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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 03:42 AM
Original message
WPost Libby Wasn't Ordered to Leak Name, Papers Say



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/13/AR2006041300111.html

Libby Wasn't Ordered to Leak Name, Papers Say

By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 13, 2006; A07

In grand jury testimony two years ago, former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby did not assert that President Bush or Vice President Cheney instructed him to disclose the name of CIA officer Valerie Plame to reporters as part of an effort to rebut criticism of the Iraq war, Libby's lawyers said in a court filing late yesterday.

A court filing last week by the special federal prosecutor investigating the disclosure of Plame's identity had highlighted the fact that Bush and Cheney ordered Libby to disclose details of a previously classified intelligence report as part of an effort to rebut criticism by her husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV. This disclosure provoked speculation that Bush or Cheney had instructed Libby to disclose Plame's identity.

But the lawyers asserted that White House documents outlining what Libby was to say in conversations with reporters did not mention Plame's name. They said this supports Libby's contention that he did not participate in a campaign to damage Wilson by disclosing Plame's CIA employment or in a coverup of the episode.

The statement that Libby did not link Bush and Cheney to the disclosure of Plame's name during his 2004 grand jury testimony is meant to bolster Libby's contention that no conspiracy existed to make selective disclosures to undermine a key administration critic, as some in Washington have charged.
......
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 03:48 AM
Response to Original message
1. WaPo can no longer be trusted
http://americablog.blogspot.com/

Is Donald Graham the real problem at the Washington Post?



Which brings us to Donald Graham, the CEO and chairman of the board of the Washington Post Company.

I've had a growing sense, or suspicion, rather, that while Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt is clearly a pro-Bush neo-conservative not interested in the truth, perhaps Hiatt's uber-conservative leanings weren't a fluke, or an aberration. Perhaps Hiatt is doing exactly what his boss, Donald Graham (Hiatt reports directly to Graham), wants him to do - bring the Washington Post lurching to the far-right.
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depakid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 04:20 AM
Response to Reply #1
3. Especially on this issue!
Their reporters and editors are up to their eyeballs in this.

And yes, Katherine Graham must be rolling in her grave, considering what Donald and his crew have done to that paper. Not only have they lost their credibility- but some of the stories they publish are downright laughable.
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 04:23 AM
Response to Reply #3
4. I posted this eariler yesterday
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depakid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 04:50 AM
Response to Reply #4
5. LOL- there ya go
It's all too typical of the Post. They'll say most anything.

Along with bltantly slanting the copy and headlines- of their specialties seems to be the false statement of fact attributed to the anonymous source. I've even seen them pull that in science articles!

Zero integrity.
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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 03:49 AM
Response to Original message
2. Fritz is trying to stay focused on Libby case:

.....
Libby's legal team complained that he had received less than 10 percent of Fitzgerald's investigative file, a document production it called "exceptionally meager." It also said the case is complex and described as "a fairy tale" the government's assertion that it involves only false statements by Libby.

In his April 5 filing, Fitzgerald urged the court to dismiss Libby's demand for information about leaks to reporters by other government officials, on the grounds that what really counts in the case against Libby are the actions taken by him and "the discrete number of persons with and for whom he worked." Anything occurring outside those White House offices, Fitzgerald said, is "a irrelevant distraction from the issues of the case."

Although he pointedly said he was not accusing Libby of involvement in a White House conspiracy against Wilson and Plame, Fitzgerald said the evidence he had accumulated demonstrated that "multiple people" there wanted to repudiate Wilson's criticisms.

In light of the grand jury testimony, Fitzgerald said, "it is hard to conceive of what evidence there could be that would disprove the existence of White House efforts to 'punish' Wilson."



