BREAKING: Gonzales gave Andy Card heads-up re. DOJ Plame probe

[johnfunk]

No headline yet, but E&P picks it up first! (Props to DUer Lannes.)

Atty. Gen. Gonzales Responds to Frank Rich's '12-Hour Gap' Charges
By E&P Staff


Published: July 24, 2005 11:20 AM ET

...

Asked about this by Schieffer today, Gonzales said, “It has always been my practice to work closely with investigators.” After getting notification from the Justice Department about 8 p.m. that night, he asked if he could inform staffers at the White House early in the morning , and that was okayed.

Schieffer then asked if he at least informed anyone at the White House that first night to “get ready” for the order.

Yes, Gonzales said, he told the president’s chief of staff that night, and then the president himself “first thing” the next day.

He then explained that he hadn't launched an internal probe just in case a criminal investigation was in the works.

This is the BIG breaking Treasongate news of the day!

Background: read today's Times OpEd by Frank Rich. Lambert at Corrente points out the pivotal issue -- 12 hours between then-W House Counsel Alberto Gonzales learning that the DoJ was investigating the Plame leak at 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2003 and Gonz's "official" notification the next morning.

This morning, Gonz admitted to Bob Schieffer that he alerted Andy Card THE NIGHT OF THE 29th!

I hear another frog march in the distance! Remember, the cover-up is usually worse than the crime!

What did they shred -- and when did they shred it?

[are_we_united_yet]

1. Ruh Roh!

[johnfunk]

4. You can say that again, Scooby!

[are_we_united_yet]

5. LOL!

[OKthatsIT]

79. Rou Rare Realing Ry Rines ...Roof!

Rats Rot Rair!

[deminks]

2. Bwahahahahah.

:woohoo:

[goforit]

3. WOW!!!......Why would he volunteer information like this?

Is he pissed he didn't get the Sandra D.O'Connor job???

[formercia]

41. if he doesn't tell the truth

the prosecutor will fry him.

[Burried News]

45. Why?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

46. For three possible reasons...

1. He's honest, and takes seriously his role in law enforcement;

Since he's working with the NeoCons, I wouldn't expect honesty to be his strong point...but, he may be honst under oath.

2. He knows if he lies, he's going to be in a lot of trouble;

Yes...he doesn't want to throw away his entire career to protect people that would throw him to the wolves at a moment's notice.

3. He's already testifies to the Grand Jury and this is what he told them.

IMHO, this is the most likely explanation.

[leftchick]

49. I agree it is 3 and ...

4. He will never be on the SC because of this scandal. His association with bushco** has screwed him as far as that ambition goes. Why lie for them?

[AuntiBush]

158. Just A Passing Whimsical Thought...

Is it implosion time, yet? Or is it lite-years away?

[goforit]

88. I too agree on three, but the motive to bring it out now

would be revenge against Bush for no promotion?

So absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[Skittles]

133. Media, you constantly have insights I had not thought of

yup, it is what he told the Grand Jury

[hang a left]

65. This artlcle has jogged my memory.

I remember this from about 2 years ago now. I remember there were several threads about it. I am gonna do a search but for now let's just say I am totally uncomfortable with Gonzales' response here.

snip>

Any regrets about how he handled all this? Schieffer wondered.

“No,” Gonzales replied, pointing how that the “strong prosecutor” in the case will bring out all the facts.

[goforit]

90. Hmmmmm.........Yah, I'm uneasy as well, it's almost to easy a statement.

The strong prosecutor ......

Gonzales respects this guy for revenge.
And they all crumble together.

[hang a left]

103. FLASHBACK SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2003

Here is some more information on Gonzales' involvement in the Plame scandal. You will need to click on the original thread links to access the story links. It is important that you do because the responses in the threads provide additional information. It is a flashback to the time the WH was notified of the Investigation by Asscroft.


thanks, www.democrats.com

__Who Warned Gonzales of the FBI Investigation, Allowing Him to Give White House Aides a 'Heads Up'?

"First rule of scandal is that the cover-up is worse than the crime. With that in mind, we ought to be looking to see if any effort was made to prevent the CIA from requesting a Justice Dept. investigation . And we ought to find out who warned the White House Counsel that something was up, so that Alberto Gonzalez could warn the WH staff in his now famous e-mail... A similar 'Heads-Up Gate' cost Roger Altman his job during the Whitewater scandal. 'Testifying before the Senate banking committee in February 1994, then-deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman...conceded he had given top White House officials, including then-White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum, a 'heads-up' on nine RTC criminal referrals that in one instance targeted Clinton's 1985 gubernatorial campaign, and named the Clintons as witnesses in others' (From CNN's History of Whitewater). Six months later, Altman was back before the Senate Banking Committee. Three weeks after that, he resigned in disgrace."
http://wyethwire.blogspot.com /

Original Thread From October 2, 2003

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=457474


From Josh Marshall>

The Gonzales letter, released early Tuesday ...

The following notice was sent to all
White House employees:

PLEASE READ: Important Message
From Counsel's Office

We were informed last evening by
the Department of Justice that it has
opened an investigation into possible
unauthorized disclosures concerning
the identity of an undercover CIA
employee.

-----------------------------------

The Department advised us that it
will be sending a letter today
instructing us to preserve all materials
that might be relevant to its
investigation. Its letter will provide
more specific instructions on the
materials in which it is interested, and
we will communicate those
instructions directly to you. In the
meantime, you must preserve all
materials that might in any way be
related to the Department's
investigation. Any questions
concerning this request should be
directed to Associate Counsels Ted
Ullyot or Raul Yanes in the Counsel
to the President's office. The
President has directed full
cooperation with this investigation.

Alberto R. Gonzales

Counsel to the President

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

Original Thread from September 30, 2003

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=438400


Josh Marshall has posted text of NEW White House letter
The Second Gonzales letter, released late Tuesday ...

The following notice was sent to all White House employees:

IMPORTANT FOLLOW-UP MESSAGE FROM COUNSEL'S OFFICE

Pursuant to a request from the Department of Justice, I am instructing you to preserve and maintain the following:

"or the time period February 1, 2002 to the present, all documents, including without limitation all electronic records, telephone records of any kind (including but not limited to any records that memorialize telephone calls having been made), correspondence, computer records, storage devices, notes, memoranda, and diary and calendar entries, that relate in any way to:

1. Former U.S. Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, his trip to Niger in February 2002, and/or his wife's purported relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency;

2. Contacts with any member or representative of the news media about Joseph C. Wilson, his trip to Niger in February 2002, and/or his wife's purported relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency; and

3. Contacts with reporters Knut Royce, Timothy M. Phelps, or Robert D. Novak, or any individual(s) acting directly or indirectly, on behalf of these reporters."

