Rove E-Mailed Security Official About Talk

[maddezmom]

By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer
11 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - After mentioning a CIA operative to a reporter, Bush confidant Karl Rove alerted the president's No. 2 security adviser about the interview and said he tried to steer the journalist away from allegations the operative's husband was making about faulty Iraq intelligence.


The July 11, 2003, e-mail between Rove and then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley is the first showing an intelligence official knew Rove had talked to Matthew Cooper just days before the Time magazine reporter divulged CIA officer Valerie Plame's secret identity.

"I didn't take the bait," Rove wrote in an e-mail obtained by The Associated Press, recounting how Cooper tried to question him about whether President Bush had been hurt by the new allegations.

The White House turned the e-mail over to prosecutors, and Rove testified to a grand jury about it last year.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050715/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cia_leak_rove;_

[Roland99]

1. 2052 votes and the article was just released 14 minutes ago?!?!?

[quaoar]

4. Is that the odor of rat

in the air?

[aquart]

7. 2052 votes?

Sorry. don't get the reference.

Also don't get what the hoo hah is. Did Rove get to pick and choose which email to send the jury?

This doesn't support ANYBODY's story.

[Roland99]

28. At the bottom of the Yahoo article.

[stepnw1f]

2. LOL (nt)

[Bumblebee]

3. This is Huge

I forgive Solomon his blunder with Wilson saying his wife was not covert yesterday...

[benddem]

8. wilson didn't say that

he said his wife was NO longer undercover after NoFacts revealed her name. Cbeck out the retraction by NYT.

[Bumblebee]

11. I know but Solomon first got it

wrong -- that's what I was referring to -- and forgiving him for. I do think this e-mail works AGAINST Rove, not for him. It goes to the heart of how it's all about MWD and not who sent Wilson to Niger, and how sensitive and touchy they are about Wilson's views. Enough to make a "plot against Wilson" very plausible indeed.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

50. It's not about Wilson, either....it's about the global network Plame....

...headed that tracked materials that could be used in the making of WMDs. That group was NOT seeing any WMDs in Iraq, and it was not seeing Iraq trying to acquire WMDs, and they were reporting that up the CIA chain of command. The NeoCons had to nullify that group so that they could continue to claim that Iraq had WMDs, and that the U. S. had justification to attack Iraq.

By eliminating Plame's group, the NeoCons badly damaged National Security, perhaps beyond repair. That's why the NeoCons are scrambling to get out from under the falling tree...they know they are guilty of one or more felonies by publicly exposing an undercover operative and her entire network.

[mom cat]

60. Thanks for this perspective on the issue. It's scary enough to think

that they went after Valerie Plame because of Joe Wilson. It had not occurred to me until you just said it that they went after her because her team in the CIA was not giving the neocons what they wanted to hear. They really don't care do they? They really don't care that they damaged a whole intelligence unit on weapons of mass destruction. Of course not. It was never about weapons of mass distraction anyway was it? Sorry I'm rambling, but I'm just now processing the import of what you just said. Thank you so much, and could you perhaps post this as a new thread in GD politics or something? Thanks.

[grasswire]

74. they knew there were no WMD

Valerie Plame could have exposed this critical fact. The WH KNEW there were no WMD in Iraq. They went forward with no plan to avert chaos, because chaos = profit for Bushco. The more chaos, the more profit.

Ghouls. Grifters.

[JoFerret]

71. Plame was on the money trail

...following the money....right to the heart of the BFEE.

[Justice]

70. what a huge blunder by NYT

[Cha]

86. Just another day at

the nyt.

[goforit]

87. NYT propagandist, defending the freedom of speech by lying to all.

[LiviaOlivia]

5. Who's paying Solomon for this stuff?

Sounds like he's on Rove's defense team.

[Bumblebee]

6. Why do you think it's good for Rove?!!

[LiviaOlivia]

32. LOL

The info came from somewhere in the administration.
If they had an innocent explanation, why not give it two years ago?

Anything on Rovegate from AP should be viewed with great suspicion,IMHO.

