Fitzgerald Eyes Plame-Niger Conspiracy - By Jason Leopold

[kpete]

Fitzgerald Eyes Plame-Niger Conspiracy
Submitted by davidswanson on Mon, 2006-01-23 12:19. Media
Prosecutor Probing Niger Forgeries, Possible Conspiracy in CIA Leak
By Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t | www.truthout.org

"There was a discussion about what to do about Mr. Wilson," the current State Department official said. "There was a decision to leak a story to the press - I think a few journalists - about the Wilson trip, that it was a non-issue because his wife set it up for him."

Over the past few months, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has been questioning witnesses in the CIA leak case about the origins of the disputed Niger documents referenced in President Bush's January 2003 State of the Union address, according to several current and former State Department officials who have testified in the case.

The State Department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because some of the information they discussed is still classified, indicated that the White House had substantial motive for revealing undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to reporters.

They said the questions Fitzgerald asked them about the Niger documents suggested to them that the special prosecutor was putting together a timeline. They said they believe Fitzgerald wants to show the grand jury how some people in the Bush administration may have conspired to retaliate against former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, an outspoken critic of the administration's pre-war Iraq intelligence.

lots more:http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/7014

[Beetwasher]

1. K&R!

!

[savemefromdumbya]

2. The Tsunami is coming

[CountAllVotes]

3. Go Fitz!!!!!!!

Go! Go! Go!!!

Expose ALL of these liars, thieves and crooks!

GO FITZ!

:kick: and recommended!!! :D

[Joanne98]

4. Spitzer/Fitzgerald 2008

[foreverdem]

18. Now THAT would be a ticket!

We'd have this whole country cleaned up in no time.

[thereismore]

68. That would just get them assassinated, I'm afraid. nt

[The Doctor.]

44. Hell yeah.

Just got to make sure he doesn't get on any airplanes now.

[toymachines]

57. what would happen if he got "hit"?

How much would that suck. And I am sure there would be no recourse to take, no one held responsible, and pieces of the case left to pick up.

[Imagevision]

62. definitly kick this baby for a while!

[gristy]

61. OMG

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh Oh Oh.

[ClayZ]

5. Ready the fan and stand back... K & R

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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

[WilliamPitt]

8. Erm...

He posted the After Downing Street link to the story at the bottom:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/7014

It wasn't the truthout link, but it was the same story.

[RazzleDazzle]

10. I saw it -- what's the point of not posting the truthout link

in addition or instead -- why the fuck BOTHER if you just want to direct people to ADS ? Is it originally a AfterDowningStreet article, or a Truthout article?

[Stephanie]

16. chill out

If you want something posted a certain way, do it yourself.

[WilliamPitt]

30. Decaf, my friend.

Decaf.

[democrank]

9. Thanks so much, kpete.

I hope Fitzgerald stays on this until he has enough to bring the whole mess down.

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Me too

I am anxious but I definitely want him to do a great job and be confident.

[Just Me]

12. Wow.

:wow: Personal issues? :shrug:

Anyway, I appreciate the encouraging OP.

[Laurab]

21. Double Wow.

Maybe a switch to decaf is in order?

I appreciate the encouraging OP, too!!!

[H2O Man]

27. Triple Wow n/t

[Imagevision]

41. Kicked-recommended!!

[kpete]

15. So sorry

I try every day to give it my best shot. You have to admit I am getting better. Thanks again for the reminder.

[stop the bleeding]

32. Holy shit kpete - you messed up after about a brazillion posts

Like Wesley Snipes said in White Men Can't Jump - "well I guess the sun shines on a dog's ass evey once in a while" -In this case I would say the opposite has happened.

As always thanks for the heads up and workhorse mentality that you adhere to keep DU in the loop.
:yourock:

[Usrename]

34. This will have to be your last apology -

From now on we want to see you stand up for your right to screw up - we're Americans for crying out loud, it's embarassing.