You must preserve all documents relating, in any way, directly or indirectly, to these subjects, even if there would be a question whether the document would be a presidential or federal record or even if its destruction might otherwise be permitted.

Knut Royce and Timothy Phelps or Newsday have done some of the best reporting of anyone in town on the whole issue of Iraq, politicized intelligence and the Joe Wilson matter. They've clearly got some awfully good and pretty generous sources. What are their names doing in this memo?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com




Original Thread from September 30, 2003
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=442185

White House is "investigating" itself
Edited on Wed Oct-08-03 10:47 AM by Woodstock

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/10/08/e... /

"As the 5 p.m. deadline passed, staff members scrambled to turn over relevant documents to White House Counsel Alberto R. Gonzales, who is the White House's liaison to the Justice Department during the investigation. Justice Department officials have given the White House specific deadlines to produce documents related to the investigation, though they would not make the dates public. McClellan said the deadlines are in the next couple of weeks.

McClellan said Gonzales's office set its own deadline for 5 p.m. yesterday so that it could go through the piles of information to see what information is relevant and should be turned over.

Gonzales's office will also have the opportunity to examine what information, if any, should not be turned over because the administration believes it is protected by executive privilege. The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which provides legal opinions on questions with constitutional dimensions, would review any White House claims."

So they are essentially investigating themselves.



Original Thread from October 8, 2003

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=496705



WTF: WH releasing thousands of docs on Wilson & Plame! Right.
We don't need no stinking Special Counsel! They age providing Ashcroft with everything they can. The pResident wants to get to the bottom of this, although it's very possible the leakers will never be found. And Ashcroft just may excuse himself. Sure.

Thanks. For. Nothing.

BTW, hear the one about Prescott Bush? Well, we at DU have a long time ago. Now its time for the media to get on it.

Time to get that CIA Wurlitzer going again.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/17/politics/17LEAK.html?...

Ashcroft Says His Investigators Have Made Gains in Leak Case
By ERIC LICHTBLAU

Published: October 17, 2003


ASHINGTON, Oct. 16 — Under pressure over his handling of the investigation into the disclosure of an undercover C.I.A. officer's identity, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday that investigators had made good progress but that he had not ruled out removing himself from the case.

Mr. Ashcroft also left open the possibility of appointing a special counsel to take over the case and of approving subpoenas to reporters in order to find the source of the leak. "I have not foreclosed any options in this matter," he said.

With the investigation now ending its third week, Mr. Ashcroft said: "I believe that we have been making progress that's valuable in this matter. And we will devote every energy that's available, and every resource that's available at the highest level of intensity."

snip

The White House counsel, Alberto R. Gonzales, in a letter dated Wednesday to two Democratic senators, Charles E. Schumer of New York and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, said the administration had worked to ensure the integrity of the investigation.

Mr. Gonzales said White House officials "have already forwarded on a rolling basis thousands of pages of documents" to the Justice Department in response to investigators' request for relevant records on Mr. Wilson and his wife, Valerie Plame.



Original Thread October 18, 2003


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=552277

[goforit]

106. Hmmm.....it makes you keep one eye open, eh?

[hang a left]

111. Yes it does...I have no short or long term memory....but

sometimes it gets jogged.

[wakeme2008]

6. I do not remember where but one site said that that

12 hours was the reason Gonzales DID NOT get the SC pick..

[Pirate Smile]

14. Frank Rich's NYT column said that in todays paper.

"But the scandal has metastasized so much at this point that the forgotten man Mr. Bush did not nominate to the Supreme Court is as much a window into the White House's panic and stonewalling as its haste to put forward the man he did. When the president decided not to replace Sandra Day O'Connor with a woman, why did he pick a white guy and not nominate the first Hispanic justice, his friend Alberto Gonzales? Mr. Bush was surely not scared off by Gonzales critics on the right (who find him soft on abortion) or left (who find him soft on the Geneva Conventions). It's Mr. Gonzales's proximity to this scandal that inspires real fear.

As White House counsel, he was the one first notified that the Justice Department, at the request of the C.I.A., had opened an investigation into the outing of Joseph Wilson's wife. That notification came at 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2003, but it took Mr. Gonzales 12 more hours to inform the White House staff that it must "preserve all materials" relevant to the investigation. This 12-hour delay, he has said, was sanctioned by the Justice Department, but since the department was then run by John Ashcroft, a Bush loyalist who refused to recuse himself from the Plame case, inquiring Senate Democrats would examine this 12-hour delay as closely as an 18½-minute tape gap. "Every good prosecutor knows that any delay could give a culprit time to destroy the evidence," said Senator Charles Schumer, correctly, back when the missing 12 hours was first revealed almost two years ago. A new Gonzales confirmation process now would have quickly devolved into a neo-Watergate hearing. Mr. Gonzales was in the thick of the Plame investigation, all told, for 16 months.

Thus is Mr. Gonzales's Supreme Court aspiration the first White House casualty of this affair. It won't be the last. When you look at the early timeline of this case, rather than the latest investigatory scraps, two damning story lines emerge and both have legs."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/opinion/24rich.html?hp

[Media_Lies_Daily]

57. Good catch! It's getting interesting, isn't it?

[shelley806]

70. Is he really the FIRST WH casualty?...

"Thus is Mr. Gonzales's Supreme Court aspiration the first White House casualty of this affair."

What about Ari Fleischer, Ashcroft, Colin Powell, ?? Tenet, ?? Karen Hughes, and Gannon/Guckert(Ha-Ha..kidding about the last one)...and others? Who all resigned or were reassigned after the AF1 trip to Africa?

[goforit]

92. And G.H.W. Bush was mad at Nixon for not appointing him as VP, and

look what happenned to Nixon.

Which brings us to Woodward and Bernstein, more propaganda
pawns of Poppy.

[Supersedeas]

161. everyone ought to have read those last two paragraphs

[liberalcenter]

7. Bye Bye SCOTUS

Would this be a "disqualifying" for the Supreme court?

The spin on this should be intersting....

[hang a left]

73. It should also most certainly mean Gonzales

MUST recuse himself from this case now and in the future.

[calimary]

89. Welcome to DU!

All of this is making my head explode. But yes, this IS interesting. MOST interesting.

[goforit]

93. LOL!!!!............too funny.

[grasswire]

8. transcript!

Me want transcript!

This is electrifying!

[calimary]

9. Oh brother... memories of Fawn Hall...

I bet the CNN types wish someone like her was tangled up in this again. When the fetching young Oliver North secretary-wench showed up to testify in the Iran/Contra hearings, CNN had its best ratings ever. I have a T-shirt somewhere, that I bought in DC when I was there not long afterwards, that had a stick figure of her on it and the caption "See Fawn shred. Shred, Fawn, shred."