[bejammin075]

45. It sheds light on motive: Get Wilson, cover up WMD lies

healthy scepticism is good, but take another look at the article. i think it hurts rove. i think it starts to implicate a larger group of people in the bush admin. i wish we just had the whole text of the email. we can handle it.

[Demeter]

57. Not to Mention the Wall Strret Journal...A Wholly Owned Subsidiary

of BushCo.

[joemurphy]

9. Wow! This undercuts a Republican talking point.

They've been saying that Karl Rove had merely been trying to get Cooper to print a truthful story; that he had a short two minute conversation while anxious to leave for vacation; and never intended to divulge any classified information.

But the e-mail to Hadley, Rice's Deputy on the NSC, is interesting in other ways. Hadley was the guy who claimed the CIA's report that critiqued the intelligence on Iraqi uranium buys had been mistakenly left on his desk and had not been passed on to his boss, Condoleeza Rice, and as a result the famous "16 words" had inadvertently gotten into Bush's State of the Union address. Hadley offered to resign over the error but instead was kicked upstairs and now holds Rice's old NSC position. Why did Rove feel compelled to E-mail Hadley?

[bvar22]

17. This could give Rove some legal cover!

Since the bush* admn. is floating the meme that it was the MEDIA that outed Plame, and Rove found out about it from the MEDIA, he would be under an obligation to REPORT that the Media was disclosing CLASSIFIED Information and that an Agent or National Security was at risk. This makes KRove look like a competent concerned official doing his JOB to protect America!


There is absolutely NO REASON for the bush* WhiteHouse to "sit on" this information that basically exonerates Karl Rove. If the MEDIA disclosed Plame's identity to Rove, AND Rove reported the Security Breach, the bush* WhiteHouse would have disclosed this info THE FIRST DAY questions were raised.

This STINKS!!!

How hard is it to manufacture pre-dated E-Mails?

[Bumblebee]

19. But how is he protecting America?

He is protecting the WH ass and the e-mail makes it clear:

"When he finished his brief heads-up he immediately launched into Niger. Isn't this damaging? Hasn't the president been hurt? I didn't take the bait, but I said if I were him I wouldn't get Time far out in front on this."

Are we reading the same e-mail?

They may think it's good for Rove but I think it will backfire big time!

[joemurphy]

24. I totally agree with you.

It shows that Rove was spinning Cooper. He was trying to tell Cooper that the real story wasn't the phony WMD claim that got us into the Iraq War. Nooooooooooo! It was Wilson's trumped up story. Wilson, says Rove, is a partisan sent by his CIA agent wife to Niger without the knowledge of Cheney or Tenet. This is Karl at work. I don't see how it helps Rove one bit.

[Bumblebee]

27. THANK YOU!

I was beginning to think I must be delusional :)

[PurityOfEssence]

26. Yep, it sounds like a threat to me.

Nice little magazine ya got there; wouldn't wanna see it BURNED TO THE GROUND, wouldja?

This is gangster speak. Rove can try to skew it as altruistic concern for a journalist not going too far afield, but it more than just smacks of him saying: pursue this, and your world will get a high and mighty ass-kicking.

"...if I were him, I wouldn't get Time far out in front of this..."

Why? Because we love you, you little lapdogs; is that it? Time always has been a servant of the haves, and Henry Luce was famous for saying "I'll give them the news I want them to get". This sounds like a threat, and worse: it sounds like a threat to operatives who do one's bidding. The arrogance of the threat is quite astonishing: essentially it's saying that you, as our employees, should realize that you've never heard of this.

To skew this as honorable concern for a fellow human is laughable.

[joemurphy]

22. Yeah, but wasn't it Rove that disclosed the info to Cooper

and not the other way around? Rove tells Cooper that Wilson's wife is a CIA agent and she sent Wilson to Niger.

Then Rove turns around and reports his breach to Hadley? Sounds implausible to me. Rove isn't doing his duty as a good citizen reporting his own breach. He's warning Hadley that Cooper was after him; that Rove had redirected Cooper's inquiry; and he was trying to get Cooper to focus on Wilson's credibility instead of the White House's phony WMD claim. It's part of a concerted WH effort, reaching all the way to Condi's office, to cover up the bogus uranium purchase claim.

