Andrea Mitchell IDs Colin Powell's role in Plamegate

[Lucille]

Plame obsessives will remember a Washington Post article in which a "Senior administration source" is quoted as having seen several administration officials, including Ari Fleischer, peruse a classified memo that identified Valerie Plame. This occurred on July 7, aboard AF1, as Bush and his entourage were en route to Africa. The memo was prepared for Colin Powell, who was aboard the flight. Many have assumed that it was Powell himself who not only observed these administration officials read the memo, but also saw them call reporters while still on board. Many have guessed that Powell testified to this before Fitzgerald and also leaked this information to the WP. According to the WP, the "senior official" said of the leak: "Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge."

Tonight on Hardball, Mrs. Greenspan was discussing the possibility of indictments that went beyond the usual suspects, Libby and Rove. Mitchell said (I'm paraphrasing), yes, there definitely could be other indictments--Colin Powell said he saw Ari Fleischer read the memo identifying Valerie Plame aboard AF1.

So, Mrs. G. blew the WP's confidentiality. She didn't speculate Powell was the source, she simply stated it as fact. If you have a chance to see the rebroadcast watch for the reaction shots. Tweety and Isikoff and the ChiTrib reporter look frozen, and then their eyes water. Mrs. G might have realized what she said, but, after so much plastic surgery it's hard to if she had a reaction to her little slip.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A11208-2003Sep27?language=printer

[progressivebydesign]

1. Bush obviously knew. This was on AF1.

Guess it would be too much to dream that Bush would be indicted...

[MuseRider]

2. Naaaaah go ahead

we all have that secret(?) dream.

[YDogg]

10. Hell, it's my secret wet dream.

:party:

[MuseRider]

13. Gotta admit

it does make me giddy! :toast:

[peace frog]

15. Your wet dream? Hell, I'd take it to bed

and f*ck its brains out... :evilgrin:

[blm]

48. And I'd join you.

.

[aquart]

38. No! For now, JUST CHENEY.

And all those other guys, but making Cheney step down, YOWZA!

Think Bush would appoint Frist? What about Michael Brown for Veep?

I'd like to avoid Hastert.

[mom cat]

44. Of course he knew.

[No Exit]

47. !!! "What did the President know, and when did he know it?"

Happy days are here again!

[Bluesplayer]

49. I'd even be happy

with "unindicted co-conspirator." That would be the basis for the first impeachment charge.

[jasmeel]

3. What a dumbass!! Their eyes watered. I bet they wanted to puke!!

[longship]

4. I've seen this reported before.

I think a couple of months ago. Ari has been high on the list of putative perps and is numero uno on my personal list of turned-against-shrub prospects.

[madame defarge]

7. Ari = Scapegoat...

Of course they'll pin it on someone not in the regime anymore to save their own butts. I'm sure Ari did know, but you could argue that everyone on board AF1 knew... So they ALL should be indicted... :evilgrin:

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. All of the WH officials in this picture

should be indicted.




Not pictured but also on the plane was Ari Fleischer and Dan Bartlett.

[longship]

21. No, Ari == turncoat with immunity

Just like John Dean, he may go to jail anyway.

[madame defarge]

24. It'd be great...

if he started singing like a canary about all the crap with this regime in the WH. That's what eventually brought Nixon down...Prosecutors got to key people and they 'fessed up.

[longship]

28. Think about it. When did he resign suddently?

nt

[madame defarge]

31. Resigned in May 2003 for July 2003 departure...

according to this CNN article...
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/05/19/fleischer.resigns/

[longship]

35. Bingo!

Same time frame. Can't connect resignation with Rove/Plame, but recent revelations place Miller/Libby talks weeks earlier than we previously thought. If that's true, and if Ari has talked, Fitz may have known about the contents of Judy's little notebook for some time now.

[blue state liberal]

42. Ari

Ari resigned his gig as press secretary quite suddenly. I wonder if he had an epiphany and needed to get out of that WH environment quickly. I also haven't heard much about whether he has testified before the GJ. Does any one one know?