...
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Demeter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 05:34 AM
Response to Original message
6. Sounds Like Scooter Is Backing and Filling for Bush
Wonder if he got the horse's head treatment.
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zbird Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 05:55 AM
Response to Original message
7. Wasn't Libby charged with perjury and obstruction?
He was charged with lying to FBI investigators and to the grand jury. Why should we believe that because he did not implicate * and Dick two years ago in grand jury testimony he was then telling the truth?
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Karmakaze Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 06:24 AM
Response to Original message
8. Too many fell for the bait on DU... and now they are getting burned...
As soon as the story broke I was warning people not to push the "Bush told Libby to leak Plame's name" angle because it wasnt backed by the evidence. I wasn't the only one trying to tell people they were falling into a trap.

Well, now the trap has been sprung.

That's right, it was a trap! By pushing that angle, you have now made it possible for the Republicans and the media to totally defuse the argument! If people had stuck to what was REALLY claimed in the Libby testimony, that Bush ordered selected information declassified to further push the lie that Iraq had WMD, then this trap would have been toothless. Now a lot of DUers are going to be twisting and turning trying to extricate themselves from the trap rather than hitting Bush.

Too bad.
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Barrett808 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 09:36 AM
Response to Reply #8
11. I think it was well understood that the NIE leak was distinct...
...from the Plame leak.

But they're part of the same package: Discredit critics, especially Joe Wilson.

I expect that the WaPo's "Good Leak" will be almost as damaging as blowing Brewster Jennings.

So all is not lost yet.


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Karmakaze Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 11:47 AM
Response to Reply #11
18. Im not saying anything is lost...
What Im saying is that people kept pushing this line, and now the Washington Post is cutting it off at the knees.

Take the early posts in this thread! People trying to say that the WP is lying about this because they have hung their hat on this "Bush authorised the Plame leak" claim and have now been shot down.

I and others warned about this, to very little effect. Now the trap is sprung.
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Barrett808 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 01:22 PM
Response to Reply #18
26. Yes, "Bush authorised the Plame leak" was definitely off the mark. n/t
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janx Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 11:00 AM
Response to Reply #8
15. We don't know what the evidence is yet.
Libby and his lawyers are writhing and squirming, mewling and puking, and desperately leaking information every week.

Fitz still isn't saying anything.
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Karmakaze Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 11:53 AM
Response to Reply #15
21. That doesnt change a thing...
Libby testified that he was authorised to leak certain information from the NIE. People here and elsewhere on the web lept at that and started claiming Bush authorised the leak of Plames name. There was NOTHING in Libbys testimony that even remotely suggested that.

Now the Washington Post has come out and specifically shot down that theory. In the meantime all sorts of Blogs etc (including DU) have been jumping on this bandwaggon. Well, the wheels have come off and all those people are now gonna have to start backtracking.

If they had listed to the warnings earlier then there wouldnt be a problem, cause no one would have been making the claims the WP just shot down. They didnt, they have, and now they will be the ones squirming instead of Bush.

A carefully laid trap, and far too many people fell for it.
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MADem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 11:51 AM
Response to Reply #8
20. Bait, schmait
They can't defuse the fact that Libby was "let go" by the WH, the people there were ORDERED not to talk to him, and suddenly, last week, he turns up in the White House mess????

This thing stinks to high heaven, and everyone knows it.

I don't think DU'ers need worry, in any event.
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Karmakaze Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 12:06 PM
Response to Reply #20
23. I shouldnt have to tell any Duer this...
but you seem to be forgetting how the media works!

So here is the trap:

1) Libby files a document claiming he was authorised to leak certain information from the NIE. There is no need to make this claim as he is not charged with leaking ANY information, so why "defend" something he is not charged with?

2) Blogs etc find this filing, and start making claims that Bush authorised Libby to leak. Media picks it up and spreads it further, without really going into detail exactly WHAT he was authorised to leak.

3) People get over excited and start claiming Bush authorised Libby to leak Plame's identity. This is allowed to go unchallanged by the media for days, spreading like wildfire. Note the original story was in the media within hours, but this correction of misunderstandings has taken days. Why?

4) The media suddenly exposes the claim as being false. Bloggers etc start trying to defend the claim because they don't want to be proven wrong, and out of sheer stubborness.