And killer post! K&R

[kpete]

43. I will try to NEVER APOLOGIZE AGAIN...

Thanks, that felt good

[blossomstar]

40. great post! Thank you. I'll bet that guy is a LOVABLE old fart!

[bear425]

46. You're a class act kpete. Thanks for all you do to keep us informed! n/t

[H2O Man]

54. One of the DUers

that I appreciate the most. I think kpete provides the DU community with outstanding work.

[Catherine Vincent]

22. LOL!

[lovuian]

7. I hope so...

:patriot:

[robertpaulsen]

11. Yes! Fitz working to nail WHIG!

From the link:

The officials said Fitzgerald's interest is not in the the war's validity. Instead, Fitzgerald is trying to find out if Wilson's public questions about the administration's intelligence and its use of the Niger documents led members of a little known committee called the White House Iraq Group to leak Plame's name and CIA status to reporters.


Keep it up Fitz! Now just look into OSP and you'll really be cooking!

[shraby]

14. We're standing on one leg waiting.

We want Fitz to be thorough, but speedy too.

[robertpaulsen]

24. Definitely. Look how Leopold BURNS Rove.

From the link:

The current State Department official said the INR memo was discussed at length during the meeting Grossman attended at the White House. That meeting may have been the first time other White House officials, including Karl Rove, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, and other unknown administration officials learned that Valerie Plame was Wilson's wife and that she worked at the CIA in a covert capacity.

All of the sources interviewed separately for this story said they were told that Karl Rove was the person who first suggested using the media to "turn the tables on Wilson." The officials wouldn't identify the person who told them this. The decision, however, was made during a meeting that took place between the White House Iraq Group.

"There was a discussion about what to do about Mr. Wilson," the current State Department official said. "There was a decision to leak a story to the press - I think a few journalists - about the Wilson trip, that it was a non-issue because his wife set it up for him. They were going to show that Wilson and his wife were Democrats. Can you imagine? They were going to say 'don't listen to them, they're partisan.' It was a coordinated effort to turn him into the story. Much to my surprise, it worked."

One of the officials interviewed for this story was also cited in a September 28, 2003, Washington Post story about the motivation to leak Wilson's wife's identity to the media. "Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge," the State Department official told the Post. The Post did not name the official.

I predict Libby will not be the last indictment in the Plame scandal. Not by a long shot.

[stop the bleeding]

33. Hadley and the State Department????

Hadley and Rove are toast - how does Hadley forget about 3 previous written warnings not to use the Niger intel? This is a question that has been asked before and I do not expect an answer because it is rhetorical.

However I think the State Department is some where worth focusing. Leopold makes several references to sources from this department that are currently employed and retired.



Hadley/Rice + Greg Thielmann/John Bolton/State Department = WHIG = Outing of Plame

Who else would be worth focusing on in the State Department?

I have only reviewed this really quick over my lunch break, but I will check back in a few hours to see what people are saying. I have noticed that other people like levymeg and company have some information that may be worth looking into as soon as time permits.

This is very exciting, but only with the kind of excitement that is followed by the realization of what all of this has led to and allowed.

[robertpaulsen]

42. Bolton's deputy was David Wurmser.

I'll try to link some threads on him here when I have time.

[Me.]

51. Allow Me To Begin

RP’s Aipac Thread which has a lot of info and links regarding Wurmser

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x60048


H20”s Thread On Hadley

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5593514

[Peace Patriot]

55. "Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge." Disinformation?

I'm suspicious of this statement. I think we're getting a selective leak here, spun away from Rumsfeld, the "Rome Group" and all they may have been up to.

You don't out the CIA's entire counter-proliferation network, 20 years in the making--something on which we all depend for our safety--and put all its covert agents/contacts at risk of getting killed, and shut down all of its projects, just for political revenge. This was a highly risky, panicky outing, in my opinion, and a coverup of something very bad (possibly Bushite effort to plant WMDs in Iraq, to be 'found' by Judith Miller). There was no need for the rush--calling at least six reporters in one week--and for exposing so many Bushites to treason charges, just to punish Wilson. The Bushites have many overt/covert ways to punish people. Rovian revenge is a cover story, in my view.