I remember especially LOVING Bruce Springsteen after that. She'd become quite the media darling for awhile, offered lots of nice on-camera jobs, and at one point, went to a Springsteen concert and passed the word along that she'd like to come backstage and meet him. Springsteen replied "I don't want to meet Oliver North, so why would I want to meet his secretary?"

I remember being so angry seeing Fawn Hall getting these job opportunities to do feature reporting somewhere or announcing or hosting something (gee, she should have her own TALK SHOW!) and, since I was still working as a reporter, thinking of all the people I knew who were so competent and experienced and were working parttime in some shitty job in some miserable little station with no numbers and a rotten signal just to make ends meet, or couldn't find a news job because everybody was laying people off... and hating it that she was getting all these breaks she didn't deserve - that they DID. LORDY, LORDY, but that made me mad - SO frickin' unfair!!!! I'm glad she finally deteriorated into obscurity. So that wise-asses like me can bring her up, years later, and make a mockery of her. THAT is the kind of thing she does deserve.

[enough]

21. Hey, thanks for the memories, calimary!

I'd forgotten all about Fawn.

[SquireJons]

54. Bruce!!!

Wow, you were reading my mind about Bruce Springsteen. I liked a lot of his music, but I didn't like the way he was co-opted by the Reagan neo-cons during his 'Born in the USA' phase. But he redeemed himself admirably with the Fawn Hall back stage fiasco. I've loved him ever since. And I don't consider it a coincidence that his career took a nose dive after his very critical public comments. Goes to show just how much control the bastards have over what we see and hear in the media. I'm sure some power-tie ass wipe was saying "we made him, and we can break him."

[RandomKoolzip]

82. I don't think Reagan-Bush had much to do with Springsteen's

Diminishing popularity in the latter half of the 80's.

His increasingly lackluster music, a widespread public fatigue with 'The Boss,' and his firing of the E Street Band after his biggest tours had a A LOT to do with it, however.

The Reagan-Bush team were able to pull off a lot of evildoings, but taking Springsten out of the public eye was NOT one of them.

[SquireJons]

121. Well, you know what they say about opinions.

Personally I thought a lot of his mid eighties stuff was lackluster, but it got air time anyways. Wasn't until he stood up to the pugs that the bottom dropped out.

[othermeans]

105. The dumbass Reagan didn't even listen to the words of "Born in the USA"

If he had he would have known it was nowhere near some patriotic dirge.

Reagan quoted the title in of his forgettable speeches to point out how American patriotism was making a comeback.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

58. Hey, Gonzales!.....

Is that a roll of documents in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

:evilgrin:

[kskiska]

71. I saw (or read) an interview with Fawn Hall

where she said that Ollie North never even thanked her for what she'd done. He never had any further contact with her.

[kestrel91316]

140. Fawn Hall.............didn't she have REALLY BIG HAIR?????

[NYC]

164. Her picture:

[tinfoilinfor2005]

151. Whew! Hope you feel better, darlin'...

cuz I sure need a drink after that!!

[leesa]

10. Sweet. I so want to see Gonzales go down too! He gave them twelve

hours to destroy evidence...Baaaad assistant AG! That explains the CYA article put out by the WH saying they had been grooming their current SC pick for a year. Gonzales was their pick but he's involved in the PlameGate "difficulty"

[Pirate Smile]

15. Gonzales was White House Counsel, not assistant AG.

Can they search for any and all e-mails deleted during this time period?

[SquireJons]

59. The answer is yes

Unless they destroyed the hard disks the way the military does, and that would be pretty hard to do in a twelve hour period. Simply deleting files does nothing at all and it doesn't matter how many times you format a hard drive, the files can still be recovered.

[reprobate]

112. Not all that hard to do. There's even freeware that will do it......

by writing ones and zeroes to the hard disk. It will write the disk seven times to meet DOD specs, from what I've read. Of course, I don't know what system the WH uses, so I may be completely wrong. But for PCs it's not that hard.

[SquireJons]

120. Nope

Writing 1's and 0's to the hard disk makes it hard for the average user, but it's no obstacle for serious data recovery companies. DOD does not reuse disks that contain sensitive information. They destroy them completely - they take them apart, drop them in corrosive acid and them crush what ever is left. Not something that can be done in 12 hours with all those computers. I hope they did just try deleting the files or wiping the disk. Then all the evidence would still be there, which I'd bet it still is.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

62. The White House has a very sophisticated email backup and....

...storage system. Any email that goes in or out is copied and tracked. In fact, all communications are tracked and stored.

I knew the guy that helped install that system in the Reagan White House. Oliver North thought he was deleting his email, but he found out differently.

And by the way, if I had been Tenet, I would have had listening devices placed all over the White House and Executive Branch buildings. If any group could do that, it would be the CIA. They certainly had reasons to do it.

[leveymg]

132. I think that's correct. So, e-mail wouldn't be a media for sensitive

communications - everything would be on paper. Easy to shred and then burn bag it. Of course, there's nothing like those walks in the woods for really secret stuff.

[fooj]

77. Hope he doesn't run across any of that "approved" torture

While behind bars! LOL!

[leftchick]

11. Gonzales did not look good

he actually looked a little green around the gills.

:)

[goforit]

18. Left chick.......I like the way you read between the lines.

He may be breaking ranks.

A high price to pay, but worth it in the end.

He may down the road be able to sleep for the first time in 5 years.
All this guilt may be off his shoulders.

The TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREEeeeeeee........

[okieinpain]

35. the truth will get you a ride on a small airplane, or a untimely suicide

[Dinger]

36. Hey, I Miss Galloway . . . What 's He Been Up To?

Is he still going on tour in the U.S.?

[leftchick]

47. He had a lot to say after 7/7 in London

I have not heard a US tour update. I will let you know when I do.

:)

[maddezmom]

42. watching him now on CNN...looks terrible

seeing if Wolfie asks about Plame

[dArKeR]

12. Bolton's NSA intercepts were on Fitzgerald's Plame investigation

That's why the WH will never release the request and/or will alter the requests.

[CantGetFooledAgain]

19. Are you speculating, or do you have a source on this?

If Bolton indeed requested NSA intercepts relating to the progress of the ongoing investigation, then I think he's got a real problem.

Go get 'em, Fitz!

[dArKeR]

37. My sixth sense is the source

And if you've been around for awhile, the Sixth Eye is batting about 92% over 3 years.

[dArKeR]

51. It's the DU and not national TV so I can be a Whore sometimes too

Knowing Bush, knowing most all of his other appointments of radical Christian war mongers and reading Comey's bio... I'd guess he's some type of Born Again radical Christian. Therefore I don't trust him. So why would anyone trust Fitzgerald? Just like Van Harp covering up Ruby Ridge and the Anthrax cover-up.