5) The whole debate in the media becomes "Why are dems pushing a lie?", and "Dems claim more than evidence shows for political reasons!"

6) We spend the rest of the time trying to defend our mistake, and redirect the discussion back to what it originally should have been about. Of course the media won't let us.

This was a trap from the word go. Whether it was intentionally set up that way, or we created it ourselves, the effect is the same - now the right gets to focus on our mistake rather than the real issue, and the people who havent been following this go on thinking "Bah! its all just politics!" and switch off.
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MADem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 02:16 PM
Response to Reply #23
32. What is this "we" stuff???
I have always been focused on the prosecutor's CHARGES, which are Martha-style, good ole' fashioned, LYING and OBSTRUCTION. Sweet and simple. What others say, from bloggers to theorists, to the media on page B16 in a midweek paper, is immaterial.

And all this carping on "our mistake" I find very, very strange. WE aren't running this investigation--a bright guy by the name of Patrick Fitzgerald is doing it. I say let him get on with it, he seems to be doing just fine withourt "our" help.

You know what they say about opinions, and what they resemble--and the fact that everyone's got one.

I don't, frankly, understand your angst. Some people may have postulated a theory, people who aren't part of the investigation, which may, or may not, be wrong. Big friken deal. This case is not being tried in the court of public opinion. Do you think the judge is now gonna stand up and say "Oooh, everyone go home!!! The MEDIA has decided this case for us! And on your way out of the courtroom, grab a torch and pitchfork, and go after those bloggers, media types, and those DUers!" Come on. This story is like a beachball at a baseball game; it goes up, it goes down; it grabs headlines, it retreats, and then it comes back again. This is a long-haul game. No doubt the Monkey's crew wants to drag it out until AFTER November, when favors can safely be granted.

Libby, since his indictment a persona non grata at 1600 Penn, wasn't in the White House mess last week for his health, or the great pastrami sandwich on special. It's probably far more likely that he was fishing for a pardon; else he plans on singing.
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Karmakaze Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-14-06 11:46 AM
Response to Reply #32
36. Simple...
this "we" stuff is a simple shorthand for the people campaigning to end the occupation of Iraq, and to bring justice to the war criminals who invaded a soverign nation and so on...

My point is, that many people here on DU picked up a lie and ran with it. They spent all their time arguing that Bush broke the law when he authorised the outing of Plame, when no such thing had been suggested by the evidence. They made THAT the focus of the argument rather than what was REALLY going on. Now that argument is being slapped down, and the media can focus on THAT, reframing the whole debate around why the left is lying in an attempt to implicate Bush.

If you seriously think that the media battle has nothing to do with the overall battle, then you really need to think again. What puts pressure on elected Dems to carry on this fight is PUBLIC pressure in the same direction. Now elected Dems will be running to the exits to get away from anyone who made these claims. In other words "we the people" have just shot ourselves in the foot.

Consider the way "conspiracy theories" make any elected official react. Well, this leak business has just become a "conspiracy theory". Everything even remotely associated with it will be ignored or belittled by the media, and thus what SHOULD have been a great campaign message for Dems in the coming election is now the opposite. Every time a Dem mentions the leak, the press will remind everyone that Bush did NOT authorise the leaking of Plame's identity, and tie the false accusation to the Dems.

I am not saying the case against Libby is lost. In fact none of this has ANY bearing on the case against Libby, which is what people SHOULD have paid attention to in the first place. Why would Libby say this when there was no point? Maybe THAT is why Libby is still visiting the Whitehouse - to coordinate these exact kinds of traps.

Well, I may be wrong, but I suggest you watch how this story unfolds in the media now. I am willing to bet that from now on, the media will focus on how wrong the accusations were, and how the left are all Bush haters trying to manufacture evidence against him, and how innocuous the original claim was and that Bush was perfectly within his rights to "inform" the public of the information in the NIE.
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MADem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-14-06 12:26 PM
Response to Reply #36
37. Well, I'm all for leaving Iraq and frogmarching, but I do NOT buy
your premise that if I am for that, I am part of your "we" crowd. Fitzgerald's technique has always been to squeeze the toothpaste tube from the bottom up, and that is what he is doing.

