WP: Probe Focuses on Month Before Leak to Reporters

FBI Agents Tracing Linkage of Envoy to CIA Operative

By Walter Pincus and Mike Allen
Sunday, October 12, 2003; Page A01

FBI agents investigating the disclosure of a CIA officer's identity have begun by examining events in the month before the leak, when the CIA, the White House and Vice President Cheney's office first were asked about former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV's CIA-sponsored trip to Niger, according to sources familiar with the probe.

(snip)

In their interviews, FBI agents are asking questions about events going back to at least early June, the sources said. That indicates investigators are examining not just who passed the information to Novak and other reporters but also how Plame's name may have first become linked with Wilson and his mission, who did it and how the information made its way around the government.

Administration sources said they believe that the officials who discussed Plame were not trying to expose her, but were using the information as a tool to try to persuade reporters to ignore Wilson. The officials wanted to convince the reporters that he had benefited from nepotism in being chosen for the mission.

What started as political gossip and damage control has become a major criminal investigation that has already harmed the administration and could be a problem for President Bush for months to come.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13696-2003Oct11.html

Holy cripes, where do I begin?? What hypocrites!

That was Robert Novak's stupid interpretation of what Scooter told him (there's a good link somewhere around here that analyzes all of this). But, basically, Libby told Novak that Plame was Wilson's wife and that she worked (undercover or otherwise) for the CIA because they wanted to portray WILSON as a partisan Democrat who actually asked his wife to get him sent to Africa by the CIA. They were trying to discredit Wilson as just playing politics.
Novak didn't understand what Libby told him though LOL. What a clown.

expenses.

Wish we could the Bush nepotism so cheap.

Keep this story alive. If the Washington Post is firing back up with updates in its Sunday edition, you can bet everybody inside the Beltway is at least (painfully) aware of it. SOOOOOOOOOOO..... in the immortal words of KKKarl Rove, this story is "fair game." "Fair game" for calling your reps and raising hell and demanding a SPECIAL PROSECUTOR.

Guys, it's all about turning up the heat. The rethugs are resisting like crazy. But if the heat turns up high enough, furthered by more stories and more coverage and more questions and more revelations and us, too, pitching in with our calls and general aggitations, they'll be forced to act. Eventually there's enough that's gonna smell bad enough that an important few rethugs will start to cave - the moderate ones who occasionally show evidence of having a conscience. When they go, we'll have critical mass to get something moving. Remember: Nixon was brought down when even his own party could no longer stand behind him. Enough of them started reading and comprehending the writing on the wall. Same dynamics in play here. Even John Dean, who ought to know, in his latest findlaw.com essay, says this is sounding just like the Nixon Administration to him now. And if anybody should know, it's him.

We just have to keep pushing. We just have to keep our hands on the turn-up-the-heat knob. It only takes one little bitty straw to reach critical mass on top of an overloaded camel...

on edit -

If anything, this ought to reassure those who fear the story is going away or getting buried. If the Sunday Washington Post did NOT have something on "Traitorgate," THEN I'd worry.

other Democratic congresspeople.

Demand an independent counsel.

Ashcroft will not prosecute this.

All material sent to DOJ was screened by White House lawyers!!! That makes me fucking SICK!

the Washington Post is going to stay on it and I think they have some more goodies to unfold as time goes on.

Are Pincus or Allen outing themselves here? "On July 12, two days before Novak's column, a Post reporter was told..." Maybe *that's* why Pincus wasn't on this so heavy yet.

They already have Mitchell (I'm glad there's a "Mitchell" in this story) and Novak- then there's Matthews, who fingered Rove after the fact- BTW, why wouldn't it be illegal to continue to try to spead around the use of the leak?

And Wilson is just WONDERFUL! He called folks up to tell Condi "she was wrong" about the "bowells" remark! hee hee. What a guy. Sigh.

(snip)
That same week, two top White House officials disclosed Plame's identity to least six Washington journalists, an administration official told The Post for an article published Sept. 28. The source elaborated on the conversations last week, saying that officials brought up Plame as part of their broader case against Wilson.

"It was unsolicited," the source said. "They were pushing back. They used everything they had."
(/snip)

Not would I agree that they are, practically, outing themselves - I find it fascinating that their leaker who was leaking about the leaker continues to leak (if you follow).