[newyawker99]

76. Hi blue state liberal!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[davidwparker]

68. Yes. And whatelse might he say while he is defending himself.

[Roland99]

43. Were JimmyJeff and Karen Spews on-board?

[windbreeze]

46. Didn't Ari...resign from WH spokesperson

right after this shit hit the fan? I recall a lot of people speculating as to why he gave up his post that quickly...and the answer given for leaving was to spend more time with his wife...(as he had just gotten married shortly before, right?)...the answer survived scrutiny at the time, but the more we hear about Plamegate...the more it seems there could have been other reasons...no?
windbreeze

[BlueEyedSon]

36. Yup, this is not new news. It's out of the bag.

[cantstandbush]

Should Andrea be indicted for revealing a journalist's source?

Speculation, I guess.

DUers don't miss a beat. We are smart. The WH should hire us instead of the Rovians.

[rfranklin]

9. There's no law against revealing a source...

colin Powell was not a NOC

[MADem]

23. She isn't even in hot water ethically, it wasn't HER source

She was just reporting what she saw, if she got in the way of another reporter, oh well--meet with your sources in private!!! And sources shouldn't be making phone calls in the midst of a press pool while holding dodgy documents if they don't want to be observed doing same!

And there is no law against outing even your own source, all it does is make people reluctant to talk to you ever again.

[FARAFIELD]

5. OH gawd

That bit about plastic surgery was wonderful, i almost wet myself. I mean i always knew that powell knew just not on the record.

[MidwestTransplant]

54. Yeah it is painful to look at her.

[msanthrope]

6. I claim the prize money--I thought it was Colin Powell, and

I speculated that somewhere, he was sitting down, drinking a very dry martini--and laughing his ass off.....

[Straight Shooter]

26. He who laughs last, laughs best.

Colin Powell lost his integrity somewhere along the way. He knows the bush administration treated him like a cheap pair of shoes. He has no honor to salvage, but honor isn't a necessary ingredient in a very cold dish of revenge.

[ncteechur]

8. Yeah, but if Powell gets a subpoena which I'm sure he will

it will be difficult for them to characterize him as a liar and them not. Powell was the ONLY one in the entire administration people trusted implicitly. Of course, he blew it at the UN which he realizes and has stated publicly many times--I would love to see Rove on the stand say that Colin Powell is a liar.

[Samantha]

12. Powell already testified before the Grand Jury

[ncteechur]

25. I'm talking about the actual trial. What a media event it should be

Bigger than Jacko

Bigger than Scott Peterson

Bigger than OJ?

I'm quite sure it will be closed to the press for national security reasons.

UNLESS--shrub gives a blanket pardon to all involved but would he do that prior to the 06 midterms? If so, I think we could really pick up both houses of congress and impeach the whole lot of them.

[Robertwf]

34. He invokes executive privilege as to testimony of

any cabinet and kitchen cabinet people subpoenaed to testify. That is the issue that may go to the Supremes.
The only other thing he can do is get on Air Force Uno with his pals and fly off to some island that will soon disappear as a result of rising water due to the global warming he doesn't acknowledge.
If he goes with the first scenario, the Supremes may not hear the matter until after the mid-terms. It's still good fodder for keeping the crooks spooked about everything they have to lose. Let's face it--what faux pas can any or all Dems commit that could possibly put these guys back in the catbird's seat?

[corbett]

17. I'll Second That!

Powell was a very good soldier. If he had run for president in 2000, which I know he now regrets not doing, we would have had an interesting race. To have him in the grand jury witness box giving us the truth, the whole truth, etc. and contradicting Rove, well, you know they'll be stoking the fires in hell awaiting KKKarl's arrival.

[Robertwf]

14. Let me see if I

get this...Powell had a memo--we don't know if there were other copies available. The memo id'd Plame. The sr. official said he saw the officials read it--how did he know the others called the press? How do we know they told their press contacts Plame was involved? Just curious if the dots really connect in this?

[Zen Democrat]

30. Remember, Fitzgerald subpoenaed the phone records from that AF1 flight.

[Robertwf]

33. I didn't know that--

where was that disclosed? I'm kind of surprised that his subpoenas weren't under seal--since so much else is "secret" in the operations of the GJ.

[jobycom]

41. Good questions.

A lot of people are daydreaming over an interpretation of a slip of a third hand account. Granted, the OP interpretation of the Mitchell comment is an obvious one, but even so, it could be wrong. She could be wrong. And even if Powell has testified that he saw a memo floating around AF1 and people calling their favorite reporters, without corroborating evidence it's just one testimony, and even an assumption of who was called.

Phone records would be coroborating evidence. A second or third witness would be coroborating evidence. If they exist.

