A Vengeful White House? . . . CBS News on CIA handoff to DOJ of Palme Out

[TacticalPeek]

(CBS) It was an embarrassing mistake when White House officials admitted that there was an inaccuracy in President Bush's State of the Union address, but now, the fallout from that mistake could lead to criminal charges, CBS News Correspondent Randall Pinkston reports.

In his speech, Mr. Bush claimed that Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium, used to make weapons of mass destruction, from an African nation.

Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was dispatched to investigate the charge before the State of the Union, revealed that he had warned the Bush administration that there was no evidence to support the claim.

That's when Robert Novak, a syndicated newspaper columnist, reported that Wilson's wife was a CIA operative.

"The allegation that Novak made was aimed to intimidate others from coming forward," Wilson told Pinkston.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/27/eveningnews/main575449.shtml

Another poster said it led their evening news!

[snippy]

1. I like that the CBS article includes possible independent investigation.

I also like the title of the CBS article. I have long wondered whether Whistle Ass is a vindictive little shit or a vindictive little fuck.

[teryang]

2. Not much chance of Herr Asscraft investigating

An independent prosecutor appointment would be needed.

[Cocoa]

3. rofl, what a great debate question that could be

Dean and Gep can duke it out over vindictive shit vs. vindictive fuck.

[kanrok]

7. Why choose?

I like "vindictive shit-fuck" myself.

[snippy]

14. Now I will need something new to wonder about.

[chasqui]

15. Go Bears!!!!

[kanrok]

17. GO BEARS!!!!!

Beat the Pack like a red-headed stepchild! (Apologies to all red-headed step-children).

[pansypoo53219]

26. boo

wanna have Bears go down like that holloween game years ago.

[kanrok]

28. I was there

That totally sucked.

[liberalhistorian]

21. He's both. He's a vindictive

little shit AND a vindictive little fuck! Hell, he learned from the masters as a member of one of the greatest American crime families! He's also incredibly petty and thin-skinned.

[pansypoo53219]

24. vindictive shit

as he has shown more interest in playing war than fuckin(except up).

[seventhson]

35. I think it must be the former, the latter requires cojones and a normal

libido.

Bush has none of that so he must be a little turd

[scarletwoman]

4. Kind of a fascinating typo in your subject line: "PALME"

I know you meant "PLAME", as in Valerie Plame, Wilson's wife -- but the first thought that ran through my mind was "Oh wow, they're going to get to the bottom of the Olaf Palme assassination?"

*sigh* Tinfoil hat, always at the ready....

sw

[grasswire]

5. that is interesting

might as well have a two-fer and investigate the Palme assassination vis a vis Father Bush.

[scarletwoman]

16. Can you imagine if EVERYTHING finally got investigated?!?!

In a sane world, it WOULD happen. I just wish we lived in a sane world...

Anyway, thanks for knowing what I was talking about in my first post. That nasty ol' Octopus...

sw

[Mika]

18. That is what I was expecting when I saw "Palme"

"*sigh* Tinfoil hat, always at the ready...."


Its a sign of the times.

[Jackpine Radical]

20. Yeah--I took it in initially as Oluf Palme too.

.

[scarletwoman]

23. Wow! I see I'm not alone!

Let's see... uh... great minds run in circuitous pathways together?

sw
:hi:

[annagull]

6. There is no way in hell these guys should investigate themselves

There will HAVE to be an independent prosicutor, congress should demand it.

[snippy]

13. CBS article includes possibility of independent investigation.

"Congressional sources say there may also be calls for the appointment of an independent investigation to determine if Bush administration officials blew Plame’s cover."

Not much. But it is a start.

I think one very important aspect to this story, besides the criminal behavior of Whistle Ass and his minions, is that it comes at a time when Whistle Ass is declining in the polls. That means that more people may be willing to listen to the evidence of the lies and criminal acts by the administration. And it may cause some in the media to smell blood and go into a feeding frenzy.

[pansypoo53219]

29. whitewater to

monica.

[diplomats]

8. Josh Marshall says this story WILL be on the Sunday talk shows

http://talkingpointsmemo.com

[qanda]

9. Now being reported by the New York Times...

C.I.A. Seeks Inquiry Into Naming of an Operative
By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Published: September 28, 2003


WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 — The C.I.A. has asked the Justice Department to investigate whether senior Bush administration officials broke the law by revealing the identity of an agency operative, a government official said today.

The operative is the wife of a former envoy to Iraq, Joseph C. Wilson IV, who has publicly voiced skepticism about the Bush administration's policies on Iraq and on Iraq's reported weapons program.

(more)

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/28/national/28WILS.html?ex=1065326400&en=9c82e52f10cc2ed2&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

[FauxNewsBlues]

11. This story has legs!

Long, beautiful legs I tell ya. If they could get Karl Rove, that would be beautiful.

[Cocoa]

10. wait a second...

Some journalists thought the White House had leaked the information about Wilson’s wife to Novak, a charge that was dismissed by administration officials.


"Some journalists thought"??? I thought Novak himself said this, I didn't know there was any controversy about this fact.

[qanda]

12. You're right!

This from the NYT's article:

After Mr. Wilson went public with his criticism, his wife was identified as a Central Intelligence Agency operative by the columnist Robert Novak, who attributed the information to senior administration officials.

[monobrau]

19. Independent investigation now!

Let's Roll!

[leesa]

22. "embarrasing mistake" "Innacuracy"? The words are "treasonous lying"

The media keeps digging their own hole deeper by covering for the Simian and his renowned band of thugs.