There is still someone in the WH that, even at this point in the game - and all the pressure to SHUT THE HELL UP - is willing to push this story. I seriously doubt that person is going to rest on this issue - especially after John Dean started spewing about federal conspiracy statutes.

If Bush had come forward - and cut off the finger - he could have saved the hand... he's up to the elbow now. If he doesn't act fast this really could cost him everything - and boy oh boy am i luvin it.

that someone on the "inside" could continue to SLEEP, having that knowledge? I'm glad they're still talking to the Post but they need to grow a name. "Administration official" could be State. Maybe there is hope.

Nothing at all. They're sociopaths, completely without conscience -- and possibly, without soul.

Eloriel

wheeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'didn't intend' They really intended to intimidate Wilson and any others who may dissent. I don't think this will satisfy the CIA agents who are angry about the whole affair.

soon after the story broke, there have been NO polls reported since. If I remember correctly, the media was polling on Clinton weekly. I suspect the polling is going on, it is just that the results are BAD for BUSH.

Some possible talking points:

1) Nepotism often carries with it the charge of incompetence. The administration should name somebody who was more qualified than Joseph Wilson to investigate the claims being made, and publish that person's credentials. Or, at the very least, they should show why Wilson was not qualified. To date, they have done nothing of the sort. Not only was Wilson eminently qualified to engage in the investigation into the Niger uranium claims, given his relationship with parties in the Nigerois government, he may have even been the most qualified and connected person we have.

We know that Plame did not suggest Wilson for the investigation, but rather that people at the CIA asked her to act as a go-between. Wilson has stated this case on Nightline and other venues and has yet to be rebuked or rebutted on those points, despite a contuniuing White House smear campaign. However, even if she had suggested his name (which she did not), it would - even in that extreme case - be difficult to charge nepotism, since he IS EXTREMELY QUALIFIED, and perhaps the MOST QUALIFIED. It is an absurd charge, and does not stand up to even minimal scrutiny.

2) Wilson claims, and his claims are corroborated, that the Bush Administration appointed ambassador to Niger, Gail Dennise Mathieu, was somewhat surprised at his visit, since her own inquiries had already disproved the Niger-Iraq uranium link. Is she too a product of nepotism? No? Then the conclusions reached by both the Bush Administration appointed ambassador - on the ground in Niamey, Niger, mind you - and ambassador Joseph Wilson are CORRECT IN THEIR CONCLUSIONS? If Wilson's conclusions are correct, then what would nepotism have to do with anything. Even if he got the position through nepotism, they dare not and will not charge him with incompetence, which is the only time nepotism is a problem anyway.

These talking points are, in my experience anyway, fairly effective. The administration arguments of nepotiosm are without any content whatsoever. they play on the negative connotation of "nepotism" without accounting for why the word has a negative connation: it is related foremost with incompetence. they cannot argue that Wilson is incompetent, in either his qualifiactions prior to the Niger trip, or his conclusions from that trip, so they try to sneak the charge through the backdoor by implication, suggestion, connotation, etc. Don't let them do it.

:)

snip
On June 12, The Post published a more complete account than Kristof's of Wilson's trip. Wilson has now given permission to The Post to identify him as one source for that article.
snip

Ah, how nice that 'one source' implies at least another. Could this be journalists at work?


snip
On July 12, two days before Novak's column, a Post reporter was told by an administration official that the White House had not paid attention to the former ambassador's CIA-sponsored trip to Niger...
snip

Is Bob Woodward still considered 'a Post reporter'? Or was he left out of the Gang-of-Six?

Beautiful.

Is that what this is? I keep seeing it on the crawler and on the banner behind the anchorman. The thing I can't figure out is why a CIA leak is such a big deal? Why do they keep showing the pResident when they toalk about it? Oh that must be because he's gonna get out his six shooters and start grilling some folks to 'get down to the bottom' of whichever CIA folks are responsible for this leak! Good for the President. I can't believe that dumb old CIA jeopordized our national security AGAIN! I swear, after all them screwups that led to 9/11, and Tenet failing to tell Jr. about the Niger Uranium story being untrue, so that he would look bad to everyone!?! I don't see why they don't just FIRE that damn Clinton-lover George Tenet?!?

