Plame calls it Treason

From Raw Story

Disclosure of her covert identity for political purposes was nothing short of "treason," outed former CIA agent Valerie Plame told Hardball host Chris Matthews Thursday on MSNBC.

Plame, whose classified status as an undercover agent was exposed in 2003, said she couldn't possibly have known that a New York Times column disputing White House rationale for war -- penned by her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson -- would prompt what she views as a vicious attempt by the White House to ruin her career.

"When your husband filed that story," Matthews said, "he must have known, didn't he, that he was gonna light a match that was going to lead all the way to you?"

Plame responded that her outing was not only unexpected, it was also treasonous.

"You cannot possibly be suggesting that with Joe's credentials, my airtight cover, that we actually anticipated that senior government officials would commit treason by blowing my covert identity," she said.

Matthews asked Plame how, if she believed the Bush administration had covered up a "false case for war," that she didn't also anticipate that the White House would strike back at her personally.

"Call me naive," she said, "but that wasn't on our list of options...we didn't actually consider they would betray our country's national security to get at me."

Olbermann interviews Valerie Plame Wilson

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Bill Kristol v Juan William in a knock down drag out over Libby

Bill Kristol vs Juan Williams over Libby Commute

LIbby was communted to Pacify Cheney

In a new Newsweek article by Michael Isikoff, the issue of the real source for Bush's communtation of Scooter Libby's 30 months sentence just may have been revealed.

The president was conflicted. He hated the idea that a loyal aide would serve time. Hanging over his deliberations was Cheney, who had said he was "very disappointed" with the jury's verdict. Cheney did not directly weigh in with Fielding, but nobody involved had any doubt where he stood. "I'm not sure Bush had a choice," says one of the advisers. "If he didn't act, it would have caused a fracture with the vice president."

Ah, it's so clear now. If Bush didn't do something to help Libby the passive-aggressive head of Forthbranch would have brooded and pouted for the next 18 months, and if any of you have ever had a taciturn spouse you know that can be a living hell.

As was shown by the four part Washington Post series on Cheney, he manages to get his way within the Bush Whitehouse most of the time, but he doesn't do it by shouting and being loud. He does it by being quiet.

Cheney has changed history more than once, earning his reputation as the nation's most powerful vice president. His impact has been on public display in the arenas of foreign policy and homeland security, and in a long-running battle to broaden presidential authority. But he has also been the unseen hand behind some of the president's major domestic initiatives.

Could you imagine the scene if Bush had been ready to let Libby swing? I can see it now...

B: "What's wrong honey?"

C: Sigh! Grumble

B: "Can I get you some curly fries - they're delicious?"

C: Eyes roll - more grumbling - some cursing and mumbling under his breath between penguin quacks

B: "Is it the Libby Appeal thingee?"

C: Big Sigh!

B: "I'm sorry but there was nothing I could do. The jury decided, the judge was well within the manditory minimum sentencing guidelines that we've been pushing through the DOJ for years, the appeals court found there was not even a close call as ground to delay his reporting to prison."

C: Exasperated Snort

B: "Fine! FINE!" Gets out of bed in a huff. Stomps to the Big Red Prez-Phone with the Presidential Seal where the dailing buttons should be. (Picks it up, triggering a special Presidential March Ring-Tone at the other end) "Get me Fielding. We have simply got to do something about Scooter" Waits approximately 4.57 seconds. "Fred? What's that you say? Maybe if we commute instead of pardon, we might avoid some of the heat that Billy-Boy took over Marc Rich? In fact, we can use it as yet another example of how we're better than those Liberal Scum! Great Idea Fred, Get right on that and have it ready for my signature by close of business today." Turns back to his (running) mate.

"See, isn't that better?"

C: Wan smile.

Let all just ignore the fact that Scooter Libby was Marc Rich's Lawyer and that Rich was originally indicted by - wait for it - Rudy Giuliani, who now of course thinks that commuting Libby's sentence was "reasonable" but used to think the pardoning Rich was "a travesty."

Yeah, right. sure. Okey dokey.

Anyway I'm just positive that the President was just absolutely sick that one of his top aides was facing jail time. By the way, what's he done for his former domestic policy adviser Claude Allen lately?

Allen was detained on January 2, 2006, after one alleged theft, then arrested on March 9, 2006, for a series of similar alleged thefts in Montgomery County, Maryland. According to police, Allen committed refund theft, a form of criminal activity where goods are fraudulently returned in stores for cash.

Y'see Allen had apparently been shoplifting from Target. TARGET! Then returning the items for cash. I guess he just had some shit he really needed to buy, eh?

By all accounts Allen's behavior was bizarre given that his annual salary as an advisor was $160,000. He pleaded guilty to theft on August 4, 2006. He shed tears during his sentencing hearing and apologized to his wife, family, and friends. Noting that Allen had been publicly humiliated by his arrest, and that he accepted responsibility for the crimes without trying to make excuses, the judge sentenced him to 18 months of "probation before judgment", which means that his record will be expunged if he completes his probation successfully.

Well then, I guess the judge already took care of that issue by going straight to probation followed by automatic expungment since Claude cried in court like a big neo-con baby. Problem solved. Good thing he wasn't a Millionaire Heiress, or that would've backfired big time.

And Bush's comments on the matter were so clearly heartfelt.

"If the allegations are true, Claude Allen did not tell my Chief of Staff and legal counsel the truth, and that's deeply disappointing.

Yeah, it's so dissapointing because if he'd told your chief as staff and White House Counsel he was a freaking klepto - you'd do what exactly? Send him to Promises Re-hab Center to hang out with Lindsey Lohan?

If the allegations are true, something went wrong in Claude Allen's life, and that is really sad. When I heard the story last night I was shocked. And my first reaction was one of disappointment, deep disappointment that — if it's true — that we were not fully informed. But it was also one — shortly thereafter, I felt really sad for the Allen family.

Um, yeah - ok.

And what about former White House procurement head David Safavian? Y'know, the Iranian guy they used to play racketball with at the club after a hard day toiling with Cheney in the Bunker - David Hossein Safavian!.

On November 4th, 2003, President George W. Bush announced Safavian's nomination to be the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President.[5], where he set purchasing policy for the entire government.[6]

David Safavian was indicted October 5, 2005. He was accused of making false statements and obstructing investigations into his dealings with Jack Abramoff while he was chief of staff for the General Services Administration. His trial started May 25, 2006. Guilty verdicts on four of five felony counts of lying and obstruction were returned June 20

On June 20, 2006, Safavian was found guilty by a jury in federal court on four of five felony charges. He was found guilty of lying to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, lying to a GSA ethics official, lying to the GSA's Office of Inspector General, and obstructing the work of the GSA inspector general. Safavian was cleared of obstructing the committee's investigation.[9]

On July 13, 2006, Safavian asked for a new trial on the grounds that the emails used in the trial constituted hearsay. Justice Department officials have until July 31 to respond to the motions. A hearing was planned for August 24, 2006.[10]

On October 27, 2006, U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman sentenced Safavian to 18 months in prison

I wonder if Hossein Osama Safavian has picked out a tailored orange jumpsuit already, or is he just going to go off the rack?.

So Safavian got 18 months for perjury, while Claude Allen gets probation for theft (unless he gets itchy for some towels with a bunch of ugly red circles on them) and Libby gets effectively nothing for aiding and abetting TREASON since you can't serve probation in the federal system without going to jail first, and his fine is already paid for thanks to TFucker Carlson's Dad.

Unfortunately the Prez's little King Soloman Act with Libby has managed to split the baby in two - and neither side seems to be doing that all that well as both Democrats and Republicans are now calling for Patrick Fitzgerald to appear on the Hill.

Sen. Arlen (Single Bullet Theory) Specter wants to grill Fitzgerald over...

"Why were they pursuing the matter long after there was no underlying crime on the outing of the CIA agent?"

I'm just guessing, but maybe it was because The CIA ASKED THEM too?

