Buzzflash Interview: David Corn, the reporter who broke treason-gate story

David Corn, Washington Editor for "The Nation," is a well-known, respected journalist among liberals and his peers. But, in the short-memory span of the eight-hour news cycles, even fellow journalists forget who broke a story. Well, BuzzFlash remembers, because our jaw dropped when we read Corn's July column on "Treasongate" (our term, not Corn's).

It was one of those "why isn't this a front page story around the country" moments when we learned about how two senior administration officials had committed treason by outing a CIA operative specializing in Weapons of Mass Destruction. The column also included quotations from the White House water boy, Robert Novak, who was flippant about his role in the betrayal of our national security.

David has eyes for Bush lies, deceptions and betrayals. He just published "The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception" , and has a website on Bush lies .

This week, we returned to Corn to get his updated perspective on "Treasongate." After all, he beat every media outlet in the nation to the scandal -- and figured out the significance of what was in plain site in Novak's July column: members of the Bush Cartel had betrayed the national security of the United States.

more...

http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/03/10/03_corn.html

the "Spin Room" ..he was filling in for Bill Press!

Way to Go ...Props to David Corn! :kick:

I admire him strictly for his intelligence and reporting skills. ;-)

I thought this part was interesting:

In cases like this the CIA makes the first call. It determines whether there was a possible violation and whether there is a reason to pursue a legal case. There is an 11-point checklist that it runs through in making such a determination. If a threshold is met, then it asks DOJ to investigate. Next, it is up to Justice to decide if an investigation should be launched. The significance, then, of the CIA's request is that it indicates that the Agency believed this leak was a serious matter and did cause harm.

It means that Valerie Plame was likely not -- as some GOP'ers have insinuated -- merely a secretary or an analyst who really didn't need cover. Also, this was, as I have written, the equivalent of the CIA declaring bureaucratic nuclear war on the White House. CIA chief George Tenet could not have allowed this to happen lightly.

edit: forgot paragraph