Seriously, though, I am getting SOOO pissed the way the networks are all refering to this as a "CIA" leak whenever they show it in writing, like on the crawler. Most people in the USA don't konw squat about this story, I hate to say it. Hopefully it gets some traction before it drops off the radar. You know that Ashcroft is going to keep it as 'low-profile' as he possibly can, and there will likely not be any indictments handed down. There is a serious danger that NOTHING will come of this if the media doesn't get the feeling that people are interested. At this point, I've talked to more people that know NOTHING about this story than know even a modicum about it. NObody oustide of DU has told me that they've heard the 'retribution' angle presented by the media stories on the leak. Pretty sad. It's really up to folks like us to get this story out there and into the public consciousness. We're not going to get much help from anybody, IMHO.

a convenient terror event of biblical proportions, while bush is in an elementary school reading a book about a horse (he already read the one about the goat), and cheney is still "in an undisclosed location." and of course, once again, the jets will not scramble and the president's men will scream will "runaway! runaway! runaway!" as underpaid emergency workers with improper equipment and never expecting to handle something so terrible will be maimed and die by the hundreds and thousands so the cartel's machinery can continue to grind away at the treasury, emptying it once and for all and dumping the last fragments of power and control of our country into the hands of multi-national corporations headed by his "buddies."

but that's cynical, and irrational, isn't it. naw, that could never happen... this is America, the free! the beautiful! Ameribushco.

Karma karma Karma!!!

...and this corroborates Pat Buchanan's info that the NSC was involved.

"The FBI is trying to determine when White House officials and members of the vice president's staff first focused on Wilson and learned about his wife's employment at the agency. One group that may have known of the connection before that time is the handful of CIA officers detailed to the White House, where they work primarily on the National Security Council staff. A former NSC staff member said one or more of those officers may have been aware of the Plame-Wilson relationship."

I think this is a key. It explains how anyone in the political realm of the WH learned Plame's identity.

I'd say Dr. Robert Joseph, still NSC, is the vector

.:)

patriotic American is he? These agents should be defending America against terrorism! So we waste our FBI manpower and let the terrorists plan while Novak and his Bush aids hide the truth and let our country be vulnerable to terrorism.

Any Media Whores reporting on this?

Is the total equal to the number who were assigned to Bill Clinton's pants yet? If not, why is treason not tantamount to a blowjob?

:evilgrin:
dbt

American reporter ask this question?

At first 6 were assigned, then it was increased.

I thought there were more than 20 on "Travelgate." Does this tell us something?

They are trying to make it seem as if it was common knowledge that she was an agent, so the charges would not be criminal.Just a boo-boo, doncha know.That's why they are starting so far back. Do you see A$$barn's fine hand here?

When you hear the espionage apologists use the "common knowledge" argument, you need to realize that they are only arguing that it was "common knowledge" that Valerie Plame was Wilson's wife. They are not arguing that it was "common knowledge" that Plame was an operative.

YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE EXACT WORDS.

IT'S A WORD GAME AND THE STAKES ARE VERY HIGH.

Then her usefulness would cease to be of value.

Common knowledge to whom that she was with the CIA? Cheney? Rice? Powell? Rove? Fleischer? Bush the Idiot? Bush the former CIA director?

Sure it would be common knowledge to them. But not to those outside the arena that the CIA personnel would have contact to communicate info to the White House and others on Congressional committees.

but it is too bad it is not an independent investigation.

• The Justice Department began the investigation Sept. 26 but did not ask the White House to order employees to preserve relevant evidence until Sept. 29.

• Gonzales did not order employees to preserve their records until the next day, when the investigation was announced.

• The Justice Department did not ask the Pentagon and State Department to preserve possible evidence until late on Oct. 1, after news reports that such a request was coming.

• White House press secretary Scott McClellan has said he determined that three senior officials who were the subject of speculation in news accounts were not involved in leaking classified information. The senators wrote: "Clearly, a media spokesperson does not have the legal expertise to be questioning possible suspects or evaluating or reaching conclusions about the legality of their conduct."

• Ashcroft remains responsible for the probe despite his close political and personal relationships with Bush and his top aides.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6063-2003Oct9.html

Something for Daschle to add to his list of questions:

- Are Dick Cheney's non-White House offices and staff under any evidence orders or requests?

- Since Dick Cheney is the first guy Robert Novak would have contacted, wouldn't it be logical to start the investigation at the most likely source of the leak?

See more here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=521232

Bye Dick