If you are so exorcised about the "media battle" this might cheer you somewhat:
http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/editorial/14342589.htm

Not so much because he's pursuing Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff or because he's making the White House squirm over its distinction between good and bad leaking of government secrets - the current equivalent of Clinton-era parsing of the meaning of "is."

It's because the special counsel with the reputation for doggedness bordering on obsession is forcing this administration to confront its shadowy conniving. And he's doing it out in public, without leaks or whispers, by simply doing his job in pursuing a criminal case.

That's not to suggest that Fitzgerald doesn't understand exactly what he's putting out for public consumption - he's too smart not to grasp the significance. But he's laying out his findings without agenda or vendetta, letting the facts take us where they take us....At the October news conference announcing Libby's indictment, Fitzgerald said that "anyone who's concerned about the war and has feelings for or against (it) shouldn't look to this criminal process for any answers or resolution of that," according to a Federal News Service transcript on nexis.com.

True enough. But this case has shone a light into the White House, and the view isn't pretty.


Or how about THIS tidbit--this should warm the cockles of the heart of any person who values the integrity of the justice system--the judge is cutting the stones off this defense tactic, right out of the gate. with a GAG order: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/14341892.htm

WASHINGTON - The federal judge presiding over the pending trial of I. Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby Jr. threatened Thursday to impose a gag order barring statements or disclosures to the news media by Libby's defense team or by the special prosecutor investigating alleged wrongdoing by the former White House official.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walston did not explain exactly what provoked his pique, but he wrote in his order that ``on several occasions information has been distributed to the press by counsel, which has included not only public statements, but also the dissemination of material that had not been filed on the public docket.''

He complained that the parties to the case did not heed an earlier warning that he would not tolerate ``this case being tried in the media,'' and he said such disclosures could impair the court's ability ``to ensure that both sides receive a fair trial.'' Walton gave both sides eight days to state any objections before he imposes the gag order.

He made the threat a week after special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who is investigating leaks to the media by administration officials about a CIA operative, wrote in a court filing that President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney had authorized Libby to release information to the media....In a reply brief filed late Wednesday evening, Libby's defense team noted that this disclosure set off ``an avalanche of media interest.'' Acting in response to questions, one of Libby's attorneys had made a brief statement to the news media that Libby's White House-authorized release of information about Iraq was disconnected from any release of the name of the CIA officer, Valerie Plame, contrary to what Fitzgerald said in his court papers....


And the administration hasn't gotten ANY help from the defense shenanigans:
http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/opinion/ny-vplea144701415apr14,0,2509012,print.story?coll=ny-opinion-print

It's hard to trust the president these days when it comes to Iraq intelligence
April 14, 2006

President George W. Bush has a credibility problem when it comes to the leak that outed CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Bush has decried leaks for years, and no one has said he authorized that specific disclosure. But Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the only White House official indicted in the leak probe, testified that Bush, through Vice President Dick Cheney, authorized him to disclose to select reporters related intelligence about Iraq's attempt to develop nuclear weapons that until then had been classified. Libby has said he didn't reveal Plame's identity. But he's been charged with perjury for allegedly lying to a grand jury about that very thing....

Now, about that credibility problem. Bush relied on flawed intelligence about Iraqi WMDs as he took the nation to war. The Niger uranium claim was especially questionable - its reliability had been challenged by the CIA and others. When the Plame scandal broke, Bush decried leaks. But he didn't reveal that he'd authorized Libby's disclosures to reporters. Then, when Libby's testimony became public, the White House said a leak isn't a leak if it's authorized by the president, who can declassify documents. Bush's trustworthiness on anything to do with WMD in Iraq has worn wafer thin.