And also...

"Why were they pursuing it after we knew who the leaker was?"

Y'mean Richard Armitage? Well, it's true that Armitage was the first person to speak with Robert Novak and reveal that "Wilson's Wife was at CIA", something that was later confirmed to Novak by Karl Rove, but that completely ignores the fact that the by the time Novak spoke with Armitage on July 10th, Libby and Judith Miller had already spoken twice and discussed the employment of Wilson's Wife. The fact is that Libby leaked first, all the way back on June 23, 2002 long before the Russert or the Novak/Armitage conversations ever took place. The only reason Novak published before Miller is the fact that the New York Times refused to go with the story.

Good thing they had a backup plan for getting their bogus story of how Wilson was sent by his Wife to Niger as if she was asking him to take out the garbage - isn't it?

V:"Oh Honey, could you take care of this little Yellowcake issue for me?"

J:"Sure, sweetie - I've got my sun block, plane tickets and bags all packed for Niger. I'll be back in a snap."

V:"Thanks, hon!"

Let's not muddy up the works with facts like the point that Valerie didn't even invite Joe to come to CIA headquaters, let alone Niger. All of that came from other people at CIA who were simply impressed with Joe's credentials. Funny how being immensely qualified has that effect on some people.

Oh and btw, Libby's story that he only heard about "Wilson's Wife" from Tim Russert is contridicted by the 8 other people he spoke to about her including Ari Fliescher and the Vice President.

Speaking of the VEEP, Patrick Leahy has some question for Fitz about him and those secret inverviews with him and the President over the Libby matter. But he's not really expecting that he'll be able to get a crack directly at Scooter himself...

It would do no good to call Scooter Libby. His silence has been bought and paid for," Leahy said, referring to Bush’s commutation, "and he would just take the fifth."

Oh well, outmaneauvered again by those sneaky White House bastiges. It's almost as bad as losing another one to Ditech isn't it?

(Shaking first in the general direction of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave)

Curse You Cheney - curse you all the Hell!

Just wait, we'll get you Impeached yet - and you're little dog Bushie too.

Vyan

Consequences of LIbby Commute: A Free For All!

According to the New York Times the defense team for a suspected Hamas Operative filed a motion arguing that he should get - The Libby Treatment

And he's not the only one.

The New York times reported yesterday that Scooter Libby’s commutation has been a "gift" for defense attorneys, with many using the so-called "Libby motion" to argue, "My client should have got what Libby got, and here’s why." Subsequently, judges may have "reason to lighten sentences and undermining the goal of a more uniform justice system."

Y'know I hate to say "I Don't Told You So!"

Ok, that's a lie - NO I DON'T.

Just as I predicted 2 months ago concerning the consequences of the DOJ purge, defense attorneys are now using the probability that their clients were targeted for partisan reasons as justification for either tossing the cases or lighter sentences.

As noted by the LA Times.

Defense lawyers in a growing number of cases are raising questions about the motives of government lawyers who have brought charges against their clients. In court papers, they are citing the furor over the U.S. attorney dismissals as evidence that their cases may have been infected by politics.

Justice officials say those concerns are unfounded and constitute desperate measures by desperate defendants. But the affair has given defendants and their lawyers some new energy, which is complicating life for the prosecutors.

And we should certainly believe everything the Justice Department has to say about it, right?

Now in addition to that problem, and previous claims by defense attorneys that illegal evidence may have been used against them via NSA wiretaps, we have The Libby Treatment defense, but that hasn't phased the White House. Nope, not even a little bit.

In a USA Today Op-ed written by Snow Job himself, our erstwhile Press Secretary says that what the President did the other day - besides the fact that he's almost never done it before - was completely normal.

[Bush] believes it is important to respect the jury’s work. ... So the president left intact the felony convictions and two of the major punishments — the fine and probation.

President Bush commuted part of Lewis Libby's sentence because he considered a 30-month stretch in prison too severe. Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury; was fined $250,000; must serve two years probation; and will likely lose his license to practice law. That qualifies as a stern penalty for a first-time offender with a long history of public service.

Isn't it interesting that the Press Secretary has decided that he needs to temporarily return to being a member of the dreaded media by submitting an Oped on this issue? What's the matter Tony, weren't you able to catapult the propaganda sufficiently from behind the pulpit?

Of course he says nothing about Judge Reggie Walton's order which indicates the that probation is entirely moot, since Federal guidelines require that a defendant serve time before they can be placed on "supervised release."

Once you leave the psycho fantasy world of the Snowblind, things get a wee bit more interesting.

From the New York Sun.

[An] alleged Hamas operative is likely to be among the first criminal defendents to try to capitalize on President Bush’s commutation.” Mohammad Salah is scheduled to be sentenced next week on obstruction of justice charges, with a 22 year maximum sentence. “What the president said about Mr. Libby applies in spades to the case of Mohammed Salah,” said defense attorney Michael Deutsch.

"When Mr. Bush commuted that prison sentence on Monday, he made particular note of the alleged unfairness in how Libby’s sentence was calculated. “Critics say the punishment does not fit the crime: Mr. Libby was a first-time offender with years of exceptional public service and was handed a harsh sentence based in part on allegations never presented to the jury,” the president wrote."

“It applies to an even greater extent in Mr. Salah’s case,” Mr. Deutsch said. “In our case, these allegations were presented to a jury and he was acquitted.”

Rather than lying to the FBI and a Grand Jury, Salah was convicted of lies not related to his criminal case, but instead of statements made on the stand during his defense against civil prosecution by families of victims of a deadly Hamas sponsored-bombing. So the associates of suicide bombers are now claiming they should recieve clemency based on the exact same arguements made by the President to save Libby from prison?

I wonder what Tony Snow might say to that? You think he might try spin this into an "Clinton did it too" arguement? Nah, he would never.

Think again.

The Constitution gives the president the power to grant clemency in a wide range of cases, at his discretion, with no restrictions. In the final hours of the Clinton administration, this unfettered authority was embodied in a mad rush to push through pardons with dizzying haste — 141 grants on Clinton's final day in office, part of 211 in the final nine weeks.

In contrast, no president in recent history has made more careful use of the pardoning power than George W. Bush: The president believes pardons and commutations should reflect a genuine determination to strengthen the rule of law and increase public faith in government.

.

See, Bush was just restoring faith and the "(d)rule of law" to government after that rotten Clinton guy messed everything up. Nothing to worry about.

Except possibly for the fact that ...

Susan James, defense attorney for former Governor Don Siegelman (R D-AL), who was convicted of corruption and obstruction of justice charges, plans to argue for the “Libby treatment” for Siegelman. “[Bush] has basically come in and said the sentence is too harsh,” James said. “I’ll find some way to weave that into our argument,” James said.

Isn't this when Scooby Doo usually goes "Ruh Roh"?

More from TPM Muckraker.

Siegelman was convicted on corruption charges stemming from appointing a healthcare CEO, Robert Scrushy, to a public board. Like Libby, he was also convicted of obstruction of justice charges, which were related to a $9,000 motorcycle transaction. But unlike Libby, who was give six to eight weeks to report to jail, Siegelman was taken into custody immediately after the judge announced his sentence. Before the commutation announcement this evening, Siegelman's lawyers had argued that he should have been allowed to remain free while awaiting his appeal.

"He doesn't want to be treated like Paris Hilton, but he does want to be treated fairly like Scooter Libby," said another one of Siegelman's lawyers, Vince Kilborn.

Isn't that great, everybody wants to get Scooter-fied.

Yep, That's a Heckuvajob you did there Bushie. Way to "Protect the Homeland" and "Fight Terrorism". Oh yeah, and that Faith in Government and Rule of Law thingee should be arriving on the South Lawn any minute now - like a flaming bag full of crap on Halloween.

It Burns - It BURNS!

And it stinks too.