1. On October 3, 2003, President George W. Bush nominated Jim Comey to serve as Deputy Attorney General

2. College of William & Mary (B.S. with Honors 1982, Chemistry and Religion majors)
3. Mr. Comey oversaw numerous terrorism cases
4. Mr. Comey also created a specialized unit devoted to prosecuting international drug cartels.
5. he handled the Khobar Towers terrorist bombing case, arising out of the June 1996 attack on a U.S. military facility in Saudi Arabia in which 19 Airmen were killed.
6. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney's office in Richmond in 1996, he was a partner at McGuireWoods, LLP specializing in criminal defense and commercial litigation.
7. Mr. Comey is married and has five children.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/comey-bio.html


Yesterday, the Justice Department tried to quell the growing outrage about the treatment of U.S. citizen Jose Padilla by cynically attempting to undermine public confidence in the American justice system. Deputy Attorney General James Comey told the media yesterday that if the government would have afforded Padilla the rights to which he is entitled as a U.S. citizen, he would "likely have ended up a free man," and people would have died when Padilla blew up an apartment building or detonated a "dirty bomb." Comey based that assertion on a series of unproven allegations that were gleaned from two years of interrogating Padilla without the presence of an attorney. Since June 2002, the Department of Defense has held Padilla as an "enemy combatant" on a naval brig in South Carolina. Padilla has not been charged with any crime and is cut off from the outside world. (Very recently, he has been permitted limited access to his attorney at the discretion of the Pentagon.) Federal courts have repeatedly ruled that the Bush administration's detention of Padilla is illegal. The U.S. Court of Appeals found that, "based on the text of the Constitution and the cases interpreting it, we reject that the President has inherent constitutional power to detain Padilla under the circumstances presented here." The court concluded that Padilla is "entitled to the constitutional protections extended to other citizens." The administration has appealed the case to the Supreme Court, where it is now pending.
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=85178



James B. Comey Jr., a former Manhattan prosecutor who was installed just three weeks ago as deputy attorney general, will oversee the investigation following Mr. Ashcroft's withdrawal. His first decision in that role was to name Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who is the United States attorney in Chicago and is a friend and former colleague of Mr. Comey's, as a special counsel who will direct the investigation.
http://nucnews.net/nucnews/2003nn/0312nn/031231nn.htm



Fitzgerald attended Amherst College and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1985. After practicing civil law, he became an Assistant United States Attorney in New York in 1988. He handled drug-trafficking cases and in 1993 helped prosecute John Gambino of the Gambino mafia family. In 1994, he became the prosecutor in the case against Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and 11 other individuals charged in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.<3>
In 1996, Fitzgerald became the National Security Coordinator for the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. There, he served on a team of prosecutors investigating Osama bin Laden.<4> He served as chief counsel in prosecutions related to the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa.<5>
Patrick Fitzgerald was nominated for his position as U.S. Attorney on September 19, 2001 on the recommendation of U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL), and confirmed on October 24, 2001. Peter Fitzgerald and Patrick Fitzgerald are not related.<6>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Fitzgerald



In conclusion, I don't like the smell of any of Comey. I don't trust him and he's friends with Fitzgerald. What goes around comes around. I only trust Howard Dean and Al Franken and Randi Rhodes. Assign one of them Special Prosecutor and I'll rest at night.

Are either of them friends with Van Harp?

[TankLV]

68. Again, I must ask: Why appoint a rabid right wing REPUKE to investigate

REPUKES?!

After all, when they are investigating Democratic officials, they also find the most RABID RIGHT WING REPUKE to do the investigations.

Where is the fairness in this? How come the Dems aren't screaming this from the rooftops, just like the repukes howled when they were picking one SP after another, especially after the first ones FOUND CLINTON INNOCENT!

[dansolo]

78. Fitzgerald is *NOT* a rabid right wing Republican

I like the fact that he is a Republican, because then it completely eliminates the entire "partisan attack" talking point. As long as Fitzgerald is not viewed as having any association with the Democratic Party, his objectivity cannot be questioned by the Republicans. So far he has already taken down the corrupt IL GOP, and he is making strides to take down the corruption in the Daley administration. I realize that the thought of an apolitical prosecutor is hard to fathom, but it really looks like Fitzgerald is a rare individual who is truly objective, and will pursue any breaking of the law, no matter who is involved, or how politically connected they may be.

[0007]

94. God! I hope your %100 right.

[leveymg]

134. Fitz knows a lot of secrets about UBL's relationship w/CIA

and how the Agency was running double-agents within al-Qaeda, and the funding networks that tie US banks to the Saudi-financed Khan nuclear proliferation network, and their ties to US politicians. Fitz is a consummate national security insider.

That doesn't mean that he won't carry out a satisfactory prosecution of Plamegate -- in fact, I'd say, it virtually assures it.

[emulatorloo]

141. Nor is he a Republican (or Dem, or Independent or whatever)

<snip>

Fitzgerald is careful to be apolitical in his targets and his public life alike. He registered to vote as an Independent in New York, only to discover, when he began receiving fundraising calls, that Independent was a political party. He re-registered with no affiliation, as he did later in Chicago.

<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A55560-2005Feb1

[TankLV]

163. God I hope and pray so.

But my number one mantra is:

NEVER EVER TRUST A REPUKE. EVER.

It has never failed me.

I remember all the "wonderful McCaine" as Dem pres "unity" candidate bullshit.

I remember "Bob Dole is a nice/honerable man" bullshit.

And every other fucking thing they have done TO us.

[ScamUSA.Com]

124. you're not making sense

prosecutors aren't any-wing... they enforce the law

[TankLV]

162. Hmmm - must have hit a nerve, haven't I?!!!!

I stand by my statement, until proven wrong.

So far, none have done so.

And also, this premise works so far for ALL things repuke.

If we want to make sure that ANY "investigation" of a REPUKE is done properly, then we goddamn well better make sure a partisan DEMOCRAT does the investigating - after all, if a DEMOCRAT finds nothing, then there should be no question of this criminal occupying our White House's innocence, right?

After all, I am only using the standards that the REPUKES have set.

An "independent" or a "repuke" (who is now conveniently described as "non-partisan") doesn't cut it. I demand a thorough investigation, not a whitewash like all the other for these criminals!

NEVER TRUST A REPUKE TO INVESTIGATE A REPUKE! NEVER!

Turnabout is only fair!

[goforit]

102. Then why would this administration be in a panic?

The house of cards are falling without
one indictment.

So obviously.......things may be out of Mr. Comey's hands.

And Gonzales would literally committ politcal suicide
knowing that the cats in the bag?

Even without the promotion......this would be really stupid.

[Pachamama]

157. Maybe the WH can say no to the Senate requesting these intercepts that

Bolton had requested, but if Fitzgerald wants them, he'll get them....

This is going to get really interesting folks...I suspect these intercepts that Bolton requested do indeed related to Plame....