I watched the Repubs witch-hunt Clinton to impeachment, and as a result Congress ignored its duty, and 9-11 happened. I'll wait to see what Fitzgerald has before I get excited.

But I sure will fantasize until then! :-) Dreams are all that's left of America, at this point. Dreams of what was, and nightmares that turn out to be reality now.

[DLnyc]

67. Maybe I'm missing something, but this seems pretty solid to me:

1. Powell SHOWED the memo to someone on AF! (Isn't it established by now that he had it with him?), then SAW people call reporters (a guess, but AF1 is not that big, and his statements to the WP imply he KNEW details of calls, such as how many). He (reportedly) said it was done "Purely for revenge".

2. Powell did testify to Fitz's GJ, presumably would repeat what he told WP.

3. Fitz would then (and did) subpeona phone records from AF1.

4. Those records would corroborate Powell's story and give Fitz enough hard evidence to scare the hell out of several witnesses, and giving a pretty solid case.

My GUESS is it was known that Powell (or at least some direct witness) would testify, so BushCo tried to concoct, in their arrogance, some kind of cover story which, inevitably, a good prosecuter with at least one friendly witness, not only saw through, but used to get perjury and/or obstruction charges on the whole crew.

Admittedly, I haven't proved all this, it just seems to me the pieces fall into place quite nicely and clearly here. Unless I'm missing something or one of the thngs I'm assuming is pretty well established is in fact false. Any comments?

[Kahuna]

16. This is gettin' better 'n better..

:popcorn:

[IndianaGreen]

18. Ohhhh, this is just precious!

I think I will pop some pop corn and enjoy the show.

I wouldn't mind to see all of the war criminals in the Bush regime behind bars, including the liar and self-serving Colin Powell, the same man that started the My Lai massacre cover-up to protect his career.

:popcorn:

[MattP]

19. I didn't see that

I saw that segment and thought that she was just being a shill for shrub, I don't know how anybody could be happy that they are going to throw someone else under the bus to save the other scumbags.

[IndianaGreen]

20. Powell should have a noose around his neck for his UN speech

in which he lied about WMD. That speech alone, is enough reason for this ribbon-chested war criminal to go to the penitenciary.

[aquart]

39. A man with honor would kill himself over that.

We already know Powell is without honor.

[kimpossible]

22. Recommended

This is a very interesting development. Wonder if the corporate media will pick it up?

[Tesla]

27. The bald guy all the way to the right freaks me out.

It's like he is lookin right at me......

He knows I know......

[izzybeans]

29. He's the albino hitman that makes it look like a suicide

He's in all the espionage movies. Either that or its Jaws from 007.

[Up2Late]

32. Wow, it's really beginning to hit the fan Now!

:freak: LOCK'EM UP!!!

[Rene]

37. Bet Fitzgerald also learns who forged the Niger document

I think indictments are going to a long list of people at the top of this admin. Don't they all seem to be spending some distance away from each other lately, and are way out of the limelight?. i.e. where's cheney...where's rice....where's rove...where is powell.... where is fleischer .et all

and I want to see Bremer testify about the missing Billion+ dollars under his watch....where is he lately????? the Riviera?

I can't figure out why anyone would want to have a "presidency" that will go down in history as the culmination of all that's evil in all their dealings/policies.

[DirtyDawg]

40. Holy Moly...

...is it possible that this thing could roll up the whole sorry lot? Cheney, Rove, Libby and, yes, geedubya as well. Maybe they'll even resign...ya' think?...Naaahh!

[Oilwellian]

45. Oops...slipzees

Andrea dear, you're losing your edge. You're too involved behind the scenes. Was it Powell who convinced you elite rats to put an end to the madness...finally? Is your Aspen root turning? We'll be watching.

[Wordie]

72. As annoyed as I am with Powell over the UN, you don't think the Bushies

will try to pull some scapegoating thing and aim this whole thing at Powell do you? I believe that Powell was set up at the UN. And while he SHOULD have known better, I want to make sure that the responsibility for this whole mess stays where it belongs.

[chelsea0011]

50. And you know it.....if this were Clinton, Gore, and his staff that had

access to an email the media would be covering this as their top story 24-7 and Russett would be proclaiming the "end of the Presidency".

[Cults4Bush]

51. Does anyone have this clip up online somewhere now?

I'd love to see it as Im sure many others would to, that missed the replay.

Thanks for any help.