[bvar22]

25. The Republicans are trying to say....

...that Rove learned about Plame's identity FROM Cooper who called Rove. If so, Rove would be under obligation to REPORT the Security Breach. I believe he would be obligated (Patriotic Duty) to report it to the FBI, and NOT an administration National Security Advisor, but this is close enough to cover his ass!

STORY STINKS!!!

This also doesn't explain the other 6 reporters that "accidentally disclosed Palme's identity" to Rove.

[Bumblebee]

31. But he does not report ANYTHING in connection to Plame

It's all about Wilson and Niger, and Wilson's very public opinion piece in the NYT. How does it cover his ass? He is reporting that he tried to stop Miller from writing an article which would be bad for the administration -- that's all it is.

[joemurphy]

40. And Cooper didn't tell Rove that "Wilson's wife was a CIA

agent". Rove told Cooper that. If the Republicans are trying to spin it the other way, they're nuts. Rove leaked Plame's identity to Cooper, not the other way around.

What the Republicans are trying to say is that Rove was trying to do Cooper a "favor". Don't get too far out on Wilson is jargon for "Wilson's all wet". Rove knew Novak was coming out with a story slamming Wilson as being a girlie-man sent to Niger at the behest of his wife. He also knew that the CIA was going to take the fall for the "sixteen words" while giving the WH lots of cover by saying that despite this "lapse" there was still lots of evidence Saddam was trying to buy uranium (a fabrication by good soldier Tenet - who was probably trying to kiss ass and keep his job over the "slam dunk" statement he made to Bush and the 911 fiasco).

Anyway, that's how I read it. I see it as part of a plan to discredit Wilson and the interesting thing is that the plan went right on up from Rove to the NSC - sweet Condi's bailiwick.

[jefferson_dem]

41. But he passed such security-sensitive info on to Cooper nonetheless.

This is nothing but shows that Rove knew there was a security "issue" and that the circle of "those in the know" in the WH was rather large. Why, then, did Scotty-boy report that it's "absurd" to suggest Rovie was linked?

...COVER-UP!

[0007]

51. No shit!

[Zen Democrat]

56. Really? I didn't read anywhere in that email that Kove mentioned Plame

He mentioned that he had talked to Cooper to move him off the Wilson/Niger story. Where in that email does he tell Hadley that Plame's CIA status was discussed?

[mom cat]

62. Bingo!

[bitchkitty]

75. A chimp could probably do it. n/t

[Demeter]

59. It's Like Wiley Coyote...running off a Cliff...hanging in the air

until he realizes there's nothing holding him up...and he plunges to earth.

[Tin Man]

91. Excellent question!

Why did Rove email Hadley (the administration's scapegoat for the erroneous "16 words"), writing "I didn't take the bait"? Hmmmm....

[Scout1071]

10. Let's remember that Martha was busted for falsifying emails

and logs. How do we know that there wasn't a little backtracking by Rove? Or that he sent such an email as a CYA.

All I know is that I rated the story a 5, because any news article that talks about Rove, Treason, Bush and controversy should be page one news.

[maddezmom]

12. I think it was done after the fact as well...and who the hell is leaking

I'd say the WH.

[Pirate Smile]

18. Definitely. All these leaks are coming straight from the WH.

Fitzgerald isn't leaking on the other side so the WH is free (right now but that will end) to try to spin everything their way.

[lancdem]

35. I'm certain this is from the WH

I think they know Cooper testified in a way that's damning to Rove and are trying to undercut that.

[Rose Siding]

42. Doncha LOVE how the press has conditioned us?

OHHhhh, this is the MOST leak proof WH, EVER!!!, they squeal.

BULL- Here we find out that there was a free exchange about this way back when.

[TahitiNut]

13. Stephen Hadley was part of the WHIG

They're merely showing how they boilerplated the WHIG teamwork in outing Plame.

[snippy]

34. Exactly. n/t

[truthisfreedom]

14. yahoo put 2000 neutral (3 stars) votes in before releasing the article, is

my guess. some thug at the helm.

