NYT: First Source of C.I.A. Leak (Armitage) Admits Role, Lawyer Says

[DeepModem Mom]

First Source of C.I.A. Leak Admits Role, Lawyer Says
By NEIL A. LEWIS
Published: August 30, 2006

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 — Richard L. Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state, has acknowledged that he was the person whose conversation with a columnist in 2003 prompted a long, politically laden criminal investigation in what became known as the C.I.A. leak case, a lawyer involved in the case said on Tuesday.

Mr. Armitage did not return calls for comment. But the lawyer and other associates of Mr. Armitage have said he has confirmed that he was the initial and primary source for the columnist, Robert D. Novak, whose column of July 14, 2003, identified Valerie Wilson as a Central Intelligence Agency officer.

The identification of Mr. Armitage as the original leaker to Mr. Novak ends what has been a tantalizing mystery. In recent months, however, Mr. Armitage’s role had become clear to many, and it was recently reported by Newsweek magazine and The Washington Post.

In the accounts by the lawyer and associates, Mr. Armitage disclosed casually to Mr. Novak that Ms. Wilson worked for the C.I.A. at the end of an interview in his State Department office. Mr. Armitage knew that, the accounts continue, because he had seen a written memorandum by Under Secretary of State Marc Grossman.

Mr. Grossman had taken up the task of finding out about Ms. Wilson after an inquiry from I. Lewis Libby Jr., chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Mr. Libby’s inquiry was prompted by....two articles (reporting) on a trip by a former ambassador to Africa sponsored by the C.I.A. to check reports that Iraq was seeking enriched uranium to help with its nuclear arms program....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/washington/30armitage.html

[knowbody0]

1. sacrificial lamb

in pig form

[Drum]

2. that so diminishes his earlier protestations,

all of that griping about inside-the-WH stuff, doing a Brownie style renunciation of the neo-cons. what horseshit it sounds like now, same as ole colin.
:(

[KittyWampus]

12. No, it doesn't. Who Informed Armitage Of Plame's Identity?

And if Armitage is the one who faxed her info the AF1, who instructed him to do that?

And it is NOT clear, from Novac's coy statements, whether Armitage was the very first person to mention Plame or the guy who confirmed it.

[janx]

16. EXACTLY. n/t

:hi:

[leveymg]

30. It's looking more and more like Marc Grossman is the originator

of the State Dept. document that first identified Plame as a CIA WMD expert. That document, called the INR, was distributed to the circle of those who were trying to get dirt on Ambassador Wilson and his wife, Valerie Plame.

Grossman, who is a lesser known (but important) neo-con, changed the name Valerie Plame to Valerie Wilson on a State Department document that he incorporated into the 7/10/03 "INR" document that Grossman prepared and Armitage faxed to Powell about AF-1. The INR identifying Valerie Plame was then passed around by Bush's aides. Libby requested and received the original document naming Plame in a fax from Grossman before Libby had his famous breakfast meeting with Judy Miller on 7/8.

But, Grossman was responding to an inquiry from Libby who was originally told about Plame by Cheney. So, the chain of custody goes back to you know who, Dick Cheney.

See emptywheel's post at DKOS and the thread that follows for details on the genesis of the 7/10 INR: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/4/17/16594/3210

[jaysunb]

3. This won't fly....

Remember my words, " this won't fly."

I promise you that, Fitzgerald has not had his final say.

[jseankil]

18. I think it's a wrap

But I'd like to think I'm wrong, I hope your going off more than a "gut feeling".

[janx]

29. It might well be a wrap,

but it's not the only wrap. The outing did not originate with Armitage.

[Boo Boo]

4. Ah yes, the well known gossip (yeah, right) Richard Armitage

I'm having a hard time buying this shit. And didn't Novak already at least imply that it wasn't Armitage? Not sure if he came right out and denied it or not. I've lost track of where I read that; can't find the link.

Perhaps Armitage was a source, but this thing smells like a setup.

[Drum]

5. You mean, like Karr...everybody confesses to muddy the waters?

[choie]

6. so we're supposed to believe

that this was "innocent" gossip?
what about Cheney's writing on Wilson's ny times op-ed?

what about the report on Wilson and Plame that was requested of Carl Ford (one of the people quoted in Isikoff's book) that was subsequently carried on to AirForce One by Powell as reading material during their trip to Africa?

what is this bullshit????????

[janx]

17. It's called a red herring.

And it reeks of desperation.

