New Questions About Inquiry in C.I.A. Leak

[cal04]

An enduring mystery of the C.I.A. leak case has been solved in recent days, but with a new twist: Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, knew the identity of the leaker from his very first day in the special counsel’s chair, but kept the inquiry open for nearly two more years before indicting I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, on obstruction charges.

Now, the question of whether Mr. Fitzgerald properly exercised his prosecutorial discretion in continuing to pursue possible wrongdoing in the case has become the subject of rich debate on editorial pages and in legal and political circles.

Richard L. Armitage, the former deputy secretary of state, first told the authorities in October 2003 that he had been the primary source for the July 14, 2003, column by Robert D. Novak that identified Valerie Wilson as a C.I.A. operative and set off the leak investigation.

Mr. Fitzgerald’s decision to prolong the inquiry once he took over as special prosecutor in December 2003 had significant political and legal consequences. The inquiry seriously embarrassed and distracted the Bush White House for nearly two years and resulted in five felony charges against Mr. Libby, even as Mr. Fitzgerald decided not to charge Mr. Armitage or anyone else with crimes related to the leak itself.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/02/washington/02leak.html?hp&ex=1157169600&en=012af30d606f9608&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[unblock]

1. it is just surreal how they are playing out this armitage thing

those poor shrubbies a victim of viscious partisan, er, republican prosecutors.

:wtf:

[rodeodance]

9. There is only a blimp about what the WH people were up to:

......Moreover, Mr. Fitzgerald’s effort to find out who besides Mr. Armitage had spoken to reporters provoked a fierce battle over whether reporters could withhold the identities of their sources from prosecutors and resulted in one reporter, Judith Miller, then of The New York Times, spending 85 days in jail before agreeing to testify to a grand jury.

Since this week’s disclosures about Mr. Armitage’s role, Bush administration officials have argued that because the original leak came from a State Department official, it was clear there had been no concerted White House effort to disclose Ms. Wilson’s identity.

But Mr. Fitzgerald’s defenders point out that the revelation about Mr. Armitage did not rule out a White House effort because officials like Mr. Libby and Karl Rove, the senior white House adviser, had spoken about Ms. Wilson with other journalists. Even so, the Fitzgerald critics say, the prosecutor behaved much as did the independent counsels of the 1980’s and 1990’s who often failed to bring down their quarry on official misconduct charges but pursued highly nuanced accusations of a cover-up.

Mr. Armitage cooperated voluntarily in the case, never hired a lawyer and testified several times to the grand jury, according to people who are familiar with his role and actions in the case. He turned over his calendars, datebooks and even his wife’s computer in the course of the inquiry, those associates said. But Mr. Armitage kept his actions secret, not even telling President Bush because the prosecutor asked him not to divulge it, the people said........

[Shakespeare]

2. But distracting the Clinton white house over a blow job was A-OK.

:eyes:

[papau]

3. Fitz said he couldn't charge for leak crimes since lies hid the crimes

n/t

[janx]

18. Precisely.

This is far from over, but the GOP wants it to appear over before November.

[struggle4progress]

4. ".. Armitage apparently learned of Plame's identity after reading ..

.. a memorandum that was prepared at the State Department at the direction of the vice president's chief of staff .."

CIA leak case answers raise other questions
Friday, September 01, 2006
http://www.masslive.com/editorials/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-1/115709733088100.xml&coll=1

[clmbohdem]

7. So a simultaneous leak.

The memo was passed around on Air Force One on July 7, 2003. Armitage leaks to Novak July 8th and Libby to Miller on July 8th. I am speculating about Libby telling Miller on July 8th because the July 8th notes are what Miller finally turned over to Fritezgerlad after being release from jail.

[struggle4progress]

8. Such careful coordination for an accident.

[clmbohdem]

10. Armitage was an accident and Libby was deliberate?

Libby had to tell Miller on July 8th, I can't believe otherwise. Maybe Armitage really did just f* uped. Even if he did, the path of the White House learning from Gonzales(from Armitage's attorney) may fall apart when we hear what is in the Miller/Libby July 8th meeting, which she did not turn over until after going to jail.