[napi21]

25. I don't think Bolton's inrcepts were on the Plame investigation.

I think they were on people involved in the WMD existance or lack of them. THAT would put Valerie's name on the list of intercepts. I agree with you, that is why the WH will NEVER release those docs unredacted!

[dArKeR]

44. Your post almost negates your subject line. You've really answered the

question. Bolton, in the name of WMD authorization, was gathtering ALL intercepts regaurding Plame. Which is inclusive (in Watergate style) to Fitzgerald's investigation. See how well the Patriot Act works! I'd bet the Patriot Act is being used to attack all Republican opposition, business and political.

[Burried News]

52. Sharp pickup by you and Napi.

I never would of thought of that. Old man still learning - thanks.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

66. When the NeoCons began riding the CIA to produce evidence of Iraqi....

...WNDs, whether Iraq had them or not, that's when Tenet and the CIA began playing an elaborate and very complex game of "I Spy". And when they exposed Plame, my bet is that any and all contingency plans for use against the NeoCons went into high gear.

Fitzgerald doesn't need any documents from the NeoCons...he already has them from his allies in the CIA.

[Jane Austin]

143. Can you be more clear with the antecedents of your pronouns?

I can't tell for sure who "they" is.

Thanks.

[goodboy]

139. YOu really think so? I hope the Dems don't back down on the

"no documents, no Bolton" thing then.

Tell me, do you think Asscroft could also go down in flames on this one?

[HereSince1628]

13. We screamed foul over this 2 years ago, traction this time?

What is surprising to me is that so many of these things were reported on and seemingly set well aside. Now they are being resurrected.

It's almost like the press is undergoing a "rapture."

[KoKo]

20. Yes.....when I saw that this a.m. I said: "But, WE here on DU already

knew about this gap. It was reported way back and never picked up on.

I wonder if this is all being carefully "revisited."

[dansolo]

80. You can thank the Supreme Court

Everything was low key until Cooper and Miller lost their appeal to the Supreme Court. That was the dam breaking.

[bunny planet]

153. Is it possible that turning down the case was the Supreme Court's way of

helping bring down the WH. After all even they may be horrified at the mess they caused to happen when they selected * is 2000. Just a thought. Did they unanimously decline to hear the case or was there a vote where you can see which justices wanted to take it, and which wanted to reject it?

[nolabels]

156. And it is also possible the twits at the SC can't see past their noses

Like coincidence works better for me, and eventually it follows the path of least resistance.
I always did love to watch people who gamble too much, especially when I know they will lose in the end :popcorn:

[KC21304]

16. Schieffer must be fed up with this crowd too.

Last week he had good comments about Bush at the end of his show and today he asked the gutsy question. After Gonzales said the JD said he could wait because it was late and the WH didn't know about the investigation anyway, he asked if Gonzales told anyone about the investigation before the next morning. Bingo !

[Carla in Ca]

127. Or Gonzales is fed up...

He could have gone on Meet The Press. We all know Russert wouldn't have followed up and asked if he told anyone before morning.

[alfredo]

17. Meese gave the Reagan White House 24 hrs before documents were

secured. That gave Ollie North and Fawn Hall time to shred all pertinent documents. The speed and efficiency of the new shredders are far beyond what they had in the 70's.

[Straight Shooter]

63. You can also bet that someone had a list of what was to be "disposed of."

These people plan ahead. In event of emergency, I think they were prepared with a checklist of what to destroy ASAP. Not only that, documents were fabricated along the way to muddy the waters.

Fitzgerald has his work cut out for him. I am not surprised that this is taking 2 years and longer. Trying to get to the truth in this administration is like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack as high as Mount Everest.

[alfredo]

100. I wish they would have planned the occupation better. of course

that didn't affect them personally. It will.

[Burried News]

22. A conspiracy to obstruct justice and intelligence.

All in all it's just another hole in their wall
All in all they are all gonna take a big fall

http://www.pink-floyd-lyrics.com/html/the-thin-ice-wall-lyrics.html
"The Thin Ice (Waters) 2:28"

"Momma loves her baby
And daddy loves you too.
And the sea may look warm to you babe
And the sky may look blue
But ooooh Baby
Ooooh baby blue
Oooooh babe.

If you should go skating
On the thin ice of modern life
Dragging behind you the silent reproach
Of a million tear-stained eyes
Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice
Appears under your feet.
You slip out of your depth and out of your mind
With your fear flowing out behind you
As you claw the thin ice."

[Burried News]

33. A guy who wasn't there on 9/29/03.

But you have to wonder at what point he'll want to get in on the action to further his career goals.
http://rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/secret_service_gannon_424.htm

[alarcojon]

56. Mother should I trust the government?

HELL NO!

[LizW]

23. Fitzgerald must check the White House logs

and see who was there that night. I'm sure he's already done it.

Get everyone who was there under oath and find out what they did during the 12 hours.

[Fridays Child]

145. That's what I'm thinking, too. nt

[Jackpine Radical]

24. Bertie Gonzales--the John Mitchell of our time. A couple of thoughts--

First, I imagine it would be rather hard for Gonzales as AG to fire Fitzgerald just right now, since he himself has become a subject of the investigation.

Second, just what did Andy Card do once he found out abouit the investigation? What about those 12 hours?

We really need a good rat in the WH, a John Dean.

[johnfunk]

27. My theory: Gonz has been flipped, and he's just served the Röve WhiteHaus

He's gone from Mitchell to Dean, and if that's the case, he's not going to fire Fitzpatrick.

[Jackpine Radical]

28. Jeez--that would be somewhat inconvenient for the Bushies, nicht wahr?

None of them has ever gone into something like this with a flipped AG. Think Mitchell, Meese...

Wow. If they don't fire Bertie, he can ruin them with his AG powers. If they do fire him, he can ruin them with his insider dope.

So...I really hope you're right.

[calimary]

87. But wasn't there sometning, early-on in the investigation, that said

things had stalled until somebody in the administration flipped? My memory on this is kinda vague, but I do remember something...

[Pirate Smile]

108. Yes, there was an article in the Washington Post with an insider leaking

information.

September 28, 2003 - A source in the administration confirms that two senior administration officials contacted at least 6 reporters about the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife. The source claims that, "Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge." He stated that he was sharing the information because the disclosure was "wrong and a huge miscalculation, because they were irrelevant and did nothing to diminish Wilson's credibility." (Allen and Priest, "Bush Administration is Focus of Inquiry," Wash. Post. Sept. 28, 2003 at A01.)

President Bush's aides promise to cooperate with any DOJ inquiries, but admit that "Bush has no plans to ask his staff members whether they played a role" in the leak. (Allen, "Bush Aides Say They'll Cooperate With Probe Into Intelligence Leak," Wash. Post. Sept. 29, 2003 at A01).