Update: One thing about that should be pointed out with Fred "Flaw and Disorder" Thompson, Rudy Giuliani (who hasn't met a brutal cop he doesn't love) and Mitt Romney (who as Massachusetts governor refused to pardon an Iraq war veteran’s BB-gun conviction) all of whom have openly and enthusiastically supported the President's action regarding Libby - does this mean that any or all of them would be willing to make changes to various Manditory Minimum Sentencing Guidelines to allow more judicial flexibility in the light of "extenuating circumstances?"

Somehow, I think not.

Vyan

Far Worse then just a Pardon

On the fourth anniversary of "Bring 'em On" and just hours after an highly unfavorable ruling by the appeals court which would have sent Irvin Lewis "Scooter" Libby to prison in just six weeks, George Walker Bush , the 43rd Resident of the White House, communted his sentence and completely obliterated all 30 months of jail time he would have served for perjury and obstruction of justice in a case that was tantamount to Treason During Wartime.

But that's not the worst part...

The public and the editorial pages across the nation are enraged.

The New York Times.

Presidents have the power to grant clemency and pardons. But in this case, Mr. Bush did not sound like a leader making tough decisions about justice. He sounded like a man worried about what a former loyalist might say when actually staring into a prison cell.

The Washington Post

We agree that a pardon would have been inappropriate and that the prison sentence of 30 months was excessive. But reducing the sentence to no prison time at all, as Mr. Bush did — to probation and a large fine — is not defensible.

Chicago Tribune:

But in nixing the prison term, Bush sent a terrible message to citizens and to government officials who are expected to serve the public with integrity. The way for a president to discourage the breaking of federal laws is by letting fairly rendered consequences play out, however uncomfortably for everyone involved.

Dallas Morning News:

Nearly a decade ago, a GOP-led House impeached President Bill Clinton for lying under oath and obstructing justice in a civil deposition. Yesterday, a Republican president commuted the sentence of former top White House staffer Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who was convicted of the same thing in a criminal investigation. Republicans are known for being tough on crime. Apparently there’s an exception when the criminal is a member of President Bush’s inner circle.

San Francisco Chronicle:

In commuting the sentence of former White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby, President Bush sent the message that perjury and obstruction of justice in the service of the president of the United States are not serious crimes.

And there's more on Thinkprogress.

We now know that Bush, as opposed to normal practice and procedures did not consult with the DOJ or the prosecutor prior to his decision. Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald was not silent on the matter.

It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals. That principle guided the judge during both the trial and the sentencing.

Unfortunately that principle doesn't guide George W. Bush, who has quite possibly never before commuted a sentence of someone who has not even served a single day of jail time, not to mention the other normal requirements such as having exhausted all appeals, and having shown "remorse" for your actions.

Libby fits none of these.

We all know that justice is more equal for some than others, but isn't it amazing that not even Judith Miller or Paris Hilton weren't able to receive the "justice" afforded to Scooter Libby?

It's even possible that this action by Bush just might have push him past the tipping point eroding away the last vestiges of his public support in the same manner that the Saturday Night Massacre essentially doomed Nixon.

But then again there's Fred Thompson, who in 1998 voted to convict and remove Bill Clinton, but now sits as a member of the Scooter Libby Defense Fund.

I am very happy for Scooter Libby. I know that this is a great relief to him, his wife and children.

While for a long time I have urged a pardon for Scooter, I respect the president’s decision.

This will allow a good American, who has done a lot for his country, to resume his life.

"A Good American" you say?

Yes, certainly let him "resume his life" because it's not like Joe Wilson who risked his life to save other Americans in Iraq as the first Gulf War started is a "Good American", and it's not like Valerie Plame-Wilson who'se career as a covert CIA operative tracking weapons of mass destruction is a "Good American" or that hundreds of other agents and assets at Brewster-Jennings who were compromised by Libby's actions were "Good Americans" -- they're just F-ing HEROES is all.

But Fredrick isn't the worst thing - just listen to what Novakula has to say.

“Bush is blamed by friends of Libby for losing control of the Plame investigation by putting it in the hands of a special prosecutor — the U.S. attorney in Chicago, Patrick Fitzgerald. In his decision sparing Libby jail time, Bush did not say a word of criticism about Fitzgerald.”

Yeah, right... Bush should've fired Ashcroft (like Archibald Cox) for even suggesting a Special Counsel was needed. This is how they view things in the psychosis laden "no underlying crime" world of Toensing and fTucker. There was "no crime", Plame wasn't "covert" even though Judge Walton said she was, Patrick Fitzgerald said she was, and both General Hayden and Valerie herself said she was a covert operative and covered by the IIPA while under oath before Congress.

Since these guys consider fantasy to be me more valid than fact maybe someone should point out to them that even in the first episode of Alias (the only show on TV that's ever had every one of it's episodes approved by the CIA) Sydney Bristow walked right through the front doors at Langley. Even on ABC/GOP/TV, they know that CIA agents don't avoid Langley like it's the plague.

What could be worse is what Kagro X posits, that Bush could continue to use this strategy to void all possible threats and looming prosecutions against his key advisors such as Alberto Gonzales (who is currently at risk for Perjury over the NSA Wiretaps, as well s Obstruction and Witness Tampering with Monica Goodling) or Condoleeza Rice, Harriet Myers and Sara Taylor (who are at risk for Contempt of Congress for refusing to respond to congressional subpoenas).

But I don't think that's the worst - I think, as was discussed on Rachel Maddow last night, that the reason Libby wasn't pardoned outright was to further protect the Bush Administration from scrutiny. Y'see, if Libby had been pardoned he would no longer be able to evoke his fifth amendment priviledge against self-incrimination. He's already been incriminated.

All leverage that Fitzgerald might have had to find out what really went on in this case and what's really hidden in those big Mosberg Safes, such as a reduction in sentence in exchange for a proffer against the Veep (aka Fourthbranch) has been foreclosed.

Even though the House Judiciary Committe is already planning to look into the circumstances of his commutation with hearings, this move just might be Check and Mate for Shooter in his ongoing battle against the Rule of Law.

We're seriously looking at a situation where the President and Vice President could effectively evade any and all accountability for a failed policy that left us wide-open and vulnerable on 9-11 and has led us into an unneccesary, obscenely costly and pointless Civil War in Iraq.

At this point there's only one move left for Congress to make and hold this Administration Accountable.

Impeachment.

The only question is, without the ability to make subpoenas or Contempt of Congress Stick, or the ability to get a Special Prosecutor to look into the NSA Wiretaping and/or the DOJ Purge and produce hard incontrivertable evidence (as the Nixon tapes did so long ago) - how will Congress actually get the smoking gun that they still need (yes, I know many disagree that this is needed, but IMO and likely the opinion of both Nancy Pelosi and John Conyers it is) to bring formal Impeachment charges against Cheney or Bush directly?

Cheney being a Dick and jerking around the White House Staff is annoying, but as long as Bush lets him - not a crime. Bush commuting of even pardoning Libby is not a crime. Bush firing US Attorney's is not a crime. But there clearly have been crimes committed (War Crimes, Torture, Election Fraud) and the trick is how do you catch a major criminal mastermind (Cheney) in the act when he's running the government?

Vyan


P.S. Judge Walton's response to the commutation indicates that it is self-contradictory. Someone can not serve probation without first serving jail-time under federal guidelines, and LithiumCola points out that the judges encouragement to legal counsel to gain "clarification" from the White House on the meaning of Libby's non-status status just might unveil The Wizard of Cheney hard at work manipulating the levers behind the curtain.

Olbermann on the LIbby Commutation

George W. Bush get's Worse Person Dis-honors.




Interview with Amb Wilson on Libby.

"Bush Administration is corrupt from top to bottom."



David Shuster on the Libby Commutation.

Cheney's Office Scoffs at National Security Rules - Literally

I really shouldn't be surprised by now - I'm mean honestly. - but this latest revelation coming out of Henry Waxman's commitee that Vice President Dick Cheney has quite literally refused to abide by a Presidential Executive Order regarding the handling of sensitive National Security Information is truly stunning.