And despite their efforts to get Bush away from the Plame business, all this coverage is doing is highlighting the lies and misrepresentations of the administration (which isn't helped by the revolt of the generals, either):
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/04/14/libby_seeks_administration_documents/


Libby's request could lead to greater attention on the administration's handling of Iraqi intelligence, and is being made at a time when Bush's past statements about Iraq's weapons have come under renewed scrutiny.

On Sunday the Washington Post reported that when Bush proclaimed, ''We have found the weapons of mass destruction" in May 2003 following the seizure of two trailers he described as mobile bioweapons labs, a team of specialists had already told the White House that the trailers had nothing to do with making weapons.

And last month the magazine National Journal revealed that Bush had been directly warned in October 2002 that specialists at the Energy and the State departments disagreed with other analysts' conclusions that certain aluminum tubes sought by Iraq were ''related to a uranium enrichment effort" for a nuclear weapons program, saying the tubes were instead most likely to be used to make conventional rockets....Fitzgerald has opposed the requests for the documents, dubbing them ''graymail," a defense strategy of threatening to expose state secrets in a trial in order to derail a prosecution.


Again, the charges are LYING and OBSTRUCTION. Libby's defense is throwing everything up against the wall to see if it will stick, and scaring the shit out of administration officials who don't want to be dragged through this mud in the bargain. There's no way that the administration or the GOP machine can parse this matter or polish this turd.

I believe Libby is angling for a Weinberger-style pardon in advance of conviction, which cannot, for political reasons, be granted until after the 06 contests. But even if he gets the pardon, or if Deadeye Dick takes the fall and gets his own pardon on his way out the door, the point that WILL STICK is made--this administration is full of liars, obstructors, and incompetents who will say anything to get their way.








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Media_Lies_Daily Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 12:08 PM
Response to Reply #8
24. Right. Keep wishing.
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Karmakaze Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 12:18 PM
Response to Reply #24
25. Lol - you are determined to get that cheese aren't you!
If you still can not see that this was a trap, then there really isnt a lot I can do about it.

Simple request - find one document filed by Libby or Fitz that said Libby was authorised to leak Plames identiy by Bush. Find just one!

You won't because there isnt one. What there is, however, is a thoroughly sprung trap. Now the media can focus on how wrong Dems are for saying Bush ordered the leak of Plame's identity, rather than how wrong Bush was for selectively leaking in order to bolster his case.

WP has started the ball rolling, and nothing is going to stop it.
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Media_Lies_Daily Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 01:38 PM
Response to Reply #25
29. Pure fantasy.
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Karmakaze Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 01:56 PM
Response to Reply #29
30. What is pure fantasy?
So far it appears to be your argument...
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worldgonekrazy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 02:04 PM
Response to Reply #24
31. Karmakaze is entirely right
Lots of people took "Bush authorized Libby to leak NIE" to mean "Bush authorized Plame leak." The two are interrelated, but not completely the same thing.
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Nickster Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 07:14 AM
Response to Original message
9. He wasn't ordered, it was more of a polite suggestion. n/t
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stanwyck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 11:20 AM
Response to Reply #9
16. Exactly. Like listening to a Mafia wiretap
the godfather never actually "says" kill this person. You have to finesse the situation. Use code words, just in case someone is listening. Or there are questions afterwards. Use language that leaves ambiguity for the jury.
"Take care of the situation."
I think Libby was told pretty clearly what to do.
Tony Soprano is just a little more upfront about what he's doing than the Bushies.
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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 11:44 AM
Response to Reply #16
17. Here's how Henry VIII did it
"This news threw King Henry (still in France) into a rage in which he was purported to shout: "What sluggards, what cowards have I brought up in my court, who care nothing for their allegiance to their lord. Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest."

The king's exact words have been lost to history but his outrage inspired four knights to sail to England to rid the realm of this annoying prelate."
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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 05:44 PM
Response to Reply #9
34. wink wink
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wishlist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 07:53 AM
Response to Original message
10. Didn't Libby also deny he leaked Plame's name? n/t
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Zorra Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 09:43 AM
Response to Original message
12. So why did he leak the name? Does this mean that Libby took it
upon himself to leak the the name of a CIA agent?

