NYT: At White House, a Day of Silence on Rove's Role in C.I.A. Leak

[Pirate Smile]

WASHINGTON, July 11 - Nearly two years after stating that any administration official found to have been involved in leaking the name of an undercover C.I.A. officer would be fired, and assuring that Karl Rove and other senior aides to President Bush had nothing to do with the disclosure, the White House on Monday refused to answer any questions about new evidence of Mr. Rove's role in the matter.

With the White House silent, Democrats rushed in, demanding that the administration provide a full account of any involvement by Mr. Rove, one of the president's closest advisers, turning up the political heat in the case and leaving some Republicans worried about the possible effects on Mr. Bush's second-term agenda.

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, cited Mr. Bush's statements about firing anyone involved in the leak and said, "I trust they will follow through on this pledge."

Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said Mr. Rove, given his stature and the principles involved in the case, could not hide behind legal advice not to comment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/12/politics/12rove.html?ei=5094&en=722d41bfc0b4802a&hp=&ex=1121140800&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1121136658-flXmFsZ6yowYtWYF7nO82g



Edit to add - Past White House Briefings on C.I.A. Leak Case

"President Bush and Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, have discussed the disclosure of the identity of a covert C.I.A. operative at a variety of news conferences and briefings for reporters. Following are excerpts of transcripts of those sessions as recorded by the White House and Federal News Service. " - 7 PAGES of Quotes from Bush and Puffy McMoonface (Scottie).

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/11/politics/12rove-quotes.html?pagewanted=1

[short bus president]

1. schadenfreude

never felt so good.

[kurtyboy]

25. I will start my campaign here--DON'T BUY IN TO MYTH

This was never so much about hurting Wilson and his wife as much as a lame coverup of the lie that took us to war.

This is about the coverup of the lie!!!

This is about the coverup of the lie!!!

This is about the coverup of the lie!!!

This is about the coverup of the lie!!!

These folks are scrambling to make us think it is all as simple as some political payback scheme--IT AIN'T!!!!

They're fighting for their lives here, literally, and we gotta keep the fire burning.

DONT BUY THE MYTH, keep pressing for answers.

Trust me on this.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

27. That is 100% correct. The NeoCons had to silence the last two....

...groups not going along with their story about WMDs in Iraq. Plame headed one of those groups for the CIA, and the UN weapons inspectors made up the other group. Once the CIA group was compromised, all that was left for the NeoCons to do was to discredit the UN inspectors and order them out of Iraq.

The action taken by the NeoCons against Plame's group is nothing short of treason, IMHO.

The illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq is based on nothing but a pack of lies. How many more people need to die anywhere in the Middle East before the correct course of action is taken?

[WhiteTara]

37. Yes, You are so right...

er...correct! This needs to unravel completely and the whole scheme revealed.

[rexcat]

2. Since Bush* has never told the truth about anything to date...

does anyone really think Rove will be fired. The Democrats need to keep the heat on concerning this issue. It is a no win situation for Bush*.

[Cha]

7. NO! bush lies

just to hear himself talk.

Imagine having a position where it was your job to lie to your country, to the world, and even to yourself. Little shit must be overwhelmed..or he's just a sociopath.

[femrap]

35. lying little rat....

Do you think that is why he is always BLINKING? Or has the Manchurian blown a fuse or something???

[Bigmack]

3. Bush said a lot.....

"uhhhh, Freedom..... uhhhh, 9-11.... "

[WorseBeforeBetter]

4. "I trust they will follow through on this pledge."

I would have preferred "If he is a man of his word, he will follow through on his pledge," but at this point, I'll take what I can get.

[brettdale]

5. is this the big story Drudge was talking about?

Or does that come out tomorrow?

[Pirate Smile]

9. I hope there is more because I don't see much more here then a synopsis

of today's news along with a history of how we got here.

The final parts make it sound like Rove probably hasn't broken any laws. It is not exactly hard hitting journalism.

[Pirate Smile]

11. They post the stories in tomorrow's paper the night before. This will be

in tomorrow's paper.

[Pirate Smile]

17. I found the graphic and the transcripts since the original article and

I've added it to the original post. It helps make the case.

[grasswire]

6. dammit

The wording makes it sound like a political football. Goddam NYT.

[underthedome]

8. House of Bush/House of Lies *nm

nm

[Erika]

10. Of course there is silence, Rove is Bush's brain

and Bush is waiting to hear what he is supposed to say next.