[Twist_U_Up]

13. I hope Fistzgerald takes the gloves off soon.

Actually Sept. or Oct. would be even better.

[foreverdem]

17. YES!!!!

He's going at this from all sides, uncovering all the lies until he has them all exposed for the treasonous, poisonous bunch they are. GO FITZ!

[leveymg]

25. I appreciate careful, thorough case prep, but we really could use an

indictment or two right now to take the wind out of the Iran War Drumbeat Club. It would be right on target too, as the same little group of neocons and Israeli agents appear to have been behind both the Niger Yellowcake foregeries and the Larry Franklin OSP-AIPAC Iran WMD documents. See, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/6/15/12176/9231; also, see Larry Franklin indictment http://www.physics911.net/franklinpdf2.pdf , pp 23-24, para. 6 (FO3 is Naor Gilon, the former Mossad chief of station), see http://www.sw-asia.com/People/Bio917.htm

[Just Me]

28. Our anxiety is based in reality.

This administration has proven its capacity to go to extremes, including the security of this nation and the commission of crimes, to execute their profiteering plan for global control.

They are using US as security for engaging in an extremely risky ideological endeavor which has PROVEN progressively futile. Unless they suffer the consequences of their crimes, they will top out as the USA and American people are sacrificed.

[leveymg]

29. The danger of miscalculation in a crisis is real. So, indict, already!

I'm growing concerned that Fitz's orderly early retirement program for Bush, Dick and the Boyz may be just a little bit too orderly, under the circumstances.

Book 'em, Danno.

[Nimrod2005]

19. Beautiful, I hope Rove gives a couple of more speeches first

Before this really breaks --- I want to see side by side pictures of Rove articulating his so called campaign strategy and pictures of him in handcuffs (and/or ankle bracelet).

[kohodog]

53. Rove has put on a lot of weight lately...

And is becoming more shrill in his defamation of democrats. Think he's under any stress? I love these tidbits that keep him and his ilk on edge.

[MadJohnShaft]

23. Can we trust these 'leaks'?

Given that Fitzgerald runs a tight ship - they're coming from the other side, no? what's the motive for this stuff dribbling out like that?

[Garbo 2004]

39. Looks like Leopold spoke to former and current State Dept staff. State

Dept people were overruled, bypassed by the neocons the Administration put in the State Dept (like Bolton, etc) and the VP's office. One imagine there's no love lost between some at State and the neocons who ignored their intel assessments, etc and ran their own show.

That said, who knows what Fitz is doing? Those who claimed they were contacted by Fitz's office appear to be speculating on the basis of the inquiries they say they had from Fitz's office. It rings true that Fitz would not be looking at the "validity" of the war itself, but rather the origin of a conspiracy at high levels to go after Wilson to discredit him. This line of inquiry would help provide the motive as well as the origins of that concerted campaign to smear Wilson.

Meanwhile, we have to wait and see....while Bush tries to sell the assertion that the executive branch don't need no stinkin' law. And the authors of the Constitution spin in their graves.

[Supersedeas]

26. establishing motive....connecting the dots....

[Marie26]

31. Hahahaha. K&R

The truth's coming out!

[Imagevision]

35. Fitzgerald would make an excellant attorney general!

[H2O Man]

36. Yep. n/t

[Me.]

38. Would Like It Too

But it looks like it's Patterson.

[TacticalPeek]

37. Thanks for the post. I love creeping disaster for Republicans & their ilk.

:toast:

[johnnydrama]

47. you have to admit

There's a certain evil genius in how this administration lies to the American people.

The state department informs everybody who's anybody that the Niger claims are false, but after
the British give it validity the administration can "truthfully" report that according to the British....

It is true "according to the British"....so they can get by on a technicality.