And what's really amazing is the reasoning they've provided. Ya see, it's simply the fact that the Vice President's Office - Isn't Part of the Executive Branch - and hence isn't subject to such Executive Orders from the guy down the hall - y'know what's his name - the non-Vice dude.

Say What!?!

This particular claim - that the OVP isn't part of the executive - actually isn't a surpise, because I've heard of Cheney making it before. The theory goes that since the Vice President is also a voting member of The Senate - literally it's President - he exists in the unique position of being in two branches of government at the same time.

So it would naturally follow that he isn't beholden to the rules of either branch then right?

Yeah, ok - sure. That makes perfect sense On The Bizarro Planet!

Regardless of the excuses, what does this mean in practical terms? Well, here's what Paris Hilton's Congressman, Mr. Waxman has to say about it.

Executive Order 12958, "Classified National Security Information," was first issued by President Clinton in 1995. President Bush amended the executive order in March 2003. As amended by President Bush, the executive order prescribes a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information.

The executive order gives important responsibilities to the Information Security Oversight Office within the National Archives. This office was created in 1978 by Executive Order 12065, "National Security Information," issued by President Carter. Under the Bush executive order, the National Archives, acting through the Information Security Oversight Office, is directed to ensure agency compliance with classified information safeguards by issuing directives to agencies; developing and monitoring security education programs; receiving and responding to reports of security violations; and acting on complaints about the program’s implementation. In addition, the executive order and its implementing directive require executive branch agencies to provide data to the Archives about their classification and declassification activities, which the Archives then compiles to produce annual reports for the President.

The point here is that there are proceedures for classifying and declassifying data. From my own experience working a dozen years for a defense contractor in a classified environment with a Top Secret Clearance with Special Access - I know first hand that violating these procedures can send you on a one-way trip to Leavenworth for Life, because that's exactly what happened to a former co-worker of mine at Northrop named Cavanaugh. He got two - count 'em - TWO Life Sentences. Period. End of story. Bye bye.

Shorter version of Waxman from Thinkprogress.

– Since 2003, Cheney’s office has failed to provide data on its classification and declassification activities as required by Executive Order 12958, which President Bush has amended and endorsed.

– In 2004, Cheney’s office specifically intervened to block an on-site inspection by the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), which is a requirement of the executive order.

The amendment that Bush issued to the executive order - which was done right as the Iraq War began - was to grant the Vice President the authority to classify and declassify national security information in the exact same manner used by the President himself. Hm, ironic no?

The ISOO is essentially the watchdog, their job is to ensure that the system for classifying and declassifying isn't abused.

I mean, it's not like the President would ever use over classification to hide vital information from the public and the congress such as the fact that the Aluminum Tubes story most likely bogus (According to both the State and Energy Depts in the 2002 Iraq NIE), or that he would use classification to shutdown the OPR investigation into the NSA Warrantless Wiretaping, or that the Vice President's Office would Out a Covert CIA Operative to cover up their lies and bullshit or anything.

Nah, that would never happen.

Unless you listen to Waxman.

Your office may have the worst record in the executive branch for safeguarding classified information. As Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald established, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, your former Chief of Staff, leaked the identity of a covert CIA operative to several reporters in June 2003. Mr. Libby was convicted in March of perjury, obstruction of justice, and false statements for lying to a grand jury and to FBI agents in order to conceal his role in the leaking of this information.

The prosecution of Mr. Libby also revealed that you apparently misused the declassification process for political reasons. In July 2003, you reportedly instructed Mr. Libby to leak to the media portions of an October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate regarding Saddam Hussein’s purported efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Your selective declassification of this information was apparently made outside the formal declassification process and done as part of a damage-control effort you undertook to defend the Administration’s rationale for going to war in Iraq.

In a separate incident, Leandro Aragoncillo, a former aide in your office, pleaded guilty in May 2006 to passing classified information to plotters allegedly trying to overthrow Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Mr. Aragoncillo reportedly disclosed numerous secret and top secret documents to Philippine officials over several years while working in your office.

Given this record, serious questions can be raised about both the legality and the advisability of exempting your office from the rules that apply to all other executive branch officials.

Anyway, since the ISOO has been completely stymied by the OVP from simply doing their job, they've tried writing two seperate letters to VP Counsel David Addington - only to be ignored.

They've gone to the Attorney General, as is authorized by the relevant EO's, asking him to get the Vice President to comply with the President.

(Is it just me or is it totally surreal to actually type those words?)

And you can just be rest assured that Gonzo got right on that.

Yeah, uh huh... any minute now after he's done "Saving the Kids" and covering his own well exposed Behind.

Anyway, apparently because of the letter to Fredo - ole Shooter is kinda pissed. He now says that the Presidential Executive Order should be amended again so that the ISOO and the National Archives no longer have the option of appealing disputes to the AG.

Isn't it great that whenever you get caught in the midst of Treason, uh Completely Fucking Up on matters of National Security er...a minor clerical error where you forgot that Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden really aren't the same guy, that you can just send a paper airplane over to the stuttering goober in weird round office down the hall and have him change the rules of the game for you?

(But wait - I thought Cheney wasn't in the "Executive Branch" and if he's not - does that also mean that executive priveledge doesn't apply to him?)

Man, it's must be Good to be The Veep!

"I love my people... I love my people...PULL!"

(Peasant goes flying through the air screaming!)

BLAM!

"Oh, Piss boy -- don't forget to wait for the shake"

Vyan

Joe Wilson on Libby Verdict

Joe Wilson on Libby Verdict.



Of course not everyone agrees with Amb. Wilson's assessment of things. MSNBC's fTucker Carlson, whose father is an advisor to the Scooter Libby legal defense fund, thinks the whole thing is just "bullshit".

“CIA clearly didn’t really give a sh*t about keeping her identity secret if she’s going to work at f*cking Langley.” Carlson then added “I call bullsh*t on that, I don’t care what they say,”

Now first of all, Plame confirmed her status under oath. Second Patrick Fitzgerald confirmed it in his sentencing filings, specifically noting that Plame-Wilson was covered under the IIPA. If either of them were lying, it would have been -- Perjury. In additional you have the testimony of the CIA's point-man on Iraq, Robert Grenier who is one of the people who specifically told Libby about "Wilson's Wife" working at CIA - who specifically realized he may have made a grave error because...

Because I knew that person could be undercover. We were talking about DO (Directorate of Operations) the vast majority of whose employees are undercover.

The Directorate of Operations happens to be - at Langley.

Shutup fTucker.

Vyan

This Failed Presidency

Sometimes I'm completely dumbstruck at what this President has so nonchalantly wrought, how he has destroyed American credibility, broken our military and destroyed Iraq while time and time again letting those who attacked us off Scott Free and criminally neglecting the needs of nation at home.

The full depth of Bush's bullshit is truly staggering if you even try to recount it all, or even the half of it that we know about.

It's a bit like the old adage about the frog and the boiling water. Put him directly in a hot pot and he'll simply leap out, but place him in while the water is still cold then slowly raise the temperate and he'll sit there quietly until his skin peels off and he cooks alive.

That's what has happened to America.

This week we learned that Bush's former White House Counsel, Alberto Gonzales and his Chief of Staff Andrew Card with the direct support and intervention of President Bush ambushed Attorney General John Ashcroft on his sickbed, in order to override his deputy James Comey into implementing an illegal domestic spying program that would shatter the privacy of millions of Americans and that when they refused - Bush and the White House went ahead and did it without them anyway!

What's even more staggering is that ABC and CBS haven't even bothered to report this story.

Imagine if we'd learned of such a thing in the year 2000? Think back to how the press howled at the allegations that the Clinton's had prematurely removed members of the White House Travel Office merely because - they were about to be indicted, and strove to replace them with "someone they could trust."

Y'know, like people who weren't potential felons.

