Outed CIA Woman & Hubby Mull Suit

[Fridays Child]

Think of the possibilities!

-snip-

October 3, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - The CIA officer whose cover was blown by an alleged Bush administration leak and her diplomat husband have retained a Washington lawyer to find out who they can sue and how much money they can seek.
Also, the investigation, first focused on the White House and CIA, is now broadening to include the State and Defense departments, officials said.

"There's no question that the Wilsons' legal rights have been violated," their lawyer, Christopher Wolf, told The Post. "More importantly, the country's legal rights have been violated, and that's first and foremost what they're interested in."

-snip-

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/7200.htm


Remember Jones v. Clinton established that presidents can't hide behind executive privilege.

[Tansy_Gold]

1. Suing is one thing, but could theyfind a prosecutor who would. . . .

. ... essentially bring charges against an alleged leaker? Or an admitted leaker, a.k.a. Bob Novak?

I suppose the civil suit is one way to do it, since it sure don't look any too likely anyone in the Cheney administration (we all know the awol asshole is just the puppet, don't we?) is actually going to initiate anything.

Gee, could we maybe turn this into a class action suit, seeing as how all of us have been harmed by this trashing of our national security intelligence apparatus?

It's late, and this shit boggles my mind. Time to go to bed, to sleep, perchance NOT to dream because all the dreams lately are bad.


Tansy Gold, who would like to be hopeful in light of recent events but has learned hope is best held until after whatever was hoped for has happened and whatever was feared has not.

[Fridays Child]

3. What I like about the idea is that it puts someone other than Ashcroft...

...in charge of asking the questions.

[Tansy_Gold]

6. Agreed. Ashcroft won't do a damn thing

this is, in a way, maybe, the equivalent of the Paula Jones thing, the Juantia Broadrick thing, etc. It's roughly the equivalent of "Can we charge a sitting president with a crime, or do we have to wait until he's out of office" that was used against Clinton.

Someone said in another post that suing for $$$$ makes Wilson look like he's in it only for the dough. I don't think so. But that's the only currency we have; can't sue for an apology or a resignation or whatever. Gotta sue for cash. Negotiations come later.

And I think there will be some sense that regardless what the $$$ stakes are, there will be incentives for people to come forward. Getting the first one will be difficult, as we've all seen. But getting the second and third and fourth will be a piece of cake.

Tansy Gold, still not hopeful

[gorviston]

13. Check out this article at Salon...

Sounds like the Wilsons have been listening to John Dean, Nixon's former Counsel, of all people. He has been writing great stuff since the selection. From his perspective, the filing of a civil suit was about the only thing that enabled Watergate to happen, and the Nixon White House was a bunch of amateurs compared to the bushits when it comes to discipline and secrecy. This could be great news!

<snip>

...let me share a bit of history with Ambassador Wilson and his wife. And, well aware that gratuitous advice is rightfully suspect, let me also offer them a suggestion -- drawn from some pages of Watergate history that till now I've only had occasion to discuss privately. Long before Congress became involved and a special prosecutor was appointed, Joe Califano, then general counsel to the Democratic National Committee and later a Cabinet officer, persuaded his Democratic colleagues to file a civil suit against the Nixon reelection committee. And that maneuver almost broke the Watergate coverup wide open. In seeking justice from the closed ranks of the Bush White House, Wilson and Plame should follow a similar strategy.

</snip>

<snip>

Few appreciate the significance of this lawsuit in the unraveling of Watergate. It has been largely overlooked by history. A few years ago, I told Joe Califano about the impact his lawsuit had: Within the White House, it was considered one of the most difficult problems to deal with during the investigations of Watergate. The FBI was no problem -- no one has to talk to an FBI agent. And no Department of Justice is going to haul White House aides before a grand jury. But a subpoena demanding the production of documents, or an appearance to give testimony under oath at a deposition -- that was a serious threat. It also troubled the FBI and Justice Department, keeping them on their toes. It was remarkably effective.

</snip>

The rest of the article is here:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2003/10/03/dean/index.html

You can register for a day pass and see the rest of it by sitting through a short commercial.



"The state can't give you free speech,
and the state can't take it away.
You're born with it, like your eyes,
like your ears. Like old Campbell said,
'Freedom is something you assume.
Then you wait for someone to try to
take it away from you.
The degree to which you resist
is the degree to which you are free.'"

-- U. Utah Phillips

[Vitruvius]

21. And here's a link to the discussion thread in Editorials and Other Article

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=14477

[Unknown Known]

2. Good - hit 'em from all sides

I'm sure James Baker will be appearing soon:puke:

[shockingelk]

4. This is not good

"retained a Washington lawyer to find out who they can sue and how much money they can seek."

"Wilson was just in it for the money." I guarantee when I check hannity.com after I get done at DU I will see something similar to that sentence. Where the heck did this come from? Is Wilson full of himself ... is this an assumption of the author?

[w13rd0]

5. Well...

...Bush and Cheney are "just in it for the money" too. Hell, they OUTED A CIA AGENT and ENDANGERED OUR SECURITY so they could secure reconstruction contracts and tax cuts for their contributors and tributaries. F'em...we need to take whatever roads offer up the opportunity to remove these people from power, peacefully and legally, before we are left with no further opportunities or options...