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/5/212837/3714 (I searched the Wash Post website but it is too old - it is archived but I found it here)

-snip-

September 30, 2003 - Text of an e-mail to White House staff Tuesday from counsel Alberto R. Gonzales about the Justice Department's investigation about the leak of a CIA officer's identity:


"We were informed last evening by the Department of Justice that it has opened an investigation into possible unauthorized disclosures concerning the identity of an undercover CIA employee. ...you must preserve all materials that might in any way be related to the department's investigation."
A follow up email was sent asking staff to save all records of any kind relating to the Ambassadors trip to Niger, his wife's relationship with the CIA, any contact with the press about these topics, and any contact at all with journalists Robert Novak, Knut Royce, Timothy M. Phelps

Eleven hours pass between when the White House is notified of the investigation and when administration officials asked staff to preserve records. (Editorial, "Investigating Leaks," NYT, Oct. 2, 2003).

The Washington Post's source for this article is what got this story rolling again.

Here is more from Frank Rich's column today about this time period.

-snip-
The first: for half a year White House hands made the fatal mistake of thinking they could get away with trashing the Wilsons scot-free. They thought so because for nearly three months after the July 6, 2003, publication of Mr. Wilson's New York Times Op-Ed article and the outing of his wife in a Robert Novak column, there was no investigation at all. Once the unthreatening Ashcroft-controlled investigation began, there was another comfy three months.

Only after that did Patrick Fitzgerald, the special counsel, take over and put the heat on. Only after that did investigators hustle to seek Air Force One phone logs and did Mr. Bush feel compelled to hire a private lawyer. But by then the conspirators, drunk with the hubris characteristic of this administration, had already been quite careless.

It was during that pre-Fitzgerald honeymoon that Scott McClellan declared that both Karl Rove and Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby, had personally told him they were "not involved in this" - neither leaking any classified information nor even telling any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the C.I.A. Matt Cooper has now written in Time that it was through his "conversation with Rove" that he "learned for the first time that Wilson's wife worked at the C.I.A." Maybe it all depends on what the meaning of "telling," "involved" or "this" is. If these people were similarly cute with F.B.I. agents and the grand jury, they've got an obstruction-of-justice problem possibly more grave than the hard-to-prosecute original charge of knowingly outing a covert agent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/opinion/24rich.html?hp

[leveymg]

135. If Gonzales was flipped, what leverage did Fitz use? War crimes prosecut-

ions may be coming. Did Fitz make some kind of promise to Gonz that he wouldn't have the dogs go down that path in exchange for Gonz's cooperation on Plamegate?

Seems that would offer a prosecutor with a Grand Jury a lot of leverage over Gonzales. Has there been a deal made not to go after torture crimes? Just a thought - actually the 12 hour heads up may be enough to make Gonz spill what he knows - which would be a lot, considering he's Bush's lawyer.

Doubt Gonz would talk directly to what W knew (which probably isn't much), as he has attorney-client privilidge.

[bearfan454]

26. They are SO screwed on this it's starting to get comical

No way can they hide everything. Fitz is going to end up having to subpoena the entire White House. Let's really turn up the heat on this before a big distraction happens.

[DemsUnited]

29. Didn't Gonzales also admit he'd testified to the Grand Jury??

[Media_Lies_Daily]

50. I believe so....and since he's talking publicly about what he did,....

...I would guess that this is part of what he told Fitzgerald.

Hmmmm. I wonder what else he discussed?

[DemsUnited]

60. Answered my own question--Gonzales testified on 6/18/04

Bush Aide Testifies in Leak Probe
Gonzales Appears Before Grand Jury

By Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 19, 2004; Page A07

White House Counsel Alberto R. Gonzales testified yesterday before a federal grand jury investigating whether administration officials illegally disclosed the name of a covert CIA officer last summer.

Gonzales was summoned before a grand jury that has been meeting for six months, taking testimony in an inquiry led by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan confirmed Gonzales's appearance before the panel but said he had no information about why Gonzales was called or what he was asked. "The judge was pleased to do his part to cooperate," McClellan said about the appearance.

Gonzales has coordinated the White House's response to subpoenas and document requests from Fitzgerald's office. McClellan said he did not know whether Gonzales was summoned to answer questions about the custody and production of documents.
<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53351-2004Jun18.html

[democrank]

30. This shows you how screwed up things have gotten.

When a news show anchor actually does his/her job, it becomes noteworthy. Bob Schieffer, along with a gazillion other members of the media, should have been digging into this story a long time ago. Instead we were bombarded with some of the most worthless crap I`ve ever heard: Red Staters defeat Blue Staters in contest for God`s love....Theresa Heinz Kerry makes liberal statement with ethnic scarf.

Of course Alberto Gonzales warned Andy Card. This is the country where walking an elderly woman across the street no longer matters. According to the media, Bush Loyalty is THE real American value.

[shelley806]

86. I so agree with you about these ridiculous times, when the media

is praised for what is their JOB...Why aren't they questioned and condemned for NOT doing their job? And here we have such an irony of the J. Miller issue; Judith Miller is not in jail because she is protecting the revelation of wrong-doing...She is covering up wrong- doing. I have MINIMAL sympathy for her particular case of 'civil disobedience.'

"When investigative journalists only investigate that which distracts the public from the obvious, it is (even deeper) conspiracy." Barrie Zwicker

[ramblin_dave]

31. Why doesn't E&P mention the alerting of Card?

At least I don't see it in the article.

Edit: Never mind, read too fast.

[watrwefitinfor]

32. Watching the exchange this morning,

I fully expected Gonzo to sing the current refrain:
can't comment can't comment can't comment
under investigation under investigation

Knock me over when he actually replied to the question. "I told the chief of staff that night and went home."

Like Andy wasn't going straight to the boss and tell him?

And the reason for Gonzo's little confession? I don't know. Is it just to not be caught in a public lie? Does that mean he already told Fitz?

Wat

[Pirate Smile]

34. Would Andy Card have told Bush OR would he have told ROVE?

My guess would be he would tell Rove.

[watrwefitinfor]

38. Pirate asked,

"Would Andy Card have told Bush OR would he have told ROVE?"

I suppose it depends on the definition of boss.

Wat

[calimary]

95. Welcome to DU! I think the answer is - rove.

Wouldn't want to wake up georgie-poo from his beauty nap when kkkarl can just "take care of it."

[formercia]

96. why tell Bush something that might make him sink deeper

when your boss is in quicksand, you don't hand him a knapsack full of bricks, that is if you are a loyal follower.

[oioioi]

40. My guess is phone or, better yet, email logs?

On Röve and his blackberry...