All the White House Press Office does is arrange for the travel by the White House Press Corp to accompany the President and his staff - period. They - unlike the fracking Justice Department - don't have any real power to influence or implement policy.

We also had the "scandal" of some people in the Clinton White House having access to the FBI records of members of the previous administration due to an outdated access list provided by the Secret Service.

"They must have wanted those records for political dirty tricks."

Yeah, sure - the Secret Service does that all the time.

Flip that scenario on it's head in terms of relative political targets and multiply by about 1.2 Million and you have the Bush's Domestic Spying program in a nutshell, albiet a rather l.a.r.g.e nutshell.

Now we have Senate Confirmed U.S. Attorney's being fired for no reason, some reason, mutiple-reasons - all smoke screens to hide the real reason - none of which new Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was aware of or can seem to remember. At one point Gonzales wished that his deputy Paul McNaulty knew more and was more involved, and then he later claimed that McNulty knew everything all along.

Uh huh. And somehow Gonzales still retains the "full confidence" of this President.

This President, who claims to "Support the Troops", yet never fails to use them as props and shields while letting our wounded languish in rat infested squalor, has opposed legislation to have our flags lowered to half-mast in honor of fallen soldiers in the same way that we honored those slaughtered at Virginia Tech. He has oppossed and threatened to Veto raising their pay and death benefits while the price tag for his failed war sky-rockets above $500 Billion.

Despite all the blood and treasure we've spent, not to mention the millions of Iraqis impacted by our sad misguided attempt at "regime change" - Iraq is still on the verge of become a failed state.

The Iraqi's didn't want the Surge, but we surged anyway.

So far, that Surge - like so many Bush initiatives - has failed. And doesn't look like thing will get any better "when September comes", so we can certainly expect Bush's response to be to call for a Super-Surge even though recruitment has become so dismal the Army has been coaching new recruits on how to beat the drug tests.

Addicts with heavy firepower. Great.

That's likely to just hand us more and more Haditha's.

The U.S. Army private accused of raping and murdering a 14-year-old Iraq girl "was a high school dropout with three misdemeanors and was accepted into the Army just as the military, desperate for recruits, began issuing more ‘moral waivers.’"

It's gotten so bad even Republicans are starting to say "if the Iraqi government wants to leave - we should"

Here's a newsflash, 83 members of the Iraqi Parliament (about 1/3rd) asked for a timetable for our troops to withdraw - almost two years ago. And just this month, that 1/3 has grown to a Majority of the members of Iraqi Parliament who've now signed a petition ASKING US TO LEAVE.

You think we're gonna leave? Not with this President.

This President, who went golfing and campaiging while an American City Drowned in a toxic stew of piss, raw sewage, gasoline and decaying bodies.

This President and White House, who when Governor Sebelius correctly pointed out that the equipment Kansas needed after a devastating tornado attack has been sent to Iraq, much like the lack of response to Katrina, Blatantly LIED and claims she never asked for any equipment.

What? Did she forget to say "Simon Says?"

This President, who despite all his tough He-man talk about "fighting them over there" (so our soldiers can die much more conveniently) Completely. Totally. Dropped. The. Ball. On. 9-11 when it Counted.

MR. RUSSERT (Speaking to George Tenet): Then in June, a briefer of the CIA named Rich B gave a conclusion saying, based on all the reporting we've seen, that "bin Laden is going to launch a significant terrorist attack against U.S." Israeli "interest in the coming weeks." July 10 you got another briefing so alarming that you picked up the phone, said to Condoleezza Rice, "I want to come see you now," jumped in the car with some of your key advisers, went to see her. Rich B, he gave her a briefing package. Opening line, "There will be a significant terrorist attack in the coming weeks or months!" And then you--and later July, Rich B sitting at the CIA, said, "They're coming here."

This President failed to recognize that Iraq was already disarmed despite being told exactly that by Foreign Minister Sabri, the UN mandated Full Declaration by Saddam and the Weapons Inspectors on the ground.

This President, who shoved a revokation of The Great Writ through a compliant supine Republican Congress simply to cover his own ass and hide his own not entirely secret campaign of terror and torture - to the delight of his ghoulish supporters and the horror of his commanding generals.

This President, who through his VP aided and abetted Treason by allowing the identity of a Covert CIA Operative to be revealed simply to support a lie and a forgery that would have undermined his justifications for an unneccesary war.

This President, who has established a shiny new set of American Concentration Camps for muslim immigrants and their children.

This President, has a VP who busted a cap in some old dudes face and is still hanging around.

This President's "No Child Left Behind" Initiative - has failed.

This President's "Abstinence Only" Initiative - has failed.

This President's "Faith-Based Initiatives" - have failed.

At every level, and in almost every way imaginable the policies and practices of this president have failed the American People.

We - the proverbial frog - have already been well and truly deep fry fucked. It's long past time we hopped out of the pot and began far more than just talk about, and drafting of resolutions for the Impeachments of Rice, Gonzales, Cheney and yes, even Bush himself. It's time to start implementing the tools of oversight of this goverment. Frankly, just impeaching Bush or one of the others is NO LONGER ENOUGH. All of them have to go because at this point I'm afraid that the damage already done just might be nearly permanent.

Iraq and it's people will never be the same again.

How do we get back the trust of the world's nations when we say we need to defend ourselves from this threat, or that threat after we FUBAR'd Iraq this badly?

The Gulf Coast, particularly New Orleans, and the survivors of Katrina will never be the same.

How do we as American people begin to trust our own government when it alternately spies on us, then neglects us when our local resources are overtaxed by flood, fire, hurricanes and tornados? Not after New Orleans and Kansas we can't. How do we trust that they'll ever be able to handle another attempted 9-11 attack?

How do we prevent future Presidents from amasing the same near unlimited power onto themselves via the fiat of quasi-constitutional signing statements, and then completely mismanaging that power as badly as Bush has?

This Presidency has Failed.

We can not afford to let this legacy stand. We can not afford to let this President or his criminal cronies escape their crimes quietly in 2009, they must be held accountable - or else we will see another future President commit them again. If possible, it might even be worse next time.

We have to get out of the pot. It may not be right now, but it has to be soon. The timer is almost about to go off.

And still, even if we do get out, American will never be the same.

Vyan

What did Rice Know (about the Niger Forgeries) and when did she know it?

That's what Henry Waxman wants to know. He's already subpoened her, while she remains "dis-inclined" to honor that subpeona claiming that it is a "seperation of powers" issue - but since new revelations have surfaced that a state department analyst clearly identified the Niger documents as "probably a hoax" and "clearly a forgery" three months before the President's 2003 State of the Union address Rice and the State Dept have apparently blocked his access to Congressional Investigators - that view seems increasingly spurious.

It's one thing to dubiously claim that Executive Priviledge extends not simply to communications directly with the President, as has been the historical precedent, and that the now extend all the way to communications between the CIA and NSC, it's quite another to willinging obstruct a lawful Congressional Investigation by refusing to grant them access to witnesses.

It seems the Diva of Dissembling is at it yet again.

ere are the relevant facts from David Corn at Slate:

In mid-October 2002, a nuclear analyst named Simon Dodge in the State Department's intelligence division was forwarded copies of documents purporting to outline a recent sale of 500 tons of yellowcake uranium—which can be enriched for use in nuclear weapons—from the impoverished African nation of Niger to Iraq. As he reviewed the papers—which had been handed to the U.S. Embassy in Italy by an Italian journalist who had received them from a not-so-credible paid source—Dodge zeroed in on a bizarre companion document. It described a secret 2002 meeting at the home of the Iraqi ambassador in Rome of representatives of the world's outlaw states—Iraq, Iran, Sudan, and Libya (and Pakistan, too). The purpose of this session was to form a clandestine alliance against the West and to concoct a "plan of action" for "Global Support."