Scott McClellan was hilarious as a weasel today trying to defend his and the administration's past lies to reporters.

I guess Evangelicals don't mind if their president and his top aide are proven liars. It was Rove who made up the database of evangelical voters and went after them in the last election.

[Pirate Smile]

12. WP: Bush Aide Deflects Questions On Rove (Democrats Seek Firing in Leak)

Bush Aide Deflects Questions On Rove
Democrats Seek Firing in Leak Case

By Mike Allen and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, July 12, 2005; Page A01

President Bush's aides threw up a wall yesterday when questioned about revelations that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove had discussed the role of CIA official Valerie Plame with a reporter despite past White House assertions that he was not involved in her unmasking.

Engulfed by questions at two combative briefings, White House press secretary Scott McClellan cited the continuing criminal investigation to say that he would not discuss conversations Rove had with a reporter about Plame before her name was published, or say whether Bush's pledge to fire anyone involved in leaking classified information still stands.

"No one wants to get to the bottom of it more than the president of the United States," McClellan said, echoing his two-year-old position on the case. "And I think the way to be most helpful is to not get into commenting on it while it is an ongoing investigation."

Democrats, emboldened by having the White House on the defensive, began a campaign to pressure Rove to give up his security clearances, answer questions before Congress and even resign.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/11/AR2005071101568.html

edit to add - Milbank's take on Scottie's trip to the Woodshed.

Spokesman Holds Tongue During Intense Grilling

On the north lawn of the White House yesterday afternoon, gardeners were taking a chain saw and wood chipper to some tree branches. Inside the briefing room, reporters were taking press secretary Scott McClellan to the woodshed.

It was journalists' first chance to grill McClellan on camera since coming to the conclusion that he had misled them 18 months ago when he said President Bush's top political aide, Karl Rove, had nothing to do with the unmasking of a CIA operative. The recipients of McClellan's bum steer were furious -- hectoring him more than questioning him.

-snip-
The 32-minute pummeling was perhaps the worst McClellan received since he got the job two years ago. His eyes were red and tired. He wiggled his foot nervously behind the lectern and robotically refused to answer no fewer than 35 questions about Rove and the outing of the CIA's Valerie Plame. Twenty-two times McClellan repeated that an "ongoing" investigation prevented him from explaining the gap between his past statements and the facts.

-snip-
McClellan is indeed well liked by the press corps. But that counts for little now, when recent events have shown that he either misled reporters deliberately or was duped by his White House colleagues. Ken Herman, the voluble Cox News White House reporter, even invoked Watergate days, asking if McClellan's previous statements are "all inoperative."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/11/AR2005071101284.html

[pinniped]

13. There goes that famous Bizarro World talk again.

="No one wants to get to the bottom of it more than the president of the United States," McClellan said==

These POS wanted to get to the bottom of 9/11, too.

That's why they stalled, and stalled, and stalled.

[Cha]

14. "Firing"...why don't they haul

rove's ass to jail? Or..How about Treason? What's the penalty for treason?

[TahitiNut]

15. Gee, when their kid barbecues the neighbors' dog ...

... do they just tell him "No dessert for you, young man"??

I really can't believe they're merely calling for Rove's dismissal two years after it was obvious that staff heads should roll -- particularly supervisory folks with access to classified information of this kind.

Hundreds of thousands of working people in this country lose their jobs every year for far less reason than was evident two years ago for Rove.

I want that bastard tried, convicted, and imprisoned along with the rest of the criminals in this regime.

[Seabiscuit]

34. I personally want Rove skewered, basted, BBQ'd & fed to the rats.

[pinniped]

16. Maybe it's firing squad.

Maybe he should get what the Rosenthals' got.

[Cha]

19. Ah yes, the

firing squad!

[Bumblebee]

18. Milbank in tomorrow's WP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/11/AR2005071101284_pf.html

Spokesman Holds Tongue During Intense Grilling

By Dana Milbank
Post
Tuesday, July 12, 2005; A04


On the north lawn of the White House yesterday afternoon, gardeners were taking a chain saw and wood chipper to some tree branches. Inside the briefing room, reporters were taking press secretary Scott McClellan to the woodshed.

It was journalists' first chance to grill McClellan on camera since coming to the conclusion that he had misled them 18 months ago when he said President Bush's top political aide, Karl Rove, had nothing to do with the unmasking of a CIA operative. The recipients of McClellan's bum steer were furious -- hectoring him more than questioning him.

