Memo Gets Attention in Probe of CIA Leak

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2005/07/19/ap/headlines/d8beq2cg0.txt

Memo Gets Attention in Probe of CIA Leak

By BARRY SCHWEID


WASHINGTON - A State Department memo that has caught the attention of prosecutors describes a CIA officer's role in sending her husband to Africa and disputes administration claims that Iraq was shopping for uranium, a retired department official said Tuesday.

The classified memo was sent to Air Force One just after former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson went public with his assertions that the Bush administration overstated the evidence that Iraq was interested in obtaining uranium from Niger for nuclear weapons.

The memo has become a key piece of evidence in the CIA leak investigation because it could have been the way someone in the White House learned _ and then leaked _ the information that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA and played a role in sending him on the mission.

The document was prepared in June 2003 at the direction of Carl W. Ford Jr., then head of the State Department's bureau of intelligence and research, for Marc Grossman, the retired official said. Grossman was the Undersecretary of State who was in charge of the department while Secretary Colin Powell and his deputy, Richard Armitage, were traveling. Grossman needed the memo because he was dealing with other issues and was not familiar with the subject, the former official said.

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[goforit]

1. If only we could see the memo.

[Straight Shooter]

16. Give it time. We might get to see Rove's forged version of the memo.

One more thing to muddy the waters if he can. It worked for bush AWOL, it seems to be working for the forged Niger/uranium/Saddam document. Why not go for it again?

[Peace Patriot]

2. While Powell and Armitage were traveling, and Grossman was

temporarily in charge...

That's interesting. Looks kind of like Grossman was the little Cheneyian mole at State, who saw his chance to do his master's bidding.

"Not familiar with the subject," my ass.

[joemurphy]

4. Actually Grossman looks innocent to me.

He was a career State Department guy -- 20+ years service at State.
He may have read the article and wanted to know more about this ex-ambassador going to Niger. The State Department, you'll recall, didn't think Saddam had a WMD program in the works either. He might have wanted it for Powell to see. Powell was plainly interested.
He should have been because he bought into the WMD argument -- albeit somewhat reluctantly -- when he gave his speech at the UN.

Powell refused to put the uranium purchase stuff in his UN speech because he thought it was "bullshit" intelligence.

[Gunit_Sangh]

8. remember

the memo was created nearly a month before Wilson published his editorial on Jul 6.

This memo may have been drafted as a result of cheney's order to do a workup of Wilson.

[joemurphy]

3. Hmmm...Interesting. Ford ordered the Memo. That's a new bit

of info. I was thinking Bolton ordered it. Ford was the guy that testified against Bolton as being a "kiss up, kick down" sort of guy. He plainly dislikes Bolton intensely. Remember the State Dept and the CIA were always trying to reel in Cheney and his Neocon Wingnuts and the WHIG. This bit doesn't change anything much then. It makes Powell look less culpable.

But Fleisher's teat is still in the wringer and we don't know who else might have seen it. Supposedly excerpts from it were in a "Briefing Book" prepared by Rice's people at NSC and faxed to Air Force One. Is that story still alive?

[maddezmom]

5. I still think there are more than one memo....one done for Grossman

by Ford for the reasons you stated above, to be on the record it was against the law to release Plames name.

and the other done by Bolton....that tied Plame to sending Wilson on the mission and her position at the CIA including her front company that Novak outted at a later date.

[electron_blue]

6. "sent to AF1" ???

wth - did somebody fax it up there? I don't understand.

[maddezmom]

7. there are different accounts of how Powell rec'd the memo

but this is the one I think is probably accurate:

Later that day, Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage called Carl W. Ford Jr., the assistant secretary for intelligence and research, at home and asked him to send a copy of the June 10 memo to Secretary of State Colin Powell, according to a former State Department official interviewed by the New York Times.

Since Powell was preparing to leave with Bush on a trip to Africa, Ford sent the memo to the White House for delivery to Powell, the former official told the Times.

The next day, when Bush left for Africa, Powell was carrying the memo containing the information about Plame’s work for the CIA and other details about the yellowcake dispute, the Washington Post reported.

A day later, on July 8, 2003, right-wing columnist Robert Novak told Rove that he (Novak) had heard that Plame had sent Wilson on the mission to Niger, according to a lawyer who has spoken to several news organizations. The lawyer said Rove responded, “I heard that, too.”

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/071805.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So someone(or multiple people at the WH would have an opportunity to take a peek, then it gets faxed aboard AF1 and perhaps Ari gets a peek. :shrug:

[DeepModem Mom]

9. kick

[SlowDownFast]

10. kick!

[Norquist Nemesis]

11. Carl Ford testified at Bolton's hearing

that he's a "Kiss up Kick down" sort of guy.

drip drip drip drip

[wryter2000]

14. I thought so

That's the guy, all right.

[itcfish]

12. I can't get into

the link. Do you have another link?

[maddezmom]

13. here:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002391038_leak20.html?syndication=rss

[rateyes]

15. IMHO, it is the leaking of that DOCUMENT,

and not Plame's identity that is the crime. It's not about the Intelligence Identities Act---it's about the Espionage Act--which makes it illegal for ANYONE for ANY PURPOSE sharing classified info with a person not authorized to have it--and it carries a stiff 10 year prison term if convicted of it.