Iran and Iraq in a secret pact to create a partnership of rogue states? This was something out of James Bond—or Austin Powers. Dodge considered it "completely implausible," as he later told congressional investigators. Yet this memo bore the same "funky" (as he saw it) embassy of Niger stamp that appeared on the uranium-deal papers. That was, for Dodge, a telltale sign. If the uranium-agreement papers were coming from the same source as the outlandish rogue-state alliance memo (and bearing the same suspect markings), they, too, must be fishy. He concluded that the entire set of papers from Italy was likely fraudulent and e-mailed that assessment to colleagues within the intelligence community. Three months later, he reiterated his concerns in a Jan. 12, 2003, e-mail to other intelligence-community analysts and warned that the uranium-purchase agreement "probably is a hoax."

It's become clear that there were plenty of things "fishy" about those Niger documents. First of all was the fact that Iraq already had 500 tons of Yellowcake which had been purchased in the 80's and were under the control of UN Weapons inspectors. And Besides the "funky stamp" noted by Dodge there were a whole host of other problems as documented by Vanity Fair last year.

The forged documents were full of errors. A letter dated October 10, 2000, was signed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Allele Elhadj Habibou—even though he had been out of office for more than a decade. Its September 28 postmark indicated that somehow the letter had been received nearly two weeks before it was sent. In another letter, President Tandja Mamadou's signature appeared to be phony. The accord signed by him referred to the Niger constitution of May 12, 1965, when a new constitution had been enacted in 1999. One of the letters was dated July 30, 1999, but referred to agreements that were not made until a year later. Finally, the agreement called for the 500 tons of uranium to be transferred from one ship to another in international waters—a spectacularly difficult feat.

In fact long before Dodge - who was apparently the first American official to actually see the documents first hand - the Niger claims had been thoroughly discounted by the intelligence community. According to Vanity Fair's report it had been knocked down at least 19 different times before Bush's State of the Union.

In December 2001, Greg Thielmann, director for strategic proliferation and military affairs at the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), reviewed Iraq's W.M.D. program for Colin Powell. As for the Niger report, Thielmann said, "A whole lot of things told us that the report was bogus. This wasn't highly contested. There weren't strong advocates on the other side. It was done, shot down."

By late 2002 Joseph Wilson had already been to Niger and back, to follow up on the Niger documents filing a verbal report with CPD at CIA which was also shared with INR at State. What he found was Bupkis. Not only had the Iraqis failed to get Uranium from Niger, the Nigerian government couldn't have given it too them if they wanted to since the mining operations was under the control by the French and overseen by the IAEA. By the time Wilson returned the story had been essentially debunked.

By now the Niger reports had been discredited more than half a dozen times—by the French in 2001, by the C.I.A. in Rome and in Langley, by the State Department's INR, by some analysts in the Pentagon, by the ambassador to Niger, by Wilson, and yet again by State.

Despite the fact that members of the Intelligence Community were highly skeptical of these documents, the White House continued to press the issue - interjecting references to the Niger claims into President Bush's October Cincinatti speach. An intervention was required...

The C.I.A. faxed a memo to Hadley and the speechwriters telling them to delete the sentence on uranium, "because the amount is in dispute and it is debatable whether it can be acquired from the source. We told Congress that the Brits have exaggerated this issue. Finally, the Iraqis already have 550 metric tons of uranium oxide in their inventory."

Even after this fax, the reference remained in the speach - so George Tenet personally picked up the phone and called Hadley.

According to his Senate testimony, he told Hadley that the "president should not be a fact witness on this issue," because the "reporting was weak." The C.I.A. even put it in writing and faxed it to the N.S.C.

The reference was removed from the speach, but the issue just refuse to remain dead, like a cat from a Stephen King novel.

For the next two months, December 2002 and January 2003, references to the uranium deal resurfaced again and again in "fact sheets," talking-point memos, and speeches. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, and Rice all declared publicly that Iraq had been caught trying to buy uranium from Niger. On December 19, the claim reappeared on a fact sheet published by the State Department. The bureaucratic battle was unending. In light of the many differing viewpoints, the Pentagon asked the National Intelligence Council, the body that oversees the 15 agencies in the U.S. intelligence community, to resolve the matter. According to The Washington Post, in a January 2003 memo the council replied unequivocally that "the Niger story was baseless and should be laid to rest." The memo went immediately to Bush and his advisers.

Yet, miraculously, Bush still uttered the infamous 16 words on National Television during his 2003 State of Union, fueling greater support for his eventual decision to began a war with Iraq.

Despite Rice claims last week to George Stephanapolous that this has been "well investigated" IT. HAS. NOT. Neither the Robb-Silberman commission nor the Senate Intelligence committe under Roberts addressed this isssue.

And now, on top of the moutainous pile of evidence that the White House was well and repeatedly informed that the Niger story was bogus - we have Dodge's assesment and the stunning fact that the State Department refuses to let him speak to Waxman's Committee even though he is more than willing to do so. Waxman's letter to Rice.

[A] member of your legislative office informed Committee staff that you were prohibiting Mr. Dodge from meeting with Committee investigators. This official claimed that allowing Mr. Dodge to speak with Committee staff would be "inappropriate" because the Committee voted to issue a subpoena to compel your attendance at a hearing on your knowledge of the fabricated evidence.

I assume that your legislative staff was acting without your authorization in this matter. It would be a matter of great concern - as well as an obvious conflict of interest - if you had directed your staff to impede a congressional investigation into matter that may implicate your conduct as National Security Advisor.

In fact, it would be Obstruction of Justice for anyone at State, particularly Secretary Rice, to interfere with a Congressional investigation, not to mention possible Witness Tampering charges and what was that other one again...?

Oh yeah... Contempt of Congress.

Maybe, just maybe, they're so resistant to this inquiry for a reason, perhaps it's the apparently probability that the Niger Forgeries were originated by the U.S. according to a Reagan era CIA Official.

The Italian intelligence service, the military intelligence service, was acquiring information that was really being hand-fed to them by very dubious sources. The Niger documents, for example, which apparently were produced in the United States, yet were funneled through the Italians.

This allegation has also been repeated and supported by former CIA analyst Ray McGovern as he appeared on Tucker Carlson this week.

Tucker:"That memo came from abroad."

McGovern:"Some of it came from abroad, but you know if you trace the memo back and see the characters who are involved, it's my appreciation that the memo leads right back to the doorstep of the Vice President of the United States."

Tucker: "So the Vice President you believe forged, now if the Vice President was behind that forgery, don't you think he would have done a better job?"

McGovern: "I don't think he and Lynn, you know, sat down and did it. I think they farmed it out to a cottage industry of former intelligence agents that did a rather amateurish job."

McGovern is clearly referring to Michael Ledeen, a former member of Reagan's NSC - who had more than few fingers in the Iran-Contra cookie jar - and has long been rumored to have have used his long-standing links to SISMI and the then incoming Bush Administration to act as a rogue independent intelligence operative in 1999 when the forgeries were created. Last year's Vanity Fair article stopped short of claiming it had proof that Ledeen and/or his associates were responsible for the forgery, but McGovern's claim indicates that he may have found information that is more damaging.

Or not, we'll see.

This is all the more reason, of course, for Rice to damn the torpedos and continue play "beat the clock" with the Waxman investigation forcing them into court to gain each and every single peice of information if she can - for now that is.

As I've stated before, they can always simply Impeach Her Arrogant Ass.

Vyan

Robert Novak is STILL a Total Gas-Bag!

Both emtpywheel and Larry Johnson have major diaries up about the latest drippings from Robert Novak's colostomy bag - but neither of them really give you a good and close look at just how much of a cheap hack this guy really is.

<>I mean, it's truly - seriously - stunning how he completely ignores the facts and sworn testimony of everyone in the Libby trial, Valerie Plame-Wilson and even CIA DCI Michael Hayden who he states is "too close to Democrats" simply because he confirmed that yes indeed, She. Was. UnderCover. when Novak originally outed her in 2003.

And here it is - directly from the Horse's Ass.

