Cheney aide leaves country as leak investigation wraps up... developing...

[julialnyc]

Cheney aide leaves country as leak investigation wraps up... developing...

www.rawstory.com

(is scooter skipping town?)

[helderheid]

1. juicy!

[Connie_Corleone]

2. Whaa??

Can't wait to find out more.

[dalloway]

3. HOLY MOLY! do we have confirmation anywhere this was Scooter

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. Oh he's probably just going to check on that extra bedroom

at Richard Pearle's in south France?

[Wilms]

6. .

:rofl:

[Pithy Cherub]

5. Did he go somewhere with extradition treaties? Besides,

most of the world is none to pleased with the US so they will be happy to return lost US persons. :P

[Mandate My Ass]

7. I guess those aspens aren't turning fast enough

:shrug:

[Beetwasher]

8. Oh, That Would Be Hilarious If Scooter Scooted!

LOL!

[Sparkle]

12. That would be the headlines....

SCOOTER LIBBY SCOOTS THE US!

[Tennessee Gal]

9. Where is Judy?

??????

[hang a left]

10. Who is it

Libby
Hannah

[spuddonna]

11. Sounds like people are gettin' a might nervous! n/t

[hang a left]

13. I was just going to start a thread about how quiet it is today on

the Plame front. Imagining that maybe it is the quiet before the storm?

[hang a left]

14. They have to be being tailed....

tell me that they aren't watching their every move.

[julialnyc]

15. also read this link

As Vice President ducks dinner, buzz about aide tied to leak scand
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/As_Vice_President_ducks_dinner_buzz_1010.html

[Peace Patriot]

41. Well, that story, at RawStory, says he skipped the dinner part, and...

...moved his speech time up a half hour, not that he didn't show.

But THIS story is interesting. Scientists are now saying there is no "dark matter" weighting down the universe and making things spin. But they don't relate it to pending indictments of "Darth Vader" and his minions.

See the RawStory link to:
"Dark Matter: Invisible, Mysterious and Perhaps Nonexistent"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20051010/sc_space/darkmatterinvisiblemysteriousandperhapsnonexistent

[bklyncowgirl]

16. Was he driving a white Bronco? nt

[lovuian]

36. Where is Ted Olsen??? And is Cheney going to resign soon!!!

Is Bush going to be involved cause he is the one who can Pardon!!!

[TheCowsCameHome]

17. Look up Cheney's ass. He might be in there.

[enid602]

18. scoot

If it is Scooter, couldn't this mean he's spilled his guts and has sought protection from BFEE outside US borders?

[hang a left]

19. shit!

I hadn't even thought of that.

[Spazito]

20. Hmmm, interesting, if this is in reference to Libby

If it is Libby, could this be an attempt to avoid a call-back to appear before the Grand Jury they suspect might come after Judith and Rove have made their meeting/appearances?

[WilliamPitt]

21. HELP HELP HELP

I am on a spectacularly crappy dialup connection, and the rawstory page absolutely refuses to load for me. Can anyone give me the details from the page?

[Dora]

22. No details to share.

This is all it says:

Cheney aide leaves country as investigation into
CIA outing wraps up... Developing...

[Fleshdancer]

23. they only have this teaser for now:

Cheney aide leaves country as investigation into
CIA outing wraps up... Developing...


I can't wait for the full story to come out! And what are you doing on a crappy dialup??

[OregonBlue]

27. I too am on a crappy dial up. In rural Oregon we only have one

internet provider and it's so slow. Only positive in this is that I am learning to be a very patient person. Click on link and go do the dishes, read story, click on another and go make the bed, etc., etc., etc.

Only other alternative is satellite connection and it's WAY expensive for equipment and pricey every month!

[hang a left]

24. and I keep hitting refresh every 60 seconds

story has not been updated yet.

[never cry wolf]

25. There are no details

Just the teaser headline:

"Cheney aide leaves country as investigation into
CIA outing wraps up... Developing..."