[struggle4progress]

13. Armitage didn't do anything by accident: he's been inside too long ..

.. and knows his way around too well. In the context of such careful coordination by King George's court, the credible explanation is that Armitage is playing a tightly scripted part.

[janx]

25. Fitzgerald asked him not to talk.

Mr. Armitage cooperated voluntarily in the case, never hired a lawyer and testified several times to the grand jury, according to people who are familiar with his role and actions in the case. He turned over his calendars, datebooks and even his wife’s computer in the course of the inquiry, those associates said. But Mr. Armitage kept his actions secret, not even telling President Bush because the prosecutor asked him not to divulge it, the people said.

So he didn't.

[struggle4progress]

31. Source? ".. people said .. " Who? Somebody ".. seeking anonymity .."

How definitive! How clarifying!

As soon as Wilson published his article, VP-DC sketched the "Plame/CIA" attack; within a few days, a memo produced at the direction of VP-DC office had been circulated; Administration officials were contacting reporters (Rove contacted Cooper, and Libby contacted Miller, for example); then-deputy-SOS Armitage promptly met with Novak, whose column appeared within about a week of Wilson's.

Such an astounding bundles of coincidence!

Oh, well, nothing to see here. Time to move along, eh?

[janx]

32. I'm not excusing Armitage, but it makes sense that he has

been cooperating with Fitz. He wasn't the original leaker; that much is true. This thing originated in the OVP, and in that context, Armitage is nothing but a red herring.

[struggle4progress]

33. R Armitage has a history of floating and swirling as scandals go down.

Walsh, prosecutor for the Iran-Contra affair, could demonstrate RA's attendance at meetings where key elements of the affair were discussed -- unsurprisingly, since RA had numerous Iranian contacts, having once been posted to Tehran -- but RA was conveniently unable to remember much about those meetings.

During the reign of Bush I, RA's nomination as Secretary of the Army was withdrawn in the context of ".. Armitage's relationship with a woman named Nguyet Thi O'Rourke, a Vietnamese immigrant convicted of running a gambling operation in Northern Virginia. Armitage had already attracted the attention of the President's Commission on Organized Crime by writing a glowing character reference for her in conjunction with her trial, on Pentagon stationery no less. What our article added was the juicy personal angle that has become a requirement for killing a nomination. It seemed that when the Arlington Police raided O'Rourke's house, they discovered some unusual photographs: They showed a nude O'Rourke holding another photo, which depicted her and Armitage wearing swimsuits .." http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/25/07/naureckas2507.html

To this, we add the amazing bullshit of Isikoff:

.. Months earlier, Novak had caused a huge stir when he revealed that Valerie Plame, wife of Iraq-war critic Joseph Wilson, was a CIA officer. Ever since, Washington had been trying to find out who leaked the information to Novak. The columnist himself had kept quiet. But now, in a second column, Novak provided a tantalizing clue: his primary source, he wrote, was a "senior administration official" who was "not a partisan gunslinger." Armitage was shaken. After reading the column, he knew immediately who the leaker was. On the phone with Powell that morning, Armitage was "in deep distress," says a source directly familiar with the conversation who asked not to be identified because of legal sensitivities. "I'm sure he's talking about me." ..

The Man Who Said Too Much
A book coauthored by NEWSWEEK's Michael Isikoff details Richard Armitage's central role in the Valerie Plame leak.
By Michael Isikoff
Newsweek
Updated: 11:12 a.m. ET Aug 28, 2006
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14533384/site/newsweek/print/1/displaymode/1098

O, poor RA! Imagine the horrible shock he felt when three months after Plame was outed, he suddenly and surprisingly discovered that it was he who had outed her!

Gimme a break. What makes sense is that Armitage and his associates are a gang of ratf#ckin liars ...