Republican Rep. Peter Hoekstra could hardly believe what he heard on television Friday as he watched a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing. Rep. Henry Waxman, the Democratic committee chairman, said his statement had been approved by the CIA director, Michael Hayden. That included the assertion that Valerie Plame Wilson was a covert CIA operative when her identity was revealed.

The "Assertion?" Ok, put the tape on pause for a moment here. We all know from Patrict Fitzgerald's original indictment of Scooter Libby that her "employment at CIA was classified." What does this dimwit thinks that means?

Frontline recently did a four-part special on the various leaks coming out of the Bush Administration, including the Plame leak and during it they interviewed David Szady the FBI's assistant director for counterintelligence from 2001 until 2006. From that position he was actually in charge of hunting down leakers, including those involved in the Plame leak, at least until Fitz was put on the case. Here are some excepts from that interview...

How do you start a leak investigation? I mean we read about them in the paper, but we have no idea where -- actually what goes on.

Well, first of all, you have a victim agency: the owner of the information, those who classified it. What they have to do is file a report with the Department of Justice that consists of 11 questions that have to be answered.

And those questions go from, was the material properly classified? Is that information known? Was the information that leaked accurate compared to what the actual classified information is? What was the damage to national security? How many people possibly had access to that information? And several other questions.

And let me just emphasize this point. Before the investigation begins the organization reporting the leak has to document exactly how damaging the release of that information might be. There's also another key factor required among those 11 questions. The leaked information has to be true.

So this is the same kind of referral that takes place, whether it's a leak of classified information to a lobbyist or a spy as it is to a journalist?

... First of all, it's not espionage [in] the classic sense, where you're giving classified information to a foreign power. You're giving classified information here to somebody in the media, which is illegal. It's not espionage as we're talking about it here with spies. But it is worked, if you will, on a criminal investigation under the espionage statutes: unlawful possession; unlawful distribution; unlawfully giving this information to somebody who should not have access to it. ...

And the information has to be accurate?

Yes.

So if you leak inaccurate information, there's no leak investigation?

Well, that's right. The determination may be made that there's no sense in investigating something because the information is not accurate. It's not real information, if you will.

So when the government announces a leak investigation and it comes to your office, it's confirming that the report in the newspaper, for example, or on television was true?

In-- yes. Indirectly, yes.

That's one way to fact check.

Yes.

And just how bad could leaking the identity of a Undercover operative be?

And your office got the referral in the Valerie Plame case?

Initially, yes. There's still prosecution outgoing in there, so commenting on it is difficult.

No one's been charged under the [Intelligence Identities Protection Act] in that case as of today. What makes that particular law difficult in terms of prosecuting somebody?

Well, there haven't been that many cases involving this particular leak of information or the identity of undercover CIA officers to begin with. I don't think it would be any more difficult than anything else. I think everybody would admit and everybody would acknowledge that the leaking of the identity of an undercover CIA officer is an extremely serious matter, particularly given the world situation we live in now, and we're actually talking about life and death.

...

Ok, have you got that sports fans? Plame was covert. Leaking her identity not only a crime, it was a matter of life and death (and not just hers) or else there wouldn't have been a referal to Justice - and they would't have accepted it - in the first place.

Back to Novakula.

As House intelligence committee chairman when Republicans controlled Congress, Hoekstra had tried repeatedly to learn Plame's status from the CIA but got only double talk from Langley. Waxman, 67, the 17-term congressman from Beverly Hills, may be a bully and a partisan.

A bully? Compared to who - Certainly not Tom Delay who wouldn't let a single democrat bill on to the floor of the House for six years. Who twisted arms and threatened members of his own party to vote for the prescription medicare bill. Certainly not John Sensenbrener who cut off the microphones in mid-hearing when a debate about the Patriot Act went in uncomfortable directions back in 2005.

But he is no fool who would misrepresent the director of central intelligence. Waxman was correctly quoting Hayden. But Hayden, in a conference with Hoekstra yesterday, still did not answer whether Plame was covert under the terms of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.

As Larry Johnson has already explained Hayden couldn't comment on the issue to Hoekstra while he was chairman because the Libby trial was pending. That's over now. Libby lost, so when Waxman asked - he got an answer.

This isn't a partisan issue, it's a Fact Issue -- but then again we all know that "Reality has a Liberal Bias" (© Copyright Stephen Colbert 2005)

Case in point.

The former CIA employee's status is critical to the attempted political rehabilitation of former ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife.

The Wha? Rehabilitation? Gee, seems to me that Joe was hailed as a conquering hero at YearlyKos. He seemed pretty visible and pretty vocal on Olbermann after the Libby verdict was read.

The Democratic target always has been Karl Rove, President Bush's principal adviser.

Actually no, the target is the President - but Rove makes for a nice side-dish.

The purpose of last week's hearing was to blame Rove for "outing" Plame, in preparation for revoking his security clearance.

Hey bunky - Congress can't revoke KKKarl's clearance. Only the President can, and since he promised to do it years ago ("If anyone in the White House was part of this leak") and still hasn't - I don't think that door's gonna fly open anytime soon.

And didn't Novak testify that Rove was his confirmation source? Yes, I think he did.

W Fair to say Armitage was primary source. Did you have confirming source?

RN That was Karl Rove. In 2003 he was senior advisor to Pres on a wide variety of subjects. He had a lot to do with political strategy.

W To make sure they stayed in office?

RN MOre than that, that they were successful.

W That they were re-elected?

RN He was trying to do a good job for country.

W Personal Friend?

RN I wouldn't call him friend, I'd say very good source.

W When did you speak with Rove?

RN I called as soon as I returned, I can never remember getting him back right away, I think it was that day he returned the call.

W Conversation the next on July 9?

RN When we had that conversation–it could have been July 8, I haven't been able to pin it down. Mainly I was interested in Rove, I'm sorry, mostly Wilson mission to Niger, Asked him about that and policy. Near the end, I asked about Wilson's wife, I asked if he knew, I commented, I had been told that she was an employee of CPD of CIA and had suggested mission. He said, "oh you know that too."

W Did you take that as confirmation?

RN I took it as confirmation

Information like this, which was provided anonymously on "Super Double-Secret Background" would not be printed by any respectable gas-bag journalist unless it was confirmed by a second source. Although Armitage's leak was apparently inadvertant, and he was unaware that Plame was covert at the time, there is a strong likelyhood that Rove knew damn well that reporters like Novak would need two independant sources before they could go to print.

And by the way - who the hell told Rove in the first place? Libby?

Anyway, more blather from the Dark One.

Claims of a White House plot became so discredited that Wilson was cut out of Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign by the summer of 2004. Last week's hearing attempted to revive a dormant issue. The glamorous Mrs. Wilson was depicted as the victim of White House machinations that aborted her career in intelligence.

Right sure, there was no plot - Cheney and Libby and Martin and Harlow had all those discussions and talking points about how to respond to Wilson simply because March Madness was already over and they needed something to keep themselves busy.

From FDL/emptywheel.

By my reading, Cheney took his own notes on at least four documents pertaining to Wilson. It appears likely that, after learning that Plame worked at CIA from Libby or Martin, he went out and found out precisely where she worked, then he reported it back to Libby. Cheney directed Libby on at least three occasions (with Judy, with David Martin and Mitchell, and with Cooper et al) to personally intervene with journalists. And Cheney remained actively involved in crafting the response to Wilson all week during leak week. In addition, it seems clear that Cheney was pushing the Wilson attacks after the Novak article.

But gee, it wasn't like a plot or anything...

Anyway, Novakula seems to have some interviewing advice for Waxman and those damn dirty DemocRATS.

Waxman and Democratic colleagues did not ask these pertinent questions: Had not Plame been outed years ago by a Soviet agent? Was she not on an administrative, not operational, track at Langley? How could she be covert if, in public view, she drove to work each day at Langley?