[me b zola]

67. I was unable to get into the discussion forum

Have you tried? I get a message to check the URL. I have tried several times and still the same result. :shrug:

[FormerRepublican]

15. If Rove is so innocent...

...why didn't he come clean 2 years ago?

This is still a violation of his non-disclosure agreement, and it also shows that Bush's NSA didn't care about the leaks of a CIA operative. That's pretty chilling.

He knew Novak was writing an article about an undercover CIA operative involved in WMD, which he knew was classified info, and he didn't try to squash it? And neither did Bush's NSA (well, deputy NSA then, but almost the same thing)? Yes, the government CAN prevent the publication of classified information it knows will damage national security - it's one of the few valid reasons to quash pre-publication.

So, the White House KNOWS that a big story is about to break that puts national security at risk, and they do NOTHING?

Karl Rove knows a CIA operative is about to be exposed, but he does NOTHING? Not even telling Hadley in his email what's about to hit the fan?

Why the phone call to Chris Matthews that Valerie Plame was fair game?

Why, oh why, do Republicans somehow think this makes Bush and Rove look better?

The only thing this does is PROVE beyond doubt that the White House doesn't give a flying leap about national security in a time of war!!!

[mom cat]

66. It's also proves that they did not care about weapons of mass destruction.

I think an interesting question might be whether Hadley ever talk to Condi about any of this. This might open up yet another can of worms.

[lovuian]

16. Bush Fired Tenet but didn't fire Hadley but Promoted him!!!

Bush is PROMOTING people who gave out the false information to promote his Iraq WMD campaing and Hadley proved his worth by taking the blame on why that Niger sentence was in the State Union Address!!!

Bush Rove & Cheney all have motive and Condi Rice is lurking in the background too!!!

So did Bush want to find the leaker???

No WAY!!!

[Cocoa]

20. Rove might have just been bolstering his cover story

he might have known he was committing a crime, and knew he needed this defense, so he sent the email to leave a trail.

Anyway, the crime is for the court to decide, and the crime isn't the central point anyway.

[Bumblebee]

23. the smart thing to do

would have been not to send any e-mails. This one is open to many interpretations, as we see in this discussion. I, for one, think it's quite damning. We will see.

[Cocoa]

29. I think this is being leaked in Rove's defense

Rove has already admitted he was trying to discredit Wilson, this email doesn't add much on that front.

This email potentially undermines the case that Rove was trying to retaliate against Wilson by deliberately ruining Plame's career.

[Bumblebee]

38. It's the omission that counts

How come he is trying to stop Cooper from writing a critical piece for the Times but gives Novak green light and then uses the Plame info in his conversation with Cooper (and then conveniently omits it in the e-mail)? If I were a prosecutor suspicious of a plot against Wilson, I would be very happy with this e-mail -- and, remember, Fitz has many, many more. We will just get to see the "good" ones leaked to the press, and it makes me feel very hopeful when even "good ones" are bad enough!

[lovuian]

46. Well if this is to help Rove then its going to backfire

To me it only shows the Abuse of Power, Fraud, and Obstruction of Justice... I think this is above Rove their are scrambling for a plausible story to tell when all the dots are connected with these emails and phone records... Plus their actions are speaking Volumes about their Motives

Fitgerald is going to ask How did that Niger statement get into the state of the union address for Bush...

the Niger statement in 2003 was showed to be false by Wilson coming out and saying it was false...

Hadley put the information in the State of the Union address ...

But was HE PUNISHED for the deceptive lie by President Bush

No he was promoted!!!

but the people who spoke the truth Wilson was given retaliation by threatening his wife...

I think this is going way over Rove now this is involving the WhiteHouse and its trailing up to Bush & Cheney!!!

this is getting good!!!

[Straight Shooter]

52. I agree; I think it's a very self-serving e-mail.

Why would Rove bother sending Hadley an e-mail about this particular conversation? Are there e-mails which cover his ass regarding conversations with all the other reporters re: Plame.

Phewee! It just stinks more and more and more.

[rustydad]

93. YES

If Rove was told by any reporter information that may have been clasified about a US intellegence asset, then that reporter may have been committing an illegal act. Rove had an oblication to report the possible illegal act to the Attorney General and the CIA/FBI not some chump in the White House. Rove swings. Bob

[Ilsa]

21. "I didn't take the bait"

sounds like a calculated political move to me. A probably CYA. The whole thing smells like a dirty aquarium.