It's too bad that they can't figure out a way to put that white hot energy they use to come up with
creative ways to lie about everything to good use for the American people.

[Imagevision]

45. I hope he finds the goods to indict Rove & Cheney

[greiner3]

48. When is this grand jury due to end?

I thought I heard January, although the last one got several extensions. Get it right, Fitz.

[Imagevision]

49. I believe Rove and Cheney will be exposed

[shaniqua6392]

50. Great post kpete!!

Thanks a million!

[Loge23]

52. I just hope this story is accurate

This investigation is notable for its secrecy. I'm not sure about putting much stake in this account based on "sources".

[David Zephyr]

56. It's all about the forgeries, the Yellow Cake Fakes.

Bush and Rove and Cheney and Rice all know that the forgeries is what will infuriate the American Public.

Here's hoping Fitz is looking at the source of the forgeries: Karl Rove.

[yodermon]

58. The "Revenge" meme is disinfo,

in my opinion. This was hashed out ad-infinitum on the Plame threads of yore. However there is circumstantial evidence that Fitz is not so sure of that motive anymore.

In summary, Fitzgerald original filings early on in the case made mention of "revenge" as being the ostensible motive for the leak (e.g., in http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/documents/dc_brief.pdf (2004 doc) Fitz says "The Special Counsel’s investigation concerns alleged leaks of purportedly classified information by one or more government officials to reporters in apparent retaliation for a former government official’s exercise of his First Amendment right to publicly criticize the government.")

Then, as per this document (pdf), "Special Counsel outlines in great detail the developments in this case and the investigation as a whole. The ex parte affidavit establishes that the government’s focus has shifted as it has acquired additional information during the course of the investigation. Special Counsel now needs to pursue different avenues in order to complete its investigation."

After that, in the Libby indictment, and in the press conference, Fitzgerald makes no statement, hint or allusion about motive at all. None. In fact, his main theme is "we don't know why he did this! We have to find out!" Remember his baseball analogy:

If you saw a baseball game and you saw a pitcher wind up and throw a fastball and hit a batter right smack in the head, and it really, really hurt them, you'd want to know why the pitcher did that. And you'd wonder whether or not the person just reared back and decided, "I've got bad blood with this batter. He hit two home runs off me. I'm just going to hit him in the head as hard as I can."

You also might wonder whether or not the pitcher just let go of the ball or his foot slipped, and he had no idea to throw the ball anywhere near the batter's head. And there's lots of shades of gray in between.

You might learn that you wanted to hit the batter in the back and it hit him in the head because he moved. You might want to throw it under his chin, but it ended up hitting him on the head.

And what you'd want to do is have as much information as you could. You'd want to know: What happened in the dugout? Was this guy complaining about the person he threw at? Did he talk to anyone else? What was he thinking? How does he react? All those things you'd want to know.

And then you'd make a decision as to whether this person should be banned from baseball, whether they should be suspended, whether you should do nothing at all and just say, "Hey, the person threw a bad pitch. Get over it."

In this case, it's a lot more serious than baseball. And the damage wasn't to one person. It wasn't just Valerie Wilson. It was done to all of us.

And as you sit back, you want to learn: Why was this information going out? Why were people taking this information about Valerie Wilson and giving it to reporters? Why did Mr. Libby say what he did? Why did he tell Judith Miller three times? Why did he tell the press secretary on Monday? Why did he tell Mr. Cooper? And was this something where he intended to cause whatever damage was caused?

Or did they intend to do something else and where are the shades of gray?

And what we have when someone charges obstruction of justice, the umpire gets sand thrown in his eyes. He's trying to figure what happened and somebody blocked their view.

As you sit here now, if you're asking me what his motives were, I can't tell you; we haven't charged it.

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/28/AR2005102801340.html)

..which is all a far cry from his early statements that, oh yeah, it was "political retaliation."