According to Plame's own testimony, she had been on at least one overseas undercover trip between 2002-2003, as litagatormom has pointed out in her wonderful punking of Victory Toensing - that means she was covered by the IIPA.

Larry Johnson has noted that the head of the DO (Directorate of Operations aka the TOP SPY AT CIA) "drives to work everyday at Langley" and they can only refer to him as "Jose". Johnson...

In fact, there are thousands of undercover personnel who drive thru the gates everyday.

OOhh Snap!

I for one during the dozen years that I worked for defense contrator Northrop-Grumman drove through the gates of a "Black Site" smack dab in the middle of deep deep East Los Angeles along with 20,000 other people where unknown to anyone for at least the first 8 years - we were building the B-2 Stealth Bomber!

Punk-Bitch of Darkness Continued...

What about comments to me by then CIA spokesman Bill Harlow that Plame never would be given another foreign assignment?

What about the fact that the CIA Warned Your Punk Ass not to reveal her ID, and you did it anyway?

What about testimony to the FBI that her CIA employment was common knowledge in Washington?

That would be the testimony of someone who was found by a 12 person jury to be a LIAR and PERJUROR wouldn't it?

Instead of posing such questions, Waxman said flatly that Plame was covert and cited Hayden as proof.

Yeah, well that's because it was TRUE - and he also had Plame as proof too.

Hayden's endorsement of Waxman's statement astounded Republicans whose queries about her had been rebuffed by the agency. That confirmed Republican suspicions that Hayden is too close to Democrats.

(Forehead SLAP!!!)

No, it simply confirmed that Libby is now a CONVICT - dipstick.

These issues were not explored by the only two Republicans who showed up at last week's hearing. Virginia Rep. Tom Davis, the committee's ranking Republican and former chairman, is a skilled legislator but is not prone to roughhouse with Waxman. Unwilling to challenge Plame's covert status, Davis blamed the CIA instead of the White House for her alleged exposure.

Yeah, ok - that's right it was Richard Armitage over "at CIA" who first told you about Plame, while Karl Rove "at C.I.A." confirmed it - meanwhile Scooter Libby "at C.I.A." was talking to Judith Miller and Matt Cooper trying to get them to write stories about it, and Ari Fleischer "at C.I.A." was telling reporters about it while on a trip with Air Force One.

Sure....

The other Republican present -- Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, a second-termer from metro Atlanta -- seemed awed by the beautiful woman facing him. "If I seem a little nervous," he began, "I've never questioned a spy before."

Davis had e-mailed the committee's other Republicans requesting their presence. Where were they? I asked Rep. Christopher Shays, who during nine previous terms in Congress had proved a tenacious questioner at hearings. "We felt the committee is so biased," he replied, "we would do better to just stay away."

Translation: They knew damn well that their lame talking points weren't going to work so they chose not be tragically embarissed on national Tee Vee.

Unlike Novak who seems to have no problem being publically embarrised in a national news paper.

That decision left the field to such partisan Democrats as Rep. Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Rep. Diane Watson, Waxman's fellow Californian, mimicked the chairman's inquisitorial style.

That's because she was inquiring - y'know asking questions of ah - shock and awe - witness!!

She repeatedly interrupted lawyer Victoria Toensing, the lone rebuttal witness granted the Republicans by Waxman.

That's because Toensing was - how shall I say it? Oh yeah Full of CRAP!

Toensing testified that Plame was not a covert operative as defined by the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, which she had helped draft as a Senate staffer in 1982, if only because she was not stationed overseas for the CIA the past five years. Waxman hectored Toensing, menacingly warning that her sworn testimony would be scrutinized for misstatements.

The IIPA doesn't say anything about being stationed overseas. That is not a requirement of the act and Toensing stubborn and illogical insistence that she somehow knew who was and wasn't covert while the Director of the CIA didn't - is flat-out laughable.

The act states that a Covert Agent covered by the act is one...

(ii) who is serving outside the United States or has within the last five years served outside the United States;

Novak in his entire column never mentions Plame's own testimony where as litagatormom noted:

[A]ccording to her own testimony, she engaged in covert intelligence operations on assignments outside the United states within five years of TODAY -- that is, within a YEAR of when she was exposed.

I would venture to argue, and I have, that IIPA violations were not sought because a) Libby's Lies blocked the investigation and b) to violate IIPA the person must have explicit knowledge that the agent is covert.

Their isn't any evidence currently on record that Libby was specifically told that "Wilson's Wife is a Covert Agent" although there is evidence that he very likely suspected this was the case, and took steps to avoid being identified as a leak source specifically because he thought he might have been in violation of IIPA.

The evidence for this view was revealed in court by Libby's question to David Addington about "How can you tell if someone is covert at CIA?"

Addington told him - you'd have to ask around and specifically asking if "Joe Wilson's Wife is Covert" would have exposed what he and Cheney were up to, as well as completely destroyed his "willfully ignorant" defense.

No, Libby then just like Novak simply prefers to stick their fingers in their ears and loudly sing "LAA llaaaa LAAAA LAAA" (like Janet Parshall) while they undermine our nations security, ruining the efforts of hundreds of undercover assets at Brewster-Jennings and weakening our ability to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction - All For partisan gains.

Libby is damn lucky he got off as lightly as he has.

So is Novak.

Vyan

Quick Truths

From Thinkprogress

18: The percentage of Iraqis that have confidence in U.S.-led coalition troops as the war enters its fifth year today. Six in 10 Iraqis say their lives are going badly, and only one-third expect things to improve in the next year. Nearly 90 percent “say they live in fear that the violence ravaging their country will strike themselves and the people with whom they live.”

Almost two years before the FBI publicly admitted this month that “it had ignored its own rules when demanding telephone and financial records about private citizens, a top official in that program warned the bureau about widespread lapses.”

Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, who was fired “after Republican complaints that he neglected to prosecute voter fraud,” had been “heralded for his expertise in that area by the Justice Department, which twice selected him to train other federal prosecutors to pursue election crimes.”

Last week, the White House pressured the Office of Management and Budget to withhold earmark data from the public. OMB Director Rob Portman said privately last week: “My hands are tied” due to directives from the White House. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) remarked, “I think the American people should be very disappointed.”

A new twist on the “illegal immigration hunts” sponsored by right-wing college groups: A Boise State University student group is “promoting a speech about immigration with a ‘food stamp drawing’ that requires climbing through a hole in a fence and offering fake identification for a shot at winning dinner at a local Mexican restaurant.”

And From Randi Rhodes

Valerie Plame Wilson testified Friday morning under oath in front of the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Everything we’ve told you thus far on the outing of this undercover CIA agent has been confirmed by the CIA itself in advance of the hearing. Randi has the must-hear clips and analysis.

Meanwhile, Americans are against a Libby pardon 3 to 1.

New evidence puts 1) Karl Rove at the heart of the purge of the prosecutors, and 2) shows that Gonzales lied to Congress (what else is new). Expanded info/explanation

Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) becomes the 2^nd Republican calling for Gonzales to go.

The buzz is that, like in the case of Libby, a guilty Gonzales will go down but Rove, like a doughy pasty white cockroach, will survive. Plus, a 3^rd Republican, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R - CA), says Gonzales should go.

VIDEO: One of the purged prosecutors speaks out

From our No S**t File, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s confessions were exaggerated. Gee, really?

Moreover, KSM’s BS “confession” not only failed as a new-cycle topic changer, it also means that the truly guilty parties have a better chance at getting away with the crimes he that he has taken credit for committing. Chimpy, you’re doing a heckuva job.

Evangelicals come out against torture (how very brave and just 6 short years after it started).

More black site prisons…

Also, Rep. Jean Schmitt (R-OH) plays slip & slide in a pool of vomit. LOL!!!

FLASHBACK VIDEO: Schmitt calling Murtha a coward on the floor of the House

And Grandpa McCain takes the “Straight Talk Express” out of storage, adding a twist of irony to his already shattered credibility.