[Catherine Vincent]

5. They're piling on ten fold.

[Scout1071]

6. Un-fucking-believable.

The NYT is dead to me.

[tom22]

11. I know no one wants to look

at the now public record. But we know the truth (no one has ever denied the following facts). Lawrence Libby disclosed Valerie Phlame's identity to 4 times to Judy Miller and Matt Cooper before anyone talked to Novak. This story was being floated all over Washington by a number of people in the Bush administration before Novak got the leak. The disclosure by Libby was ordered by Cheney with Bush's consent. Bush declassified Phlame's identity in order to trash her husband. All of this was made public in Fitzgeralds's news conference and made even clearer in affidavits filed by Libby in the context of the court case. This is truth and it is easily provable at this point. there was a plot against Joe Wilson. Joe Wilson was right about the Niger yellowcake myth. It is all a part of the public record.
Th Washington Post published lies today. It was a day of shame.

[bilgewaterbill]

14. These are the facts...

After an exhaustive investigation, Fitz indicted ONE guy and for lying to the Grand Jury, not for disclosing Valerie Plame's name.

Armitage was the leaker to Novak because he loves to gossip. Armitage could've saved everyone a whole lot of energy by admitting he was the leaker.

Joe Wilson didn't do anything but prove the admin.'s case for war and out his own wife.

David Corn expended a lot of energy accusing the admin. of wrong-doing when he knew full well that was not true.

This whole episode makes those of us who want a change look bad because we are caught up in this finger-pointing nonsense (started by the 'pubs going after Bill Clinton and continued by the insane focus we have on impeaching *) and our message gets lost in the static. We aren't going to EVER win by "gotcha-ing" them- We can only win with better ideas.

[JackORoses]

15. real facts

Fitz has only indicted one guy so far.

Armitage has been working with Fitz the whole time.

The Admin never had a case for war that could be proven, and this Admin is the only party responsible for outing a CIA agent.

There was incessant wrong-doing, Bush will be impeached

Gotcha!

[radwriter0555]

16. This investigation is far from over. We still have the Sealed vs Sealed

indictment lying in wait.

Karl Rove has NOT been cleared of any wrong doing, he is still under investigation as is Cheney.

This administration is indeed guilty of horrific wrong-doing and this isn't anywhere near finished.

We don't look bad at all. We're being TOLD we look bad, but we haven't done anything wrong as Democrats; Wilson hasn't done anything wrong either, niether has his wife.

Yet.. in the GOP world of spin and lies, somehow the victims are once again to blame.

I love it.

What better ideas would you propose?

[Scout1071]

24. Flip the script.

That's all they do.

They are so weak on security and terror, so they scream from the hilltops just how weak the Dems are so that nobody will notice their total and complete incompetence. Take a drive around any public water facility, chemical, whatever. You will see close to ZERO security. It's outrageous. And just exactly where the hell is Osama bin Laden? Try as they might, we haven't forgotten their failure to capture the man who masterminded 9/11.

The Dems need to flip it right back. Kick 'em in the teeth on this issue for the reasons above and a laundry list more.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Dinger]

26. Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

freeper shit is right. Good post Scout:)

[janx]

27. Where have I read these talking points before?

:rofl:

[HuffleClaw]

12. if he'd 'leaked' armitage's name they'd have attacked him for that.

seems to me that, unlike the investigations of clinton which provided nearly daily tidbits for the likes of rush limbaugh, fitz conducted proceedings with integrity.

[radfringe]

17. from this snippet::

But he stayed on the job because State Department officials advised that his sudden departure could lead to the disclosure of his role in the leak, the people aware of his actions said.

looks like a cover-up WAS in the works.... if Armitage was ready to resign over leaking the info then he was also ready to accept responsibility for it. This would have ended the matter right then and there - but he was advised not to on the excuse of disclosing his role in the leak.

They had their sacrificial lamb all trussed up and willing - but stopped it. Why? Was it because disclosing Armitage as the leaker would have led to more embarassing questions?