[Toots]

52. If this is true then Powell is another one going down

The Memo was addressed to him with Secret stamped upon it and he allowed it out of his possession and others to view it. Powell is the one who disseminated SECRET information to all on board that flight. I feel no sympathy for him. He made his bed and he can lie in it.

[FighttheFuture]

53. I agree he made his bed, but he can remake it. His guilt is not clear...

It really depends who he handed it off to. Cheney, Bush, Rove, Scooter all have top secret clearance. If they handed it to someone not cleared, or made a plan for revenge, that is not Powell's fault.

[thinkingwoman]

55. he's probably flipped, but...

if the person who took the memo out of his hands had the appropriate security clearance (ie Cheney or Bush) and then THAT person passed the memo around to the group, then Powell is guilty of nothing.

[autorank]

56. "...meant purely and simply for revenge." --haha--I'll take that.

Damn, if Powell testifies and tells the truth putting Ari away for acts that harm the country, then who cares what the mmotivation is. I like the thought of Powell turning on these clowns. That's about as hard a turn as you can make, btw, dropping a dime at the grand jury and the WP.

I bet he even smiled to himself:evilgrin:

[McCamy Taylor]

57. Powell may have spread bad intelligence but he didnt do dirty tricks

and Andrea Micthells telling the world that Powell has finegered administration officials for their part in dirty tricks only makes POwell one of the good guys should be decide to abadondon the GOP and join the Democratic Party.

[Dangerously Amused]

58. I have to agree re: Powell.

I've watched him for a long time now, and my gut feeling overall is that he's a decent man. Yes, I disagree with his political thinking in many areas, and he has obviously been used by the GOP for his race to generate votes and his military success to lend credibility, but I think he has more integrity than the rest of that sorry lot. I was not at all surprised to see him walk away from the administration. I was not surprised to learn that he fought the administration pretty hard regarding what information to deliver to the UN, when he thought that information was misleading. I was not surprised when he came forward with regret over his role in the Iraq build-up. I would not be surprised at all to find that he alone was the sole "hostile witness" in Fitz's investigation to actually abide by his oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

I think Colin Powell became involved in the Bush administration well before he realized just how corrupt and bloodthirsty his bedfellows were. I think we need to give him a little credit for the times he has taken a stand against Bush & Co., he's done it more than anyone else I can think of. And if we want to encourage this behavior in the future...

(Runs away quickly to don flame-proof suit.) :hide:

[natrat]

64. he might be ok but his son sure is a first class scumbag

[cinci_democrat]

65. I agree also re: Powell

As the daughter of a career soldier, I think I recognize in Colin Powell a strong, sincere love for this country - the same love of country my father had. I never saw unbridled political ambition in Powell. I truly think he has total disgust for this chicken hawk, megalomaniacal administration. I would expect him to tell the complete truth and in the telling completely nail the motherfuckers who demanded he compromise his integrity.

[newyawker99]

77. Hi cinci_democrat!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[blue northern]

71. I recall reading somewhere Powell had a nickname for the neocons...

in the * administration,
what was it again?
Oh yeah,
THE CRAZIES
Sounds about right to me

[Chicago1]

59. Andrea Mitchell IS A FAKE

I can't stand her. SHE'S AWFUL TO LISTEN TO.

She's stupid and her plastic surger LOOKS AWFUL.

THE REVOLUTION CAN'T START FAST ENOUGH.

[Presstitutes]

60. Here's more on Mitchell

http://www.presstitutes.com/presstitutes/2005/09/nbcs_andrea_mit.html

[savemefromdumbya]

61. Nobody is talking about Gannon?

I wonder why?

[Kolesar]

62. That link gives me a different article

That starts like:

Bush Administration Is Focus of Inquiry
CIA Agent's Identity Was Leaked to Media

By Mike Allen and Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 28, 2003; Page A01

At CIA Director George J. Tenet's request, the Justice Department is looking into an allegation that administration officials leaked the name of an undercover CIA officer to a journalist, government sources said yesterday.

[MellowOne]

63. Defend America....Defeat Bush

Show this bumper sticker today in my very red Southern redneck town. I had to laugh!

[angryxyouth]

66. I can't wait for the Trial DU open thread party!!!!

THE ROOF THE ROOF THE ROOF IS ON FIRE
WE DON'T NEED NO WATER LET THE MOTHER F***ER BURN:toast: :party: :headbang: :applause: :woohoo: :patriot:

[indie_voter]

69. All these guys KNOW who said what

They are part of this story.