Through it all, Rove wore his war room on his belt -- the postcard-size BlackBerry communicator that holds his unmatchable Rolodex as well as his e-mail system, through which he squirted orders and suggestions to campaign workers and lobbyists using only a few words. "It's like haiku, "says a political operative who has been on the receiving end. During meetings -- even ones with the President -- Rove would constantly spin the BlackBerry's dial and punch out text on its tiny keyboard. "Sometimes we're in a meeting talking to each other and BlackBerrying each other at the same time, "says a colleague.

http://www.smartmobs.com/archive/2003/01/03/texting_and_us_.html

[calimary]

98. VERY interesting post. Welcome to DU!

All you new posters have MOST worthy things to contribute. And we need it all!

[oioioi]

109. Blackberry messages are routed via an email server.

it's just like regular email.

It sounds like Röve uses the blackberry to communicate EVERYTHING - event during meetings with *.

If there were Blackberry messages flying around that night, there could be some splainin' to do...

Thanks for the welcome. The Plame case has me enthralled.

[ClayZ]

99. Blackberry fields forever!!!

Let us take them down...


cause we're going to black fields
Nothing is real
and nothing to get hung about (BWAHAHAHHAHA)
Blackberry fields forever




Sorry!

[goforit]

117. LOL!!!...........toooo good!

[Burried News]

67. "And the reason for Gonzo's little confession?"

Those who have gone public are still alive. Clarke, O'Neill, Kwiatkowski, Sybil Edmonds (sp?), Ritter, Thielman ...
One that didn't - John Kokal

Now we know why Ashcroft, Fleisher, Wolfowitz, Feith have moved on with their careers. Everyone near this thing is going to get scorched.

As an aside I don't think the ME Roadmap is on the agenda any more - who benefits from that?

The balance of power has shifted and you don't need to be a weather man to know which way the wind's blowing.

[Burried News]

39. Fast pickup by E&P especially on a Sunday.

Speaking of speed a clue for why Gonzales is so speedy now:
"No,” Gonzales replied, pointing how that the “strong prosecutor” in the case will bring out all the facts."

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[architect359]

91. This is blatantly racist

...and shouldn't be tolerated here!

[Burried News]

97. Didn't see it that way.

I am willing to remove it but it is too late to edit - I tried.
How do you contact moderators? I don't want any distractions to this story. It is too important.

[Burried News]

101. I figured it out and requested deletion. Peace.

[reprobate]

114. Right. It's blatantly anti-mouse.

[Name removed]

110. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Burried News]

116. Here at Odd Lot's when its gone its gone.

Thanks. I hope Gonzales breaks free. But thank God he's in a tough spot now because this mob needs to be removed and in a way that label's them as the disgrace they are.

[Name removed]

122. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Burried News]

125. I love the cartoon. Now I see why I couldn't find "andole" in my

Spanish English dictionary (it's a'ndale). Just a hopeless gringo with 3 years of HS Spanish - I was a very good student in everything but language - taught me what it was like to have to grind out a passing grade. Appreciate the message, friend.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

48. If you had to guess who has all of the copies of relevant documents...

...in this case, who would you guess?

My bet is on the CIA...and do they have a major motive, or what?

[against all enemies]

53. Rich is on a roll. Great column. Who did Card tell?

And what was destroyed?

[Dinger]

55. Gonzales On Wolfie . . . Wouldn't Answer THE Question

Wolfie asked him regarding the CIA leak probe. I can't believe Wolfie actually asked him about the investigation. I CAN believe he didn't give an asnwer . . . something about being recused from the case, his involvement in the WH, blah, blah, blah. Wish I could get a transcript . . .

[maddezmom]

61. check here later...it'll be up

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/le.html

[Dinger]

64. Thanks (nm)

[leftchick]

130. I am not seeing it in the transcript!

did I miss it??

[hang a left]

84. A HA

So he is recused. I still don't feel comfortable.

[goforit]

104. Ya think he has something up his sleeve?

[hang a left]

118. Ya know

I suspect everyone and everything anymore. I am sure you understand having been around here for a while. I won't feel truely comfortable until the indictments are handed down.

Then I will scream from the rooftops!!!! Or I will throw the computer through the window.

[wryter2000]

69. Most e-mailed

On edit: I'm referring to the Rich/NYT piece.

That column is the most e-mailed article on that site. (If you e-mail it to someone, you get a list of most e-mailed. This is #1!)

[Pithy Cherub]

72. Executive privelege ala Nixon is going to be a judicial matter again!

What is reasonably executive priveleged (national security) and does that mitigate when faced with criminal wrong doing (conspiracy)! No doubt that will be thrown into the mix. The net is cast far and wide and this is definitely a sign of the chikens coming home to roost!:popcorn:

We are redoing 1973, 1974 again!

[NVMojo]

74. neocons are busy licking each others arses ....

[Jack Rabbit]

75. There are more serious crimes for which Gonzales should be impeached

But we'll add this to the list anyway.

[fooj]

76. Those assholes don't know when to quit, do they?

Peace.

[merh]

81. I knew Herr Torturer Gonzales was as involved in this

as was anyone in the administration. He is a war criminal and a traitor. :argh:

[rodeodance]

83. i hope you folks are right as i tire of getting my hopes up!

[merh]

85. Me too!

We just have to keep pushing this and fighting to get the truth out. :patriot:

[arwalden]

107. They Are All Liars, Crooks, Traitors, and Criminals.

[TacticalPeek]

113. Video now up at Crooks and Liars.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/07/24.html#a4124

[reprobate]

115. Some of us predicted back in 2001 their arrogance would undo them.

Oh, that we were right.

[Eloriel]

119. I LOVE RIch's last paragraph -- and so true, so heartbreakingly true

The real crime here remains the sending of American men and women to Iraq on fictitious grounds. Without it, there wouldn't have been a third-rate smear campaign against an obscure diplomat, a bungled cover-up and a scandal that - like the war itself - has no exit strategy that will not inflict pain.

[Carla in Ca]

129. Gee, he used to think exit strategy was important.

A few comments from 1999 (Kosovo)


"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is."
-Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)


"This is President Clinton's war, and when he falls flat on his face, that's his problem."
-Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)


My oh my, such hypocrites.

[against all enemies]

154. That's really not fair. W really DIDN'T know what an exit strategy

was. He really wanted someone to explain it to him. He doesn't know much, he's an idiot.

[Supersedeas]

160. Frank is only saying what all 'independent' journalists OUGHT to be saying

[FlaGranny]

123. Wow, this thread is one of the reasons

I love DU. Every news anchor should be logging in to get ideas for his/her next interview. They couldn't find better real information and "reasonable" speculation anywhere else.

[Burried News]

126. We may not be part of the solution but we are NOT part of the problem

It seems to me that there are some powerful and smart people managing this story. It would be nice to think we are helping it unfold but my guess is we are being spoon feed. Someone is dropping birdfeed on the trail so that we can help them 'out' the conspiracy.