Something stinks even worse than ususal here.
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Peace Patriot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 10:42 AM
Response to Original message
13. Libby is a liar and obstructer of justice, not to mention a key player in
the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis, and in all the lies and deceit that led up to that slaughter (in which the Washington Post was also a key player). Absolutely nothing that this man or this newspaper says should be believed. As a rule of thumb, whatever they say, the opposite is more than likely true. Clearly, Libby is taking the fall for Bush and Cheney (and probably Rumsfeld, whom I suspect is in the middle of it), to try to prevent the top puppet and the masterminds of the junta from getting indicted for treason, and to preserve as much of the Neo-Con program as possible, including looting of the American people for unnecessary military expenditures and use of its young people as cannon fodder.

What has Libby been lying and obstructing justice for, if not to cover up Bush, Cheney and probably Rumsfeld's directive to out a CIA agent and an entire CIA WMD counter-proliferation project? And, while we're on that subject, why DID they out an entire CIA WMD counter-proliferation project, in addition to outing Plame (Wilson's wife)? It seems just a bit counter-productive, if what you're worried about are WMDs around the world. How did outing the Brewster-Jennings/CIA covert WMD network, and putting all of its agents and contacts at risk of getting killed, "punish" Joe Wilson?

There is a lot here that we can't see--BECAUSE Libby is lying and covering up. The possibilities include Cheney/Bush Cartel illicit arms dealings and nuke proliferation, and the highly suspicious death of the British WMD expert David Kelly four days after Plame was outed. (I strongly suspect that the two cases are intimately related, and that the key to both of them was a Bush junta scheme to plant nukes in Iraq, after the invasion, to be "found" by the US military teams that were "hunting" for them--a plan that got foiled. Why was the junta so angry at our counter-proliferation people? Because they were DOING THEIR JOB of counter-proliferation and tripped up the junta's dirty rotten scheme to justify the war after the fact by a phony "discovery" of WMD. And why was David Kelly interrogated at a "safe house" and threatened with the Official Secrets Act, for his rather mild whistleblowing to the BBC? Because he had found out about the WMD-planting plot. And it was not until after he had been found dead (July 18, 2003), and after his office and computers had been searched, that Brewster-Jennings was ADDITIONALLY outed by Novak, in his SECOND outing column, on July 22.*)

In any case--WHATEVER Libby is covering up--we are reduced to "reading entrails" (WaPo/NYT articles, Libby's and the junta's various lying and contradictory statements) in order to figure it out. And Patrick Fitzgerald is in something of the same spot, although he has access to more information and the power to put people behind bars for lying. He has to figure out WHAT they were doing--what the outing was all about--and WHO gave the orders, behind a wall of lies, deceit and "deniability" erected by the most powerful and dangerous people on the face of this earth.

One caveat, re: perusing WaPo and NYT news articles. The purposes of the editors and the reporters may not always be in sync. In fact, I often see headlines and placement (editorial decisions) that bolster the Bush junta's lies contradicted by information in the article, sometimes way down in the lower paragraphs. For instance, this particular article ends with these paragraphs:

"In his April 5 filing, Fitzgerald urged the court to dismiss Libby's demand for information about leaks to reporters by other government officials, on the grounds that what really counts in the case against Libby are the actions taken by him and 'the discrete number of persons with and for whom he worked.' Anything occurring outside those White House offices, Fitzgerald said, is 'a irrelevant distraction from the issues of the case.'

"Although he pointedly said he was not accusing Libby of involvement in a White House conspiracy against Wilson and Plame, Fitzgerald said the evidence he had accumulated demonstrated that 'multiple people' there wanted to repudiate Wilson's criticisms.

"In light of the grand jury testimony, Fitzgerald said, 'it is hard to conceive of what evidence there could be that would disprove the existence of White House efforts to 'punish' Wilson.'"