(Citizen Spook's analysis at http://citizenspook.blogspot.com/2005/11/treasongate-whats-mysteriously-missing.html#links is my primary source for this post)

[Seabiscuit]

59. I hate to rain on this parade, but...

the fact that this has taken so long - much longer than it took to remove Nixon from office after the Watergate break-in... shows that Fitzgerald (1) doesn't have the manpower/support that the Senate Watergate Committee and the Special Prosecutor's Office had during Watergate, and (2) the Bush administration is putting up a much greater "wall" of obfuscation, perjury, and obstruction of justice than Nixon's group ever did.

Sorry, but I'm just not satisfied with a charge of perjury and obstruction of justice to Cheney's #2 man (Libby) after 2-3 years.

[Missy Vixen]

60. This is not Nixon's White House

>Fitzgerald (1) doesn't have the manpower/support that the Senate Watergate Committee and the Special Prosecutor's Office had during Watergate,<

We're not dealing with the Nixon White House anymore. We're not dealing with those in the Republican Party who at least had the honor to tell Nixon he was leaving because of high crimes and misdemeanors, or he'd be impeached. We're dealing with * and his little buddies, who will do anything to hold onto power, at any cost. We're dealing with Republicans who don't have the character and courage to admit that there is something desperately wrong within the executive branch of our country.

I think Patrick Fitzgerald has one chance to get this right. I believe he's not bringing indictments forward until he has unassailable proof, and he's not operating on our timetable. If the article we read today in Truthout is accurate (and I have no reason to believe that it isn't,) this is a tsunami of unbelievable proportion.

Let him do his job. In the meantime, if you are a praying person, say a few.

Julie

[Warren Stupidity]

63. we are not dealing with a Democratic congress

Nixon's fall was accelerated by congressional investigations which, under the current circumstances, are not going to happen. Fitzgerald is going to have to do his thing without benefit of a congressional investigation. Given the way they maneuvered through the Iran-Contra mess, using Congress to nullify prosecutorial efforts, this may not be entirely a bad thing.

[Missy Vixen]

69. My point is, though

>Nixon's fall was accelerated by congressional investigations which, under the current circumstances, are not going to happen.<

Yes, it was, but it was also accelerated by those in his own party who told him, under no uncertain terms, he was to resign or he'd be impeached. The only person currently in the Republican Party with that kind of courage is John McCain; unfortunately for all of us, he's too busy guzzling the Bush Kool-aid to do the right thing.

>Fitzgerald is going to have to do his thing without benefit of a congressional investigation.<

Congressional investigations nowadays are nothing more than a waste of everyone's time. He also has the benefit of being a complete Washington outsider, not having any desire to run for political office, and a passionate dedication to finding the truth.

At this moment, he's the best (and the only,) hope we have of getting to the bottom of it. I want him to do whatever he has to do to get it right the first time, because he only gets one chance at these folks. Two years and "only" five indictments? These are the first indictments of White House staff in 130 years. The last guy spent eight years and $70 million of our money to produce a stained blue dress.

I'll take those indictments and patiently wait for more.

Julie
edited to add an additional thought

[Seabiscuit]

71. I don't see any disagreement on any of these points.

[RSchewe]

64. Believe it when I see it. This has been speculated before. n/t

[rd_kent]

65. When the walls...come tumbling down!!!!!

More fuel for the fire that will be the downfall of the most corrupt administration in the history of the US.

[Duncan]

66. What I never understood

Is why does it discredit Wilson in any way even if his wife did set up his trip?
She was qualified to do so and he was qualified to go. I guess they just planned on spinning it as somehow nefarious and hope that nobody noticed how little it matters one way or the other. And to top it off, she didn't!

[stop the bleeding]

70. here is an interesting theory by peace patriot on this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2023349


basically answers what you are asking - they outed Plame to cover up something more sinister than the Niger Forgeries


and another one here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5505139

[thereismore]

67. If this is true, THANK YOU MR. FITZGERALD. I love you. nt