Novak Leak Column Has Familiar Sound

[Khephra]

By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, October 7, 2003; Page A23


Let's review: Syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak gets a leak of classified information from foreign-policy hardliners. The column he writes causes a huge embarrassment for the Republican White House and moderates throughout the administration. Capitol Hill erupts with protests about the leak.

Sound familiar? Actually, this occurred in December 1975. Novak, with his late partner Rowland Evans, got the classified leak -- that President Gerald R. Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger were ready to make concessions to the Soviet Union to save the SALT II treaty. Donald H. Rumsfeld, then, as now, the secretary of defense, intervened to block Kissinger.

The main leak suspect: Richard Perle, then an influential aide to Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson (D-Wash.) and now a member of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board and a confidant of neoconservatives in the Bush administration. The account was described in a 1977 article in The Washington Post, noting Perle's "special access" to Evans and Novak.

Evans and Novak, the National Journal wrote in 1979, were among the three "chief recipients" of classified leaks from Perle. "Several sources in Congress and the executive branch who regard Perle as an opponent said that he and his allies make masterful use of the Evans and Novak column," The Post reported 26 years ago. "One congressional aide who tries to counter Perle's and Jackson's influence on arms issues said the Evans and Novak 'connection' helps Perle create a 'murky, threatening atmosphere' in his dealings with others."

more............

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53226-2003Oct6.html

[Occulus]

1. "The main leak suspect: Richard Perle"

THAT made my eyes widen a bit.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Wilson affair inferred as an embarrasment?

The column he writes causes a huge embarrassment for the Republican White House and moderates throughout the administration.

While making comparative analyses of previous Novak "leaks", the use of the word "embarrasment" infers that the Wilson/Plame leak is no more than a social faux pas. When are the media going to start calling a spade a spade? And why has there yet to be any US news reports that include the liquidation of assets abroad due to this crime of outing an undercover operative? :grr:

[BQueen]

3. Can you say "conspiracy"? I knew you could.

Interesting take on the precise type of disinformation and butt-covering going on in this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=110&topic_id=1500

Makes even more sense when you realize how long they've been playing this game. They're slicker than Tricky Dick, that's for sure.

Good find!

[Democat]

4. Bush the recycler

When people say Bush is moving the country backward, the statement is literal.

[Nottingham]

5. I have No respect for Novak He is a Scumbag!

:bounce: How does he sleep at night!

[grasswire]

6. well well well

Isn't it odd that both Novak and Perle have the same nickname: Prince of Darkness?

I already suspected Perle of the Plame leak.

[grasswire]

7. Hey look! This is great!

Our new liberal think tank fed this stuff to Washpost!

"A new liberal think tank, the Center for American Progress, dug up some past Novak moments that eerily echo the current moment. In 1981, the BBC reported that Evans and Novak published information from "a CIA top-secret report" about Soviet superiority in strategic rockets. In 1986, the Los Angeles Times reported complaints about "arms control opponents within the administration who have leaked information" to Evans and Novak about U.S. difficulties monitoring Soviet compliance with arms control agreements."

You might think that Dana Milbank, with all the resources of The Post, could have pulled out that old info by himself. But no...a think tank spoon fed him. That's how lazy the press corps is.

[mark0rama]

11. Did seem unusually insightful, given the current state of the WaPo.

Makes sense they had it spoon-fed to them.

[Khephra]

8. kick

:kick:

[mike6640]

9. try this one out....

sounds to me like Novak has had his finger in this kind of dirty dealing and misinformation for decades. I have seen numerous posts about CIA moles in the media.....:tinfoilhat:....et tu Novak?

[MountainLaurel]

10. Past repeating itself?

Perle is such a *&%#ing scumbag.

[realFedUp]

12. "pattern of leaks" = jailtime