BTW: Why has Novaks been so smug all this time? Is it just because he made his deal first?

[BamaBecky]

33. smells like a dirty aquarium....LOL....that's the truth!...n/t

[Seabiscuit]

39. Novak's been so smug lately because (1) unlike Miller, he's not in jail;

(2) he loves having a secret (if he's not gloating about hiding the identity of the Plame leakers, he's gloating about hiding the facts about how he avoided jail); (3) he was born smug - smug defines his character, straight out of central casting; if someone were to build a smug robot it would have to look just like Novak.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

48. Sounds a lot like collusion

A concerted effort, a co-ordinated response - "I didn't take the bait" - there is some kind of common reference point that they both know exactly what he is talking about. Can you say CONSPIRACY?

[notadmblnd]

53. how many turds do you think they'll throw in the water

before they realize shit doesn't float?

[arewenotdemo]

76. lol.....at least not with Fitzgerald, we hope.

[cally]

30. So, Hadley and Rove did nothing to stop the outing of Plame

who was working on wmds and nonproliferation if this memo is true. How is this possibly good news for Rove. They could have asked Cooper or Novak to hold the story to PROTECT NATIONAL SECURITY but all they worried about was political ramifications. It may not fit the legal definition of treason but it fits mine.

[lovuian]

47. Nothing your correct!!! If anything they promoted her outing!!!

and they Both KNEW BETTER!!!

No saying I didn't know that this was bad!!!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

36. The web of lies is slowly unraveling

[rustydad]

92. Z

The movie Z, it is a perfect analogy to Plamegate. In the end though the bad guys use martial law to overwhelm the Court. Keep you powder dry. Bob

[liveoaktx]

37. When did the AP obtain this email and from who? Was it a leak

from the investigation or an email sent over from the WH?

It's very easy to fake an email.

[Bumblebee]

44. A couple more things before this thread goes dead

1. The fact that they are releasing all these e-mails and talking to NYT, WP, AP all points to how worried they are about the court of public opinion -- the other court they (hopefully) have no power over, and that's the one that matters. But I do think all these leaked documents and statements make them look even more anxious and guilty, and go very much against their MO: never explain or justify, just do.

2. Cooper watch. He must be writing his article this weekend since he is scheduled to talk to Russert on Sunday. It would make sense that Time would want him to put it all in writing and on their web site first BEFORE he goes public with it without their logo in there :)

[librechik]

63. the only people leaking are Rove and his lawyer--this is BS

Fitzgerald is saving his words for the judge.

[progressivebydesign]

85. look at the link address: "wh_pr"

It was a press release faxed to AP, that was given to Solomon to change a few words and call it his own. AP is shit now.

[peacetalksforall]

43. This looks and smells like brown stuff.....

After pummeling the WH all week and for many weeks, why now?
Methinks Hadley lies - a file is left on his desk and yellowcake shows up in the SOTU speech.

SURRRRREEEE.

It's been 4 1/2 years of watching the honor and integrity and we KNOW BETTER!

[lovuian]

49. The question of Perjury still hasn't been answered!!!

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=a83d12d2721ff174&cat=c08dd24cec417021

Grand jury told how Rove indirectly confirmed the identity of CIA agent
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Published: 16 July 2005
The CIA leak affair took a new twist when it emerged that the White House adviser Karl Rove had indirectly confirmed the name of the agent Valerie Plame to the journalist who first made her name public.

The disclosure is bound to fuel demands by Dem-ocrats that President Bush fire Mr Rove - in keeping with a pledge he made shortly after the columnist Robert Novak identified Ms Plame in July 2003, that he would "deal with" any White House staff found to be involved with the leak.

Mr Bush himself has avoided comment. But he has signalled he intends to stick by the man credited with engineering his election successes, making sure he was photographed chatting with Mr Rove as the two left on a presidential visit to Indiana this week.

The fate of Mr Rove hinges on the findings of the special prosecutor who is investigating if anyone broke the law making it a crime to deliberately disclose the name of a CIA secret agent.