These paragraphs clearly point to a White House conspiracy that goes at least as high as Dick Cheney. They also indicate that Fitzgerald is not taking the bait of Libby as "fall guy." He "pointedly said" that he is not accusing Libby of the outing crime (not yet anyway), and that this case about Libby's LYING has to do with "the discrete number of persons with and for whom he worked." Libby worked directly for Cheney, and the next person up the chain is Bush. He is LYING for Cheney and Bush, is the underlying thesis of these paragraphs. But you have to read it to the end, to get it. The headline and the opening paragraph seem exculpatory of them. But what the PROSECUTOR is saying is NOT exculpatory. He seems very much onto their game (of Libby as "fall guy").

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

*(David Kelly began whistleblowing anonymously to the BBC on the "sexed up" pre-war WMD intel in late May 2003, after the invasion of Iraq. It was a big deal in England, although muffled in the press here. The hunt for the anonymous whistleblower within the government began. Kelly was outed to his bosses (mysteriously) in late June. Libby met with Kelly's old friend and colleague, Judith Miller of the NYT, in June and July--meetings connected to the Plame outing and the NIE disclosures. Their July 8 meeting occurred a day after Tony Blair received the report on the interrogation of Kelly. What Blair was told was that Kelly "could say some uncomfortable things" (could say, not HAD said). At this point, Kelly had ten days to live. The Blairites outed his name to the press, and sent him home without protection and apparently without surveillance. Plame was outed by Novak on July 14. Kelly was found dead, under highly suspicious circumstances, on July 18. His office and computers were searched. Brewster-Jennings--headquarters of the CIA counter-proliferation network--was outed by Novak, four days later, on July 22, an act that placed all US/CIA/BJ covert agents and contacts around the world at risk of getting killed.

(Kelly had gone out on his normal afternoon walk near his home, on July 17, and allegedly sat down under a tree, took some painkillers (not enough to kill him), slit one wrist and bled to death all night outdoors in the rain. Before he went for his walk, he sent an email to JUDITH MILLER in which he said he thought the controversy around him would soon blow over--he was looking forward to his daughter's wedding in the fall, and returning to Iraq--but he expressed concern about "the many dark actors playing games." This email was later released by his family, not by Miller. She wrote a news article about his death for the NYT without mentioning her close connections to Kelly. Back up to those meetings between Libby and Miller in June/July: With Wilson whistleblowing in the US, Kelly whistleblowing and being interrogated in the UK, and the Bush junta about to destroy a US counterproliferation project, putting all of its agents/contacts in danger, and with one of the participants in this unfolding drama, David Kelly, being a close colleague of Miller's (they wrote a book together), its seems likely that Libby and Miller were talking about KELLY in their clandestine meetings, not just Plame, Wilson and the NIE. What they may have said about him is anybody's guess. Kelly apparently viewed Miller as a confidante, amidst his troubles with the government over their WMD lies.)

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janx Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 10:55 AM
Response to Original message
14. "did not mention Plame's name"
What weasels...
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ShortnFiery Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 11:49 AM
Response to Reply #14
19. They haven't renamed themselves to The WHOREshinton Post
for no reason you know. They're the best little journalistic Bush-Co ass-kissers that money can buy! :P
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0rganism Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 01:29 PM
Response to Reply #14
27. Did they mention "Joe Wilson's wife who works for Brewster-Jennings"?
Enquiring minds want to know.
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LeftHander Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 12:01 PM
Response to Original message
22. ::wink:: Yes THESE papers are DE-classified ::nudge::cough... WILSON...
::wink:: ::wink:: ::cough::
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Roland99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 01:31 PM
Response to Original message
28. He wasn't ordered...he was persuaded
;)

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Orsino Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 05:29 PM
Response to Original message
33. Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest? n/t
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judaspriestess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-13-06 05:53 PM
Response to Original message
35. why has Libby turned on his bosses??
I thought all these assholes were loyal till the bitter end.
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indypaul Donating Member (896 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-14-06 04:39 PM
Response to Original message
38. Have we forgotten the original culprits
in the matter? Not one word about the original
two criminals here. Have we forgotten Rove and
Novak? Come on people.
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