

The dumbest thing about the whole Plame fiasco is that the basic strategy of the administration in trying to discredit Joe Wilson is the fact that they tried to make it seem like his wife was responsible in getting him this kickback vacation to Niger?

Niger???? What, is Niger the Monte Carlo or Aruba of Western Africa?

That has to be the stupidest part of this whole thing, the fact that the administration line is that Joe Wilson was hanging around doing nothing waiting for his wife to set him up on a cushy job in Niger.

Joe: "Valerie, if you ever get a chance to get me a free trip to Niger, do whatever you can to do it, I can't wait to get back there, i've missed the sand and heat so much"

[boobooday]

26. LOL

True. They leaked it to expose a plot that wasn't sinister in the least.

[wordpix]

31. LOL, I'm sure Wilson loves his junkets & the golf courses in Niger

[KAZ]

36. They had nothing else.

And it sort of worked for a while.

[cassiepriam]

23. I wouldn't count any of them out quite yet... the sob's are slippery,

slimy and still may have a few tricks up their sleeves :(

[rodeodance]

25. "A spokesman for the vice president declined to comment." silence.

[wordpix]

33. true but their feathers have been clipped with Fitz breathing

down the necks of the cabal and DeLay out. And then there's Frist who's being investigated. Who's left?

[cassiepriam]

35. Oh they are down for sure, but not out...... time will tell....

[rodeodance]

27. of course cheney was involved. it is silly to he was not.

.... Both Libby and Cheney have repeatedly insisted that the vice president never encouraged, directed, or authorized Libby to disclose Plame's identity. In a court filing on April 12, Libby's attorneys reiterated: "Consistent with his grand jury testimony, Mr. Libby does not contend that he was instructed to make any disclosures concerning Ms. Wilson by President Bush, Vice President Cheney, or anyone else."

But the disclosure that Cheney instructed Libby to leak portions of a classified CIA report on Joseph Wilson adds to a growing body of information showing that at the time Plame was outed as a covert CIA officer the vice president was deeply involved in the White House effort to undermine her husband.

[Disturbed]

30. Brewster Jennings a covert Operation was exposed by

the Bush Regime to Novak. That, surely is treason.

[Roland99]

32. Exposed to cover up his involvement in Iran and also to get the CIA out.

So they could use the MEK and any other PNAC-approved group to create some bogus intel to "justify" attacking Iran.

[WhiteTara]

34. kick

:kick:

[leesa]

38. So we still don't know who gave Libby Plame's name and her false front

business. It had to be Cheney and/or Bush and he's still protecting them. Why would Libby be so careful about following the rules and getting clearance for the declassified material, but then casually blab the name of the undercover agent and her WMD tracking business. Doesn't make sense and Libby's lying to protect them.

[Justice]

39. Money Paragraph: Libby is cautious, and then inexplicably, acts recklessly

This article is dynamite. Libby keeps saying how cautious he was in releasing details of NIE, talking to WH attorney - not just believing Cheney. Also, the article talks about how Cheney was convinced Plame set up Wilson on a boondoogle - so it would have been important to out her, in order to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the trip. Heck, it also fed into dissing the CIA - to show they were bungling the info.

"...Steve Aftergood, a senior research analyst with the Federation of American Scientists, who tracks government secrecy and classification issues, said that Libby "presents himself in this instance and others as being very scrupulous in adhering to the rules. He is not someone carried on by the rush of events. If you take his account before the grand jury on face value, he is cautious and deliberative in his behavior....."

Then suddenly Libby jumps the shark - he discloses Plame's identity. He wants us to believe that although Cheney, Bush and the WH lawyer were intimately involved in everything, and although Cheney is the one who told him about Plame, they were not involved in this.

"'.....That is almost the exact opposite as to how he behaves when it comes to disclosing Plame's identity," Aftergood said. "All of a sudden he doesn't play within the rules. He doesn't seek authorization. If you believe his account, he almost acts capriciously. You have to ask yourself why his behavior changes so dramatically, if he is telling the truth that this was not authorized and that he did not talk to higher-ups.'....."

"...Libby has insisted that the vice president never authorized or told him to discuss Plame's identity. Although Libby discussed Plame with Miller and Cooper on July 12, 2003 -- the same day he says he was authorized by Cheney to leak portions of the NIE and the CIA report -- Libby insists the two actions are unrelated. ..."

And then, attempts to insulate the president --

"....The new disclosure also raises the question whether President Bush or his aides knew that Cheney may have been deciding on his own to authorize the leaking of classified information. Senior government officials said that top Bush aides -- including then-deputy National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley and White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett -- were not aware that Cheney had authorized the disclosure of the CIA report on Wilson's Niger mission. These officials raised the possibility that Bush himself was unaware at the time of Cheney's action...."

______________________

[rfkrfk]

41. how is this knowable?

a criminal defendant says this or that