Mr Rove has told the grand jury investigating the case that he did not divulge Ms Plame's name. He maintains he learnt it from Mr Novak during their conversation. Ms Plame is the wife of Joseph Wilson, the former ambassador sent to Africa in 2002 to look into reports that Saddam Hussein bought uranium there.

Mr Wilson later accused the administration of distorting intelligence to justify war in Iraq. He says that his wife's name was leaked to "punish" him.

The CIA leak affair took a new twist when it emerged that the White House adviser Karl Rove had indirectly confirmed the name of the agent Valerie Plame to the journalist who first made her name public.

The disclosure is bound to fuel demands by Dem-ocrats that President Bush fire Mr Rove - in keeping with a pledge he made shortly after the columnist Robert Novak identified Ms Plame in July 2003, that he would "deal with" any White House staff found to be involved with the leak.

...
snip

Mr Rove has told the grand jury investigating the case that he did not divulge Ms Plame's name. He maintains he learnt it from Mr Novak during their conversation. Ms Plame is the wife of Joseph Wilson, the former ambassador sent to Africa in 2002 to look into reports that Saddam Hussein bought uranium there

more...

so he INDIRECTLY CONFIRMED Plames name... So rove still commted Perjury for if he answered No I didn't out valerie Plame...

The FACTS SHOW ...HE DID OUT HER because he in his actions confirmed she was one...

He isn't going to wriggle out of the Perjury... He's trying to get out of the Abuse of Power and Obstruction of justice!!!

[VegasWolf]

54. Get penis face Cheney! Everyone knows Rove didn't have this

kind of access! Cheney used Rove like a patsy!.

[Carni]

55. Hello? He didn't try to discourage the journalist from outing Plame

What the article says IS:

"said he tried to steer the journalist away from allegations the operative's husband was making about faulty Iraq intelligence."

This is an admission IMO that his *steering away* amounts to his leaking the name of the operative to the reporter to shut Wilson up.

I may be smoking something but I don't see how this is a plus for Rove???

[Zen Democrat]

58. Not a plus for Rove at all. It this is best stuff the WH has ...

Oh, brother.

[H2O]

61. Unfortunately

As Paul Krugman said in his article, "The Truth no longer matters". The motto of the Bush administration.

[Carni]

65. The public doesn't seem to be buying it

Rove is an unappealing package...he's ugly, he's fat, he's sneaky looking and there is nothing marketable or likeable about him.

Bushco isn't smart enough to realize that and no matter what they spew the base fact of the matter is this will damage bush FURTHER whether Rove gets the frog march out, or not!

I really hope that bush keeps up his *staunch support* because it's a no win for the repukes IMO

[WhiteTara]

69. may they burn in hell and

BTW Welcome to DU :hi:

edit for spelling

[Disturbed]

64. The more info that is coming forth now the deeper in ..

shit the Bush Gang are sinking. Maybe the RW thinks these recent pieces will help them but I feel that the Prosecutor is not amused or favorably impressed. It seems that this might lead into VP's office maybe even the Pres. himself. I am now convinced that the Bush Cabal set out to squash any info that would deter them from their goals and crush anyone in their way.

[Oreegone]

72. Ya think?

The Iran Contra, Watergate, abuse of power coalition....of course, and they have thought they were above the law....NOT

[ebayfool]

77. He admits she's an 'operative' here?

Okay, he says earlier that he didn't know she was an operative - here he calls her by that term. Is the law we're all talking about outing an operative, or only outing a 'deep cover' operative?

Damn ... I read DU - no wonder they count on confusing the general public! They throw so much shit out there it's hard to keep it all straight - I can only imagine how it looks to the average 'Aunt Tilly'!

[a new day]

79. I'm with you

Rove had spoken to both Novak and Cooper by this time, but Novak's article had not come out yet (July 11, article July 14). Hadley is the deputy national security advisor, shouldn't he know Valerie Plame's status, or at least be interested in it. If reporter's are to be warned off of something, how about outing a CIA covert agent?

The judges on the Appeals court are putting people in jail because this is a national security case.