At any rate I'm still hungry and I'm not too proud to peck away, because that is what needs doing. It shouldn't take that much effort to maneuver things but apparently it does. And if we don't want to go the way of third world dictatorships this road is more acceptible.

Nonetheless this country is in trouble. Our history is telling us something - we have failed to solve some very very big problems. These failures are mounting and a substantial number of people on both sides sees the need for stealth agendas and extralegal maneuvering to survive and 'advance'. Now we have leadership that seems to rule ONLY by extralegal strategems, cunning and deceit. This is dangerous stuff and will end in disaster if people of good will can't take back the flag.

And remember - how we take it back may be more important than 'that we take it back'. For me the starting point has to be "the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth". End the confusion - tell the truth.

[leveymg]

128. I would have started with that classified memo and its routing slip.

Wonder why they didn't shred it? Could be that the memo was logged, and the log and routing slip is kept in a third-party safe. That's the only explanation for it.

Anyone have any notions about what else they would have shredded or deleted?

[cal04]

131. No comment from White house as usual

The White House did not immediately respond to questions Sunday about whether Card passed that information to top Bush aide Karl Rove or anyone else, giving them advance notice to prepare for the investigation.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050724/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/cia_leak_1

[Pirate Smile]

137. At least they asked if Card notified Rove. It seems obvious but there

have been way to many times that they have skipped the obvious question.

More from the article:

"Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware said he doesn't doubt Gonzales' sincerity, but that his decision to notify only Card about the federal investigation "wasn't the soundest of judgments."

"The real question now is, 'Who did the chief of staff speak to?'" Biden asked, speculating as to whether Card might have spoken to Rove or someone else."

Well, at least this gives the media another angle to attack the story and keep it in the news for another few days - just in case any other new details don't come out but considering the flood of leaks, I assume we will hear more.

[against all enemies]

155. Nice to see Biden asked the obvious questions. Answers?

[Dinger]

152. I'm Going To Try To Get On Washington Journal Tomorrow . . . You Too DU!

C'mon, let's give this thing legs! We CAN do it!

[proud patriot]

136. That bastard

:wow: outrageous

[RSchewe]

138. I think Gonzalez was too confident in his legalese....

Gotta give Schieffer credit for pointing out the Rich piece.

Nice to see http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CIA_LEAK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-07-24-17-36-42">AP covering it.

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/07/24/gonzales-raises-questions-for-andy-card-to-answer/">Think Progress nails it.

[kentuck]

142. I think Gonzales was covering his own butt....

Think about it. He did not have to go on those shows this morning. Secondly, he did not have to answer the question about telling Card. He volunteered that info. Why?

Because, he does not want to be the fall guy. He let it be known that he knew nothing about the Plame memo and that he told Bush the next morning. About two weeks later, they brought all all the files and emails to him to give to the SP, i guess?

[msanthrope]

144. I bet Jeff Gannon played the role of Fawn Hall in this

little shredder venture----

Has anyone cross-checked the White House logs for his entry/exit that day?

[oioioi]

147. Jeffie's name is bound to come up in this any day now...

He's been before the GJ.

They must know who his friend at the top was.

It's getting warmer.

[msanthrope]

148. Interesting--I had no idea Gannon went before the GJ. n/t

[oioioi]

149. Was Gannon Ever Called By the Grand Jury?

From http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/7/6/95341/90908

Gannon also offers varied responses on his contact with the Grand Jury investigating the Plame outing:

03/09/2004 -- Talon News, Jim Hauser:
A federal grand jury has subpoenaed White House records on administration contacts with more than two dozen journalists and news media outlets in a special investigation into the alleged improper leak of a covert CIA official's identity to columnist Robert Novak last July.
Talon News has learned that one of the journalists being targeted is Jeff Gannon, Washington Bureau Chief and White House correspondent for Talon News.

"I don't know why I'm on the list of journalists being called before the Grand Jury," Gannon told Talon News. "I have been an outspoken critic of the leak probe and an aggressive questioner of the motives behind it. That seems to have drawn the attention of someone with the authority to issue subpoenas."


02/11/2005 -- Editor & Publisher:
Guckert said that contrary to many press reports, he was never subpoenaed by the special prosecutor and has never testified before a grand jury in the case. But he said he was interviewed by two FBI agents in his home for about 90 minutes last year.


02/11/2005 -- CNN, Wolf Blitzer Reports:
BLITZER: So they didn't make you go testify before the grand jury?
GANNON: No.

03/03/2005 -- Ace of Spades HQ:
...I cannot comment further, especially since Congressional Democrats have asked the Special Prosecutor to interview me again.

[Burried News]

150. Logs below - are we talking 2003 or 2004? Ans No either way

http://rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/secret_service_gannon_424.htm

2003
9/2/03 12:37 (A4 HC Entry Lane, no exit) (12:42-1:23)
9/3 12:10 - 1:18 (12:30-1:10)
9/10 12:17 - 1:32 (12:49-1:23)
9/16 12:23 - 1:59 (1:00-1:39)
9/17 12:12 - 1:55 (1:00-1:41)
9/22 1:54 - 3:06 (no briefing) (Bush meets with Iraqis, remarks end 4:35)
9/25 12:49 - 1:53 (12:48-1:35)
9/26 12:09 - 2:24 (12:36-1:15)
9/29 12:09 - 1:10 (12:18-1:03)

2004
9/10/04 11:19 - 12:55 (no briefing)
9/15 12:17 - 1:56 (1:11-1:45)
9/22 11:57 - 12:34 (no briefing)
9/23 11:19 - 1:14 (Bush press conference with Allawi)
none for October
11/2/04 1:31 - 2:20 (no briefing) (Election Day)

EDIT - Gonzales calls Card 9/29/03

[snippy]

146. Andy Card organized and ran the WHIG, which was responsible in part for

fixing the intelligence as described in the DSM. Toward that end, the WHIG was responsible for fabricating, disseminating, and coordinating the lies to justify the invasion of Iraq, including the fabrication and dissemination of the yellowcake lies.

So who did Card speak to about the investigation in those 12 hours? And who did those people speak to? And what else was done in those hours by any of these people? Fitzgerald certainly has asked these questions. I wish I knew the answers he has gotten.

[lovuian]

159. Its very obvious Fitzgerald is going after Obstruction of justice

Whats fascinating is that Bush put his counsel in as FBI Attorney General to keep Fitzgerald in check. And now that the pieces of the puzzle are fitting so nicely together ... it makes Gonzales hanging out there and I never thought he was very bright...

Now I'm sure of it!!! Colin Powell Tenet Rumsfeld and Gonzales are going to be the fall guys!!! while Rove & Cheney walked away but thats not how the CARDS are falling!!!