[janx]

19. WHY DID LIBBY LIE?

This is absolutely essential to everything. He didn't do it to protect Armitage. Why did he do it?

[Biernuts]

28. People make inaccurate statements everyday. Some are in fact

lies (where the individual knows full well that their statement is not true) and some are cases where the individual believes what they are saying.

Proving that a misstatement is a lie requires evidence of the former. Without a paper trail: "Memo to National Security Adviser - I believe I lied sufficiently to send the investigators in the wrong direction...." proving the intent to lie is exceptionally difficult. I don't expect a guilty verdict in the Libby case, especially after the Armitage information got the wide dissemination this week.

Not only that, it will play NOW as a campaign issue HELPING republicans retain control congress:

Rove's election commercial:

"For the past three years, the Democrats have been smearing the President and White House staff in their conspiracy to dupe YOU into believing loyal public servants leaked the name of a CIA Officer for political ends. Now the truth is out and the identity was inadvertently released when the press interviewed an administration official who actually opposed expanding GWOT into Iraq. If these left-wing fanatics are ready and willing to smear those working to safeguard you, what could ever make you believe that they wouldn't lie about ANYTHING? Let them control congress and the lies they spread will be an everyday occurrence. Keep America strong and safe by sending these fanatic conspirators not to Washington, but back to the dung heap from under which they crawled."

[janx]

29. Fitzgerald would not pursue the case against Libby unless

he had the evidence of motive. No doubt about it. Fitz knows why Libby lied.

[walldude]

34. Oh please.. this isn't a campaign issue it's a legal issue

Nobody but us and the freeps gives a shit about the Plame case. It's not an issue for "average Americans". Besides the only way we are going to lose in Nov is if they cheat or if the Dems can't come up with one campaign ad that says simply: Are you a Terrorist appeaser? Are you morally and intellectually confused? Do you hate America? Have you personally made the "GWOT" harder to fight? Well Donald Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and G.W. Bush have all said that because you disagree with them you are all of those things. Shame on you for supporting terrorists....

[Spazito]

20. It seems to me there must be something big coming down the tubes...

The crap that is suddenly flying, the renewed attempt to smear Wilson and Fitzgerald tells me the bush cabal is trying, pathetically, imo, to discredit both before whatever is about to happen happens.

The only questions I have are: is it because of the Wilson civil suit or something Fitzgerald is about to come out with or does this desperate attempt have a connection with the upcoming trail of Libby?

[janx]

21. Dunno. But the trial is almost five months away. n/t

[janx]

22. From the article:

But Mr. Fitzgerald’s defenders point out that the revelation about Mr. Armitage did not rule out a White House effort because officials like Mr. Libby and Karl Rove, the senior white House adviser, had spoken about Ms. Wilson with other journalists. Even so, the Fitzgerald critics say, the prosecutor behaved much as did the independent counsels of the 1980’s and 1990’s who often failed to bring down their quarry on official misconduct charges but pursued highly nuanced accusations of a cover-up.

Fitz isn't talking.

[savemefromdumbya]

30. Woodwardgate

someone is protecting a lot at stake

[peacetalksforall]

35. So Fitzgerald knew about Armitage all this time. The WH knew that

Fitzgerald knew.

The obvious answer to 'why now' is

> that the WH talked to Armitage and arranged a public outing to save seats in the House and Senate. They can posture the propaganda to put pressure on Fitzgerald to close down or they can create dis-reality in the minds of voters to make them think it is over

- or -

> the civil suit filed by the Wilsons is going to reveal truths dangerous to the WH so it's time for the WH to start crushing the Wilsons.

It could also be a combination of both since the WH always tries to gain a cluster of benefits from a major attack.

In any case - this is really a big deal in that they got MAJOR newspapers to deliver for them.

Somehow, it seems that the newspaper complicity could come down on them in the same way the firing of Cox was to Nixon.

I think the NYT, WP, Boston Globe and any other complicit newspaper has sealed a portion of their fate - tanked credibility and proof of partnership with the WH.