[glitch]

21. which makes it a good sign. nt

[Barrett808]

7. Didn't Novak just say yesterday that Armitage wasn't the source? n/t

[Igel]

32. He refused to confirm.

Some took the refusal to confirm as a denial. Not everything is 'yes' or 'no', there are usually other options, 'none of the above.'

[ckramer]

8. Armitage claims to be CIA name-dropper

Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has reportedly come forward as the person who disclosed a CIA agent's identity to a newspaper columnist.

The New York Times said a lawyer involved in the case said Armitage confirmed he disclosed casually to Robert Novak that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA at the end of an interview in his State Department office in 2003.

The Times was unable to reach Armitage for comment.

The leak became hot news, mostly in Washington, and launched a politically laden criminal investigation that went as high as Vice President Dick Cheney's office.

There were allegations the leak was retaliation against Plame for remarks made by her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who said the Bush administration had used weak evidence for going to war with Iraq.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060830-085450-3510r

[dipsydoodle]

9. There was mention made of this

a few days back. I got the imprssion that he probably was a volantary fall guy aka cannon fodder to protect someone else. Was I wrong in that assumption ?

[jazzjunkysue]

23. "Anyone in my admin who leaks info will be fired." Bring 'em on!

Let the firing squad begin!

[Igel]

33. "Former deputy secretary of state" n/t

[Dulcinea]

10. Sources: State Department official source of Plame leak

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was the source who revealed the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame to syndicated columnist Robert Novak in 2003, touching off a federal investigation, two sources familiar with Armitage's role tell CNN.

The sources said Armitage revealed Plame's role at the CIA almost inadvertently in a casual conversation with Novak, and it is not clear if he knew her identity was classified at the time.

Armitage was not indicted by the federal grand jury that investigated the disclosure of Plame's name to Novak and other journalists.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/30/leak.armitage/index.html

[Stargazer99]

11. Ignorance is no excuse

except when you are politically connected....equal justice? Laugh here! It looks like the WH has found their fall-guy.

[OzarkDem]

35. Not according to Novak

He said it was WH sources.

[oc2002]

13. he has not even been questioned by Fitzgerald under oath.

He better have his story right. Or we will see another prosecution for perjury.

[goforit]

31. Fitzgerald's putzing around is disappointing and criminal in itself.

[janx]

14. Except that he wasn't the first source.

The headline claims he is, but the article clearly references Cheney's office as having initiated the outing.

So he was Novak's source, perhaps, but the headline is very misleading.

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. Hold that thought.

It's easy to confuse who's ahead in this game.

[Vidar]

15. Why not blame it Karr?

[The Backlash Cometh]

19. Cha-ching, cha-ching. Retirement fund, here I come...

[Straight Shooter]

22. As my no-nonsense Granny used to say, This is horseshit.

If it was such an innocent mistake, why allow the maelstrom of speculation and media *cough* scrutiny to go on as long as it did. Why allow Fitzgerald to stand there with sand in his eyes. Why let this whole debacle go on for two years, and just now -- all of a sudden -- Armitage decides he wants to come clean?

Armitage is still obstructing justice. Lowlife coward.

[janx]

27. He may be cooperating with Fitzgerald.

We can't assume anything at this point. Also, why would Libby lie for Armitage? That's unlikely. There's much more to come, beginning in January.

[hippiechick]

24. So he's going to be indicted for treason, right ?

Uhmmmm .... right ? :shrug:

[janx]

25. We'll see, eventually.

Libby still has to be tried for perjury and obstruction of justice--more evidence will probably come out in light of that. This thing could take years to unravel.

[Igel]

36. Why?

If he didn't know that Plame was covert, he's not guilty of breaking the most commonly cited law. He simply hasn't done what the law requires.

The treason law is even harder to apply.

Without more, very specific kinds of evidence, Armitage broke in-house rules, but not the statutes everybody wants to apply. What he did was putatively no worse, legally, than whoever leaked Tenet's letter calling for the investigation.

Producing scenarios in which the Plame leak was a minor violation of the rules isn't hard.

[K8-EEE]

26. But...But...FR Said It Was JOE WILSON!

lol....they're so nuts they've been saying Joe Wilson was the leaker.

[AngryAmish]

28. This is a distraction

Wait until Rove is indicted.

[OzarkDem]

34. and a poor one at that

It will only fool people who haven't followed the story at all.

[Barrett808]

37. I saw recently that Truthout still maintains the indictment was sealed

Any opinions on the likelihood of that?