[liberalnurse]

7. So what I say.....

The Paula Jones suit is an example with the obvious exception, this is a serious abuse.....

I think this rumor is good; to motivate WH co-operation for one reason....I'll think of more later....

[roguevalley]

11. No.

He's guaranteeing longevity for the problem and some control over it. See John Dean at Salon.com

[robbedvoter]

19. What do you expect from NY Post? Slime & Defend

This is the paper that had Pickles being kissed by Chirac with the headline: LAURA BRAVES THE WEASEL'S KISS"
The Wilsons are both heroes. Nobody goes against Rove to get rich!

[Rocinante]

8. They need to

get on top of this like maybe yesterday. I bet shredders are working overtime, and e-mails are being deleted as we sit here. The most damaging stuff is probably long gone, but there's always loose ends to tie up. A good lawyer can step in and make sure some of this stuff is preserved. I sure hope so anyway.

[Tansy_Gold]

26. The absence of evidence

didn't save Nixon.

nor Arthur Andersen.

[farmboxer]

9. They Should Sue!

Bush and his pals are cruel and will do anything!

[roguevalley]

10. Go to Salon and read what John Dean has to say about this.

Of all the things that happened to the White House during Watergate
a lawsuit by the DNC against them almost blew the lid off things. A
tame judge was all that saved them.

They would have control, it wouldn't disappear and they would have
tools such as subpeona power, etc.

This isn't like Paula Jones, et al. This is different. Much, much
different.

[dkf]

12. Filing a civil lawsuit is advice from John Dean of Watergate fame

http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2003/10/03/dean/index.html

More vicious than Tricky Dick
John Dean says the Bush team's leaks are even viler than his former boss's -- and that Plame and Wilson should file a civil suit.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By John W. Dean

snip

So let me share a bit of history with Ambassador Wilson and his wife. And, well aware that gratuitous advice is rightfully suspect, let me also offer them a suggestion -- drawn from some pages of Watergate history that till now I've only had occasion to discuss privately. Long before Congress became involved and a special prosecutor was appointed, Joe Califano, then general counsel to the Democratic National Committee and later a Cabinet officer, persuaded his Democratic colleagues to file a civil suit against the Nixon reelection committee. And that maneuver almost broke the Watergate coverup wide open. In seeking justice from the closed ranks of the Bush White House, Wilson and Plame should follow a similar strategy.

snip

"We wanted to get to the bottom of -- we wanted the whole story, no matter where it led. There was reason to suspect that the break-in and wiretapping had been authorized by the officials of the CRP ; and there was the possibility that the trail might even lead higher. We wanted the facts, and we knew they would not be easily attained. One decision we made, acting on Joe Califano's legal advice, was to file a lawsuit against CRP. In this way, the judicial process would help us get to the truth."

Few appreciate the significance of this lawsuit in the unraveling of Watergate. It has been largely overlooked by history. A few years ago, I told Joe Califano about the impact his lawsuit had: Within the White House, it was considered one of the most difficult problems to deal with during the investigations of Watergate. The FBI was no problem -- no one has to talk to an FBI agent. And no Department of Justice is going to haul White House aides before a grand jury. But a subpoena demanding the production of documents, or an appearance to give testimony under oath at a deposition -- that was a serious threat. It also troubled the FBI and Justice Department, keeping them on their toes. It was remarkably effective.

[radfringe]

14. White House spin

..."blah blah blah...this is why we need tort reform....frivolous suits...lawyers just in it for the money...must protect the people..."

[Gunit_Sangh]

15. Deleted email

Even if they delete the email, isn't it archived on a server? I seem to remember a big flap with our last elected president where the repugs where howling when a technical error caused some of their archives to be deleted or not searchable. I'm not sure of the details, but I do remember the incident.

[OldSoldier]

20. It is

The White House has (or at least had; Chimpy may have sold it to help finance a tax cut) an IBM mainframe in the basement. It archives every e-mail ever sent to or from the White House. It's what nailed Oliver North.

[0007]

16. 'Tis hard to believe that this

is the road to justice! Can the truth can't set ya free in this type of democracy?

[E_Zapata]

17. It's a very good thing we blocked Estrada from the appellate court

In the circuit where DC sits.

Very good thing. Phwew.

And this would be the same court that made Cheney give up energy policy papers to Judicial Watch.

[Myra]

18. I *really* hope they sue

I think it's the only way to expose the
truth, i.e., that Karl Rove is the perp.

A special prosecutor would be appointed by
Asscrotch, so it'd just be a sham.

[Fridays Child]

22. morning kick

:kick:

[markses]

23. Looks like they're taking John Dean's advice to heart

He made a good case for the efficacy of a civil suit in Salon today.

[bushisanidiot]

24. Good To See someone Fighting Back!

I hope this is the spark that brings AWOL down!

[bushisanidiot]

25. Good To See someone Fighting Back!

I hope this is the spark that brings AWOL down!

[Bandit]

27. If I were Novak I might start getting worried

He can sit on his sources but will still have to pay through the nose. He cost her any chance at promotion from her clandestine position. It is a known fact that promotions are much much sooner when there is combat or danger involved. We may never really know who actually did the leaking but Novak will pay a price. That makes me happy. They need to learn they just can't go around hurting people with no consequences.