[hang a left]

29. IT IS NOT LIBBY

According to post from RAWSTORY in LBN

[King Coal]

39. Cheney's chief spokesman leaves country as leak investigation wraps up...

Developing

[lyonn]

58. Rawstory said it was a fellow, would you believe I didn't

know who he was and didn't write his name down, but they described him as the stratigist behind Cheney, something like that and that he left last Thurs. for Iraq to help with communications there and will return about Oct. 26th. Times was supposed to have covered this about the time this fellow left. Not really much help but it wasn't Scooter.

[lonestarnot]

59. Noticeably absent from dinner committment last night

also this speaking event was scheduled 2 weeks ago. Also said health reasons sited by Cheney to speak 1/2 hour earlier.

[proud patriot]

26. LOL

:rofl:

naw he's not guilty of anything :sarcasm:

[ramblin_dave]

28. Now it says: Cheney's chief spokesman

Who is that?

[mmonk]

30. What is a VP spokesman?

[lovuian]

33. So is that Hannah or Libby???

:bounce: Oh wow!!!

[lovuian]

31. Who is Hannah!!! and why was he allowed to run???

Is Cheney being pushed out and now his cohorts leaving!!!

[mmonk]

34. Ahh Hannah

My speculation is he hung Libby out to dry.

[mmonk]

37. Hannah is in this piece on the subject

http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=7490

[King Coal]

43. Here is some stuff about Hannah from the link above.

Last year, Richard Sale of UPI reported a rare leak from the investigators:

"'We believe that Hannah was the major player in this,' one federal law-enforcement officer said. Calls to the vice president's office were not returned, nor did Hannah and Libby return calls. The strategy of the FBI is to make clear to Hannah 'that he faces a real possibility of doing jail time' as a way to pressure him to name superiors, one federal law-enforcement official said."

Hannah has an interesting background. In the early 1990s, he served as head of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), a think tank associated with the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC). As Middle East scholar Juan Cole pointed out, Hannah was a key figure in the intelligence manipulation effort that legitimized phony "evidence" of Iraq's WMD cooked up by Chalabi. Hannah, like the other aspens in the grove, turned with the rest of the cluster when it came to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East:

"The WINEP pro-Likud network, which includes Paul Wolfowitz and Doug Feith in the Pentagon as well as Libby and Hannah at Cheney's office, has virtually dictated Bush administration Middle East policy. Wilson's debunking of one of its central claims might well have led Cheney to fire Hannah or to disregard his opinion. The WINEP crowd takes no prisoners and is very determined, over decades, to get its way. (Josh Marshall notes that they are already trying to protect Hannah with denials he could possibly have been involved, presumably meaning that they would be willing to throw Libby to the dogs.) Wilson had to be punished, from their point of view, and if possible marginalized, to protect Hannah's position."

Hannah may have thrown Libby to the dogs, just to save his own skin. This wouldn't be any more surprising than the actions of former Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin, who will plead guilty to spying for Israel in return for leniency in sentencing – and for testifying against his handlers, Steve Rosen, who for 20 years served as AIPAC's foreign policy director, and Keith Weissman, AIPAC's top Iran specialist. Rosen and Weissman pumped Franklin for classified information and handed it over to Israeli "diplomats" stationed in Washington. The trial is scheduled for January.

While Hannah, the former director of AIPAC's thinktank, was deeply involved in exposing a vitally important U.S. intelligence asset – Plame worked undercover in the CIA's WMD proliferation unit – AIPAC officials Rosen and Weissman were sneaking around Washington, meeting Franklin in train stations, and handing over U.S. secrets to Israeli spies.