"This is ridiculous!"

"You're in a bad spot here, Scott."

"Have you consulted a personal attorney?"

The 32-minute pummeling was perhaps the worst McClellan received since he got the job two years ago. His eyes were red and tired. He wiggled his foot nervously behind the lectern and robotically refused to answer no fewer than 35 questions about Rove and the outing of the CIA's Valerie Plame. Twenty-two times McClellan repeated that an "ongoing" investigation prevented him from explaining the gap between his past statements and the facts.

In September 2003, McClellan said that anybody found to be involved in the Plame unmasking "would no longer be in this administration." He said that any suggestion of Rove's involvement was "ridiculous." But in recent days, Rove's lawyer and an internal Time magazine e-mail confirmed that Rove told Time that the wife of administration critic and former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV was with the CIA.

This produced a frenzy in the briefing room yesterday, where McClellan's long opening statement about the 10th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre did not distract the reporters.

The Associated Press's Terry Hunt led off. "Does the president stand by his pledge to fire anyone involved in the leak of a name of a CIA operative?"

McClellan, wearing a gray suit and heavy makeup, delivered the first of many demurrals. "While that investigation is ongoing, the White House is not going to comment," he said. (Much more, equally sarcastic :)

[Cha]

20. Why would scotty wear

makeup?

I can't believe the intensity of the questions? What's changed in the wh press corps? What happened to the sheep?

[Bumblebee]

21. Good question -- re makeup (plus what Gregory said on Hardball)

and what motivated Milbank to emphasize it?

Also -- I didn't see it mentioned yet but David Gregory said on Hardball his understanding was Cooper was testifying in front of the grand jury Wednesday morning.

[Cha]

22. Hey thanks, and Welcome

to DU, Bumblebee!

[Bumblebee]

26. Thanks! I have been a silent part of it for many months :)

[Pirate Smile]

28. What did Gregory say? I must have missed that part.

[Bumblebee]

30. That Cooper will testify Wedn morning

[Pirate Smile]

32. Oh, yeah. I thought it had something to do with Scottie's makeup.

I didn't know why Gregory and Milbank would mention it.

Milbank mentions it just to snark on Scottie which is fine with me.

[daleo]

33. In case he wanted to launch into a Tammy Fae Baker act?

Tears and mascara can melt any questioners heart.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

29. Excellent post, Bumblebee!

[Bumblebee]

31. And this from USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-07-11-white-house-rove_x.htm

Among Monday's calls for action against Rove:

• Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said Rove "should be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted."

• Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said the president should suspend Rove's security clearances.

• Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., urged that Rove be called to a congressional hearing and put under oath.

• The liberal group MoveOn PAC said Rove should resign or be fired.

McClellan repeated one basic answer Monday: While Fitzgerald is investigating, he said, "the White House is not going to comment."

Reporters reminded McClellan that he has commented on the case several times, and said in the past that Rove had nothing to do with the leak. McClellan said Fitzgerald's office has asked the White House to refrain from commenting.

One Democrat with experience in defending the Clinton White House says Rove may not be in legal jeopardy. Lanny Davis was a special counsel to President Clinton. He said Monday that to violate the law, Rove would have had to know Plame was a covert officer; intentionally disclose that fact; and know that the CIA wanted her covert status kept secret.

"It's extremely difficult to violate that law and to prove a violation," Davis said.

[Erika]

36. The Bush administration was furious at Wilson

and Rove was an insider. It was just casual conversation that Rove outed Wilson's wife? I don't quite think so.

[lovuian]

23. No Comment is like taking the 5th right!!! and usually you

don't want to incriminate yourself!!!

Lots of guilty people scrambling and sweating and turning red!!!

But what really disturbs me is the Media not telling WHY

Rove would maliciously want to expose Wilson's wife

because Wilson was telling everybody his report didn't make the Niger connection that George Bush lied about in his State of the Union speech!!!

[Straight Shooter]

24. The accompanying photos make bush look like a fool and Scotty an idiot.

Those are not flattering photos, and I think the NYT is sending a message. (I never realized it before, but Scotty plucks his eyebrows to accentuate that nice arch :) )

[Cha]

39. That photo of

bush looks like his Mad Scientist look.

[tonekat]

38. I think all stories in the press should start like this:

"Official White House Toady Scott McClellan nervously stated today...."

Heh, hows it feel to be hung out and twisting slowly in the wind, Scott?