It drives me bonkers to watch them sitting in front of the camera acting as if they are "one of us".

I would LOVE to hear the chatter when the cameras are off, they KNOW and are complicit.

I hope this shakes up the media and forces change as much as I hope it shakes up this administration.

The whole lot of them are corrupt to the bone.

[TacticalPeek]

70. "Ari Fletcher saw it, Colin Powell testified to that."

Transcript - http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9671487



MATTHEWS: Let Michael go because Michael is leaving..

ISIKOFF: How they learned about Wilson‘s wives identity, we do know there was this classified state department report that was circulated in that time period and that the paragraph that had the information about Wilson‘s wife at the agency was marked not just secret but N.F., no foreign.

So, that it was so sensitive that it could not be disclosed, it would be harmful to national security, if it was...

WARREN: That could be the case...

ISIKOFF: ...and I think if they can prove it, and we don‘t know this, if they can prove that was the source of knowledge, then that can make a serious matter.

MITCHELL: And we do know...

MATTHEWS: I know one person won‘t like this kind of business, that‘s President Bush senior, the first President Bush would be stunned to hear that anybody in the White House today was involved in outing an agent. He was once head of the CIA.

Go ahead, Andrea, last thought.

MITCHELL: We also know that, that paragraph, that document was circulated on Air Force One as the president was flying to Africa, that Ari Fletcher saw it, Colin Powell testified to that. And that could be one of the key facts in this.

MATTHEWS: And we‘re still waiting to see who was the other person who talked to Bob Novak.

MITCHELL: Exactly.

MATTHEWS: Prince of Darkness himself has that secret, we think.


-----------------------------------------------------------

A. Powell told Andrea Mitchell some of his Plame testimony.

B. Powell told Andrea Mitchell she could report the information.

C. Powell told Andrea Mitchell she could attribute the information to him.


We are watching the frog blender shift to a higher, merrier speed.

All aboard! :evilgrin:

(except the stupid R's and their asshole supporters)

[Independent_Liberal]

73. Wow!!!

Thanks for posting this dude!

[FreepFryer]

74. Don't forget about when Powell was interrupted by his Dep. Press Sec'y...

... Emily Miller, former protege of Tom Delay...who moved the camera and lied to Powell to convince him an interview with Meet the Press' Tim Russert was over before he had a chance to finish a crucial question on WMD intel.

Powell, incensed at her attempt to mislead and censor him, said "Emily, get out of the way" and then went on to call the administration's sourcing on WMD intel on Iraq 'deliberately misleading' in an incredible admission. Russert later thanked the secretary for his "willingness to overrule his press aide's attempt to abruptly cut off our discussion."

video of the interruption: http://algraffix.nstemp.com/powellMTP.wmv

transcript of the 'crucial question':

MR. RUSSERT: Thank you very much, sir.

In February of 2003, you put your enormous personal reputation on the line before the United Nations and said that you had solid sources for the case against Saddam Hussein. It now appears that an agent called "Curve Ball" had misled the CIA by suggesting that Saddam had trucks and trains that were delivering biological chemical weapons.

How concerned are you that some of the information you shared with the world is now inaccurate and discredited?

SECRETARY POWELL: I'm very concerned. When I made that presentation in February 2003, it was based on the best information that the Central Intelligence Agency made available to me. We studied it carefully. We looked at the sourcing and the case of the mobile trucks and trains. There was multiple sourcing for that. Unfortunately, that multiple sourcing over time has turned out to be not accurate, and so I'm deeply disappointed.

But I'm also comfortable that at the time that I made the presentation it reflected the collective judgment, the sound judgment, of the intelligence community, but it turned out that the sourcing was inaccurate and wrong and, in some cases, deliberately misleading. And for that I'm disappointed, and I regret it.

'Informed Comment' post on the incident: http://www.juancole.com/2004_05_01_juancole_archive.html#108486566024233182

the NYT article about the interruption: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/17/international/17TV.html

USAToday on the interruption: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-05-16-powell-interview_x.htm

[Garbo 2004]

75. Mitchell doesn't work for WP so she didn't violate their confidentiality.

Besides, she states other things as "fact" as well, with no supporting factual evidence. For example, she keeps repeating Wilson claimed Cheney sent him to Niger. Wilson never said that. So much for Mitchell's "facts."