[lovuian]

55. Thank You so much mmonk!!! Here is the interesting part on Hannah

what we have here is a sort of domino effect. John Hannah, Cheney's special assistant for Middle East affairs, was fingered early on in this investigation. Last year, Richard Sale of UPI reported a rare leak from the investigators:

"'We believe that Hannah was the major player in this,' one federal law-enforcement officer said. Calls to the vice president's office were not returned, nor did Hannah and Libby return calls. The strategy of the FBI is to make clear to Hannah 'that he faces a real possibility of doing jail time' as a way to pressure him to name superiors, one federal law-enforcement


Hannah has an interesting background. In the early 1990s, he served as head of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), a think tank associated with the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC). As Middle East scholar Juan Cole pointed out, Hannah was a key figure in the intelligence manipulation effort that legitimized phony "evidence" of Iraq's WMD cooked up by Chalabi. Hannah, like the other aspens in the grove, turned with the rest of the cluster when it came to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East:



ok so Hannah is connected to the AIPAC situation in the Pentagon!!! WHOAH!!! Did Hannah go to Israel???

[mmonk]

32. Must be a last minute trip

to get stories in line with the Italians.

[lovuian]

35. OMG!!! or go see Babara Olsen and get her!!! at Italy!!!

They can hide under Buscleoni regime!!!

[midnight armadillo]

53. Naw, just a little shopping

You know, duty-free and all.

[lovuian]

54. lol!!!

Sightseeing!!!

[Fleshdancer]

38. Stephen E. Schmidt?

His name comes up when I google "Cheney's chief spokesman". I don't know if this is the person rawstory is talking about, but I can't find much info on him if he is.

[Fleshdancer]

52. WOO HOO! I was right!

do I win a prize?

[lovuian]

56. Clapping for Gloria take a bow!!!

Who is Schmidt???

[Fleshdancer]

65. no idea

I wish I was right about more exciting things.

[lonestarnot]

60. Gawd... hope it isn't a Ms. Right prize, you wouldn't want it!

[lyonn]

61. That's the name Rawstory mentioned

The fellow doing communication/media?? work over there until Octo. 26th. Certainly sounds qualified for the job!

[NoPasaran]

40. Now if only Cheney himself would leave

And not come back!

[NYdemocrat089]

42. The story is up now!

It's Steve Schmidt.

[hang a left]

49. Well that was a good hours worth of heart palpitations for myself.

I wonder why, really. The timing is a little funny. And that is an awfully long trip. Maybe he is going to pick up Cheney's cut from the recently disappeared billion dollars.

[elehhhhna]

44. He was supposed to go to Baghdad last week for up to a month:

The White House Looks To Improve Iraq News
Submitted by editor5 on October 5, 2005 - 2:32pm.
By MIKE ALLEN/WASHINGTON
Source: Time

The White House is embarking on a new effort to try to leaven the bleak accounts emerging from Iraq. Administration officials tell TIME that Steve Schmidt, counselor to Vice President Cheney and one of the White House's most aggressive strategists, will leave for Baghdad early this week to spend up to a month assessing media relations in the war zone.
http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/1306

[hang a left]

45. The timing, you have to admit, is suspect.

But then again how does he fit into all of this?

[elehhhhna]

46. Got me but they're probably sending him , in the tradition of Karen Huge,

to do as much frikkin damage as possible.

[Alizaryn]

48. He was questioned by the Grand Jury

at some point is all I know.

[lovuian]

57. So he is in violation of leaving the country ???

Getting out while the gettin is good!!!

[caligirl]

50. Not just that, but a whole month for a BS assignment?

[mmonk]

51. Could be a cover assignment

I hope Fitz has eyes on the ground there.

[Walt Starr]

47. Let's all hope Schmidt gets indicted, too

It would be cool to see U.S. Marshalls waiting for his plane to land so he can be frog marched off to the hoosgow.

[lonestarnot]

62. Don't leave anyone out!

[rateyes]

63. Did I miss something?

The story says it was Steve Schmidt, not Scooter Libby who went to Iraq. Did Scooter go with him?

[MaineDem]

64. This isn't new

Original story is a week old.