Isn't it pretty obvious that the West Wing didn't give a damn if they outed a CIA agent, I mean how many people have to have known before calling this a "leak" is replaced by "media strategy?"

If this isn't a big revelation, please tell me why it isn't.

[mom cat]

68. This now puts the issue in Condi's office. Could get interesting.

[RSchewe]

73. How is an e-mail authenticated?

I wonder how these last few reports that seem to be conforming to RNC talking point claims/excuses are being distributed or authenticated. Is there a way to definitively authenticate an e-mail? My impression was always that electronic information, such as an e-mail message, could always be modified to mislead someone. Maybe it is just me but they seem to be conveniently timed for damage control. And all of this anonymous source business alongside the stonewalling legalese looks to be a craft way of hiding misinformation since they are hiding behind court law and anonymity.

It may well be that I do not know how this works, but if I am wrong and someone could explain this process to me I would appreciate it.

[Peace Patriot]

78. I find it hard to believe that...

I find it hard to believe that an item such as the charge about Iraq seeking nuke material in Niger--that wasn't just known to be false, but was provably false, and for which there was a witness to the falsity--could end up in Bush's SOTU speech BY ACCIDENT.

I find it hard to believe that anyone visiting another country on behalf of the US--especially a well-known diplomat like Wilson, on a sensitive mission to Niger about Iraq nukes--could have proceeded WITHOUT THE PRESIDENT'S KNOWLEDGE AND OKAY (or that of the real president, Cheney--in this case). Just couldn't happen. We don't have rogue diplomats running around the world on their own missions. As I understand it, this mission was decided upon at a CIA meeting attended by multiple parties, which was responding to a VP request to investigate the Niger allegations. This was no small deal. It was the key argument for war (Rice's "mushroom cloud"). So, what happened then? It doesn't get okayed by the Cheney regime, but Wilson goes off the Niger anyway? Not likely. Further, Cheney was intimately involved in the Iraq intel issue. And he doesn't know of this mission, and doesn't okay it?

I find it hard to believe that Wilson being married to Plame, a WMD expert, somehow taints or discredits Wilson as an emissary to Niger on a WMD issue. Wouldn't it tend to ENHANCE his ability to carry out the mission? (I've never understood this part of their story.)

I find it hard to believe that there is no connection between the outing of Plame on 7/14/03, and the death of Britain's chief WMD expert and Iraq weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly, three days later, on 7/17/03.

What's missing from the time-line above are, a) the invasion of Iraq (it needs to be in there as a reference point, March 2003), and b) the intense hunt for WMDs in Iraq in spring/summer '03, after the invasion.

If you recall the political climate at that time, there is nothing that Bush and Blair needed more than a find of WMDs in Iraq, to justify the invasion. And, isn't it curious, that just as the hunt for WMDs is occurring, there are two simultaneous events the result of which is to disable WMD expertise in these two governments? One by outing. One by death.

There is also a Judith Miller connection to David Kelly. She was the recipient of one of his last emails--the one in which he was concerned about "many dark actors playing games." And he had been a major source for her book, "Germs." When he died, she wrote a news article about him in the NYT, 7/21/03, in which she fails to disclose these personal connections. (The email was later revealed by Kelly's family.)

Kelly died under highly suspicious circumstances. He was whistleblowing to the BBC early that summer, on the Brits "sexed up" Iraq intel docs. He'd had some kind of change of heart about it all. He had supported the invasion, and had gone along with the "sexed up" intel--or hadn't felt bad enough about it to go public--prior to the invasion. When he spoke as an anonymous source to BBC reporters about the "sexed up" docs, after the invasion--while the search for WMDs was occurring--the Blairites hunted him down within the government, interrogated him in secret, outed his name to the press without warning him, forced him to testify before a Parliamentary committee and partially recant, and, having insured his notoriety, sent him home without protection.

He was soon found dead, near his home, out in the open under a tree, apparently having slit a wrist, taken painkillers and slowly bed to death all night. The official verdict was suicide. But the "Lord Hutton" inquiry ignored many highly suspicious details of his death, and eyewitness and expert dissent. There was no suicide note. And in the several emails he wrote just before his death, he was looking forward to his daughter's wedding, and returning to Iraq, and seemed to think the controversy would blow over in a week.