[calimary]

25. GUYS, I know I sound like a broken record on this, but -

PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE

PLEASE CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN OR CONGRESSWOMAN ON MONDAY MORNING! CALL YOUR SENATORS!!! GIVE THEIR SPINES A VERBAL CALCIUM SUPPLEMENT!! TELL THEM THEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY GOT TO LEAN ON THIS HARD!! IT'S A F---ING FELONY, OKAY? IF THIS HAD HAPPENED DURING CLINTON'S TERM, THEY'D ALL BE BUILDING HIM A GUILLOTINE BY NOW!!!!

Please tell them it's long past time to stop giving this White House the benefit of the doubt.

You can get all their numbers via www.congress.org - and those numbers are both local AND in their Washington offices.

It would also be helpful, after you call your three people (both senators and one congressperson), CALL SOMEBODY ELSE'S CONGRESSPERSON OR SENATOR and tell them the same thing!!!!!

ALSO:

[e-mail] - the CBS email.

I CANNOT over-stress the importance of this. That's why I yelled through the first part of this post. People, this is the way to get KKKarl Rove in over HIS head. He'll be so hamstrung trying to put THESE fires out he won't have much time to troubleshoot all the other problems this White House is starting to have to face. If there are just too many holes springing in the dike, he'll soon run out of fingers to stick in them. And that will be good for us all, and good for the country, especially in November 2004.

Please, folks, it's up to us!

[RainDog]

32. what Calimary said!!!!!

:spank:

take that, BushRoveCheney

[calimary]

34. Thanks, Raindog!

Sometimes I feel like a harpie for - well - YES - HARPING on this. But it bears repeating.

Look, I used to work in news on radio and TV, before I retired. I had lots of experience with callers and letter-writers. At one station, our newsroom was very close to the request line operator. In fact, at one place, our on-air booth was used by the request line people when we weren't using it to go live.

Once, I actually had my job saved by this kind of input. Somebody wrote in on what was then called the "ARB Talkback" - a compendium of people's written opinions in ratings "diaries." One of them stated "...entertaining morning news with (calimary)." Management took one look at that and decided that, when they cut back the news department, which they eventually did, they were going to keep me.

The point here is not just to self-glorify, but to illustrate how input from readers/viewers/listeners is highly valued. When I was in the biz, the conventional wisdom was that one letter or one phone call was worth at least 10 times its own value, because it represented what other readers/viewers/listeners were thinking but were too busy, too apathetic, or too unmotivated to comment about, on their own. Some places rated one letter or phone call as worth 100 others. Or MORE! If they get feedback, they'll know it carries the same weight as the presumption "if this person's saying it, you know lots of others are thinking it."

It REALLY DOES WORK THAT WAY!!! Call, write, email, and MAKE YOUR OPINION KNOWN! If the news outlets realize this story has legs, they'll jump on it like nobody's business.

[huckleberry]

27. Time magazine also has the story!

The Justice Department has opened a preliminary inquiry into whether a Bush Administration official illegally revealed the identity of a CIA employee whose husband criticized the Administration's handling of intelligence on Iraq, TIME has learned. The probe will determine whether to order a full-fledged FBI investigation.

The CIA triggered the Justice inquiry with a memo saying that there may have been an unauthorized disclosure about the wife of Joe Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador....

snip

CIA and Justice spokespersons declined comment, but an Administration official told TIME that the Justice is conducting a preliminary inquiry to "determine whether or not there should be an investigation" by the FBI.

more at
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,490646,00.html

[yorgatron]

31. isn't it funny how many

investigations,indictments,and convictions always happen when a republican administration is winding down? WAKE UP AMERICA!!! these people are CRIMINALS.

[Nottingham]

30. Novak has been exposed! He is a tool of the Right! News Media

being manipulated to bring sorrow to whistleblower who is telling the truth! :bounce:

Novak needs to be removed from his job for this treasonous action and the Network who hasn't done anything is also a partner in this crime! :bounce:

[David Zephyr]

33. Hallelujah!

How sweet it is!

[seventhson]

36. We NEED a Truth ands Reconciliation Commission in the USA like in

South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Rwanda, etc to get to the bottom of the crimes against humanity of our "leaders" and militaries.

I actually discussed this issue with Goran Perrson (PM of Sweden) who came to speak in DC and I was a guest of the sponsor (for my political research on fascism)- so I got to chat with him about opening the US archives to expose the crimes of the US from the Holocaust to Latin America and all of it. He is a strong advocate of that.

He is incredibly tuned in to this issue. The assassination of Palme and the recent murder of the female Swedish foreign minister has made them all fear Bush et al. Europe is sick of Bush.

But this is just the tip of the fascist iceberg and their (the BFEE's) own blatant stupidity will sink them in a hole.

Now the question is whether we are naive enough to elect a republican surrogate like Clark or Kerry who will carry on the work of global corporate fascism

[priller]

37. And it's in the Washingon Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11208-2003Sep27.html

They're basically admitting it was exactly what it appeared to be: REVENGE. Check this out:

A senior administration official said two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and revealed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife. That was shortly after Wilson revealed in July that the CIA had sent him to Niger last year to look into the uranium claim and that he had found no evidence to back up the charge. Wilson's account eventually touched off a controversy over Bush's use of intelligence as he made the case for attacking Iraq.

"Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge," the senior official said of the alleged leak.


So a "senior administration official" is now ratting on the other "top White House officials." So the WH must have decided already that somebody is taking the fall. Oh, this is so juicy! Can't wait to attach some names to these.

[Eddie Current]

38. It looks like a controlled explosion

to the consternation of many this story was released on a Friday evening and seemed to be slow in being picked up. but look at what is happening...

do you suppose the CIA knows a thing or two about handling information?

Ministry of Information Retrieval
Ministry of Information Dissemination

[TahitiNut]

39. dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=135657