Kelly was a scientist who loved his work, and felt he was doing good. He was a tough man, very strong-willed, and very smart, who had stood up to Saddam Hussein and the Russians on WMD issues, and had been working on non-proliferation for decades. He had a strong sense of honor and he was not easily intimidated.

I am 99% convinced that he did not kill himself, but was killed, not for what he had said to the BBC (which wasn't all that earthshaking, and was an endlessly arguable matter--the WORDING of the intel docs), but rather for what he might have known and hadn't yet said. And my suspicion is that he may have stumbled upon, or even foiled, a plot to PLANT WMDS in Iraq. If such a plot were in motion that summer, the OTHER people who were in a prime position to detect it were Valerie Plame and her covert CIA eyes and ears network on WMDs around the world.

Whatever comes of this theory--and it's just a theory, but one that may be useful as an hypothesis for investigation--I think the David Kelly controversy and his death should be included in "Plamegate" timelines, especially given the Judith Miller connection (not to mention the coincidence in time, and the coincidences in theme: the disabling of WMD expertise and the suppression of dissent).

[Toots]

80. This is a Rove cover up___set up

Rove knows e-mails can not be erased and they will be retrieved and gone over. He deliberately planted this e-mail to help clear him of the crime of releasing confidential information. He e-mails Hadley (another fascist) that he didn't do anything wrong and only tried to help keep the facts straight. Yes I believe you Mr. Rove......Honest...

[October]

81. Yup. Bingo.

I think it's an attempted cover-up.

Everything is being tried by public opinion right now, and the WH and Fox are spinning like crazy to influence the people.

[blogslut]

82. You can fool some of the people some of the time

Well, you know the rest. :)

It's all wearing a little thin.

[symbolman]

83. Let's not forget that Tennent himself fell on the sword for the 16 words..

Can't find the link at the moment, but he took full responsibility for the 16 words getting into the SOTU speech..

Later he got the Medal of Freedom so some such shit, even if you strangle kittens and crush hamsters in your bare hands you get kicked upstairs in Bizzarro Bush Land..

Tennent is the Key here in some ways..

and the NY TIMES is NOW officially a bunch of shitbags.. I once had respect for them when they apologised for pushing the war and going overboard, but NOW they are just the other end of the Rove Fax machine - which is glowing cherry red..

In their article yesterday, they didn't even KNOW that Novak had testified in front of the Grand Jury and/or made a deal (sold everyone out) with the prosecutor to save his skanky ass..

Don't forget that the NY TImes has a "dog in the fight", ala Miller..

and also if you didn't know, TIME has hired TED OLSEN, the man who brought you BUSH, all the Time, 24/7 fucking up the universe for your convenience..

And don't forget that in 92 under the auspices of Bush Senior, KKKarl was FIRED for leaking to NOVAK.. he and NOVAK have a nice little scam going, but I think they went too far in Big Boy World..

Might fly in Texas, but the rest of the world ain't idiots - my apologies to liberals and Progressives in Texas, they have it hard enough already..

Tennent - he's one of the KEYS to this...

[progressivebydesign]

84. THIS is a WHITE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE!!!!!

Once again, AP is doing the White House's dirty work. Do they have any actual journalists over there at AP anymore? I invite you to look at the actual verbiage in the link: "pr_wh" This is a press release that was rewritten for the White House. This practice of media-whoring by AP, for the Bush gang, was brought to my attention during the 2004 campaign, as there were numerous articles (most of which I posted here with comments), with "gop_pr" or "wh_pr" or "rnc_pr" in the link. Basically, they're rewriting press releases to sway Rove's impending incarceration. Fuck AP, a bunch of hacks.

[goforit]

89. Project ...Mocking bird, I do believe.

[Straight Shooter]

90. Good catch.

I wonder if Fitzgerald is tallying all the "save Rove" PR that's being tossed out like confetti from the White House. No doubt one of them will contradict another, and it will all collapse.

[goforit]

88. Purgery alone will negate this e-mail....unreliable witness will make any

comment or e-